Silver dollars

[Aquaguy]

Hey,
First off. Yes, I have searched it and have come up empty handed. I have a 5'' florida in a 55 growout at the moment. He's by himself. I'm looking to add a tankmate/s and arent interested in what most people suggest(senegal). I was wondering if a small number(1-3) of silver dollars would work?

 

[Gator]

Silver dollars and gars are risky because the Silver dollars are well.. Silvery and all nice and shiny like something a gar would like to eat in the wild. Its been mentioned a few times in threads I've read on here but not specifically asked about in a thread topic just mentioned to people who have listed their stock along with their gars. They might be ok but what I've noticed with my gar are that they will do one of two things. They either size up the potential prey by swimming next to it and decide its to big or they will snag the prey and then decide its to large to try and swallow after biting down on it a few times then releasing it. Hope that helps a little.

 

[Aquaguy]

very much appreciated gator. thankyou. I would think that the shape of a silver dollar would detur a gar, but maybe not. any other suggestions on a tankmate/s other than a senegal or additional gars?

 

[Gator]

Mild mannered fish that aren't very aggressive and don't stress the gars out by swimming around like maniacs and the most important part fish that don't fit in the gars mouth always remember no matter how peaceful gars look they are first and foremost predators that have been around for about 145 million years.

 

[E_americanus]

very much appreciated gator. thankyou. I would think that the shape of a silver dollar would detur a gar, but maybe not. any other suggestions on a tankmate/s other than a senegal or additional gars?

the "silvery fish issue" has been mentioned in several threads before, and this is once again the case. general rule of thumb is that silvery fishes, no matter what their shape, should NOT be kept with gars. gars are generally unable to resist the pattern, and even with their impossible-to-eat shape (as far as gar go) gars will attack them and likely kill them.

as for gar tankmates, there are tons of threads on that, so i would run a search and review that information. good luck--
--solomon

 

[CTU2fan]

My experience with gar and those o-so-tempting shiny tankmates...

My big gar shares his home with a couple of silver friends, a pinktail chalceus and a silver arowana. I was very hesitant adding the chal at 5" or so but he was having problems in my growout tank (if anyone ever asks, a 4' tank isn't enough for a chal, just FYI) so I tried it. The chalceus basically ignored the gar, he'd swim right by and pay him no mind. and the gar has never so much as snapped at it. The arowana does the same (both are 8-9" now). So I'm thinking great, my Florida gar is the peaceful type, I can do this...and last night I added the 2 redfin cigar sharks I've been growing out. They're 5-6" or so. So I added the sharks, the gar swam over toward them, and they took off...and the chase was on. One of them took an indirect hit, but both are fine...and back in the growout.

So, bottom line, at least with my particular gar...if a fish flees like a prey item, my gar will consider it a prey item and act accordingly. I'll be waiting for a lot more growth before I try again with the sharks.

 

[Dovii dude]

Very good info,thank you.(i'm a gar newbie)

 

[Cichla dude]

if you really want silverdollars go for redhooks or widebars they get like 12'' fast!

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

dont do silver dollars. as everyone said

 

[Cichla dude]

theres allways pacus