Smallest Tank Size For a Gar

[lunker65]

Pellet training a wild caught gar is near impossible and requires lots of work. I was able to get mine on dead silversides (the ones you thaw out) then onto tilapia.


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+1 it isnt impossible but it can be a challenge. i fed mine live for quite a long time but a few bad experinces with feeders bringing in anchorworms, i transitioned them to the frozen silversides and then to pellets. it took a few months to transition, but he is good to go now.

 

[divemaster99]

Alright! So at this point it just comes down to the decision whether I should growout a Florida gar or do a green sunfish in the 30 long, that's really just up to me so we'll have to see what happens, thanks for the tips guys!

 

[cnel124]

My gars grew an inch a week with the correct amount of food and care. Flroida gars will do the same, if I can remember correctly.

 

[cnel124]

Most of the time on here people are more likely to over state the amount of room a fish needs. Do a little more research on here about floridas and make a good decision for the fish.


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I always overstate so I don't have like twelve people say that I'm wrong and its an inch off or something, not directing that at you but that's definitely happened to me before.

 

[jpcampbell123]

you can get some good deals on 180s at aquatic ecosystems online they have a few that are made out of fiberglass with a viewing window. i used to have a 180 from them.
they also carry different sizes compared to glass its alot cheaper. they are based out in Florida. I am wanting to do a big tank again but this time I want to use acrylic instead.

 

[Karl K]

AGREED!

Lol half of the people on here saying a 180 is not big enough probably keep their own gars in that size or even less xD it will be fine in a 180 divemaster. Good luck bro!


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No Offense, but you do seem to love small tank sizes. A 3 feet fish in a 8x4? This has nothing to do with this post, just wanted to tell you that some of your tank sizes just dont make sense.

 

[Polypterus]

they are slow growers in respect to some other species of fish like african cichlids. i have some chiclids that i hatched from eggs that are now nearing the three inch mark in less than a year. when you look at the fact that that particular species, it usually only gets up to about 5 or so inches full grown. first gar that i had, i got him at about 8in. he is now at about 15 inches after about two years. they grow there fastest there first year of life. it all depends on the fish though. again with my cichlids, i have fish that came from the same batch of eggs and a few are half the size of there siblings. either way a 180 should be fine for quite a while. i cant really say whether putting him in a grow out vs straight into a big tank would really make a big differnce but im sure that it would be ok either way as long as the growout is not excessively small. the green sunfish would outgrow that 30 long pretty fast as well. they would look good in that 75.

A Young of the year Flordia gar can reach 12 inches the first 6 months of life.. A young of the Year Alligator gar can reach 24 inches in 10 months, A young of the year Longnosed gar can reach 16 inches in 10 months. Umm.. Yeah they are in fact very fast growing fish. They also double that growth each season for 3 years if kept right.

 

[Polypterus]

+1 it isnt impossible but it can be a challenge. i fed mine live for quite a long time but a few bad experinces with feeders bringing in anchorworms, i transitioned them to the frozen silversides and then to pellets. it took a few months to transition, but he is good to go now.

This from the one telling me it does not take a protocol to transition them.. LOL.. nice.. Love it..
Gar are easy to transition to preprepared and pelleted foods. It just takes a bit of patience and persistence on the keepers part. I've never had a gar that would not take prepared feeds in less than a month of work.

 

[HungDang]

Just wondering what the smallest size tank was for any species of gar (presumably the smallest) whether that be with or without tankmates. I've never kept one or even caught them while fishing and many people on here and in general don't know it but, seeing Longnose Gars at the Pittsburgh Aquarium are one of the many fish that inspired me into get into the hobby. I'd love to keep one but I doubt I'll be able to get a tank big enough for one. Would it be possible to do one in a 180 gallon? I'm more than likely setting up a 180 for PA native fishes next year with what will probably be a school (5-6) Pumpkinseeds, a Bullhead of some species, a sailfin pleco, and a larger centerpiece fish (which is what the gar would hypothetically be, probably a spotted if possible). Here's hoping that I can get one of my dream fish reasonably soon

I've read all the post on this thread and seem like no one really see that you are thinking of putting a pleco in an American native tank especially with a gar. My advise is if you gonna keep a gar in that tank, just don't put pleco in with it. Either the gar will kill it if the gar can swallow the pleco or the pleco will kill the gar.
If you are gonna buy small Florida gar then it is best to keep it in the 30G untill it reach 8-9'' to prevent it from breaking its' back, then move it to your 75G untill it get 14-15''. If you are trying to catch a young spotted gar then do the same, but don't try to convert it to pellet early(should be good after 9-10'' or so) because it might affect its' growth(that is what I think). And it should be pretty easy to convert them to pellet unlike some people say.
And you should take the information from "Polypterus" over most other people since he should know more about gar than anyone that had posted a reply on this thread.

 

[HungDang]

This from the one telling me it does not take a protocol to transition them.. LOL.. nice.. Love it..
Gar are easy to transition to preprepared and pelleted foods. It just takes a bit of patience and persistence on the keepers part. I've never had a gar that would not take prepared feeds in less than a month of work.

that's right, some of my wild caught spotted took like a week or so to eat pellet.