some info. about longnose gar.

[demjor19]

when i say 'just enough rooom to turn' i dont mean leave just a few inches. for a gar the width of the tank should be about twice the size of the fish. and the gars i have are 3 longnose (2 babies) and a F/S.

why dont you follow these rules?

 

[city_of_evil6661]

i try all the fish in the tank have plenty of room except the longnose. but the tank is 5" longer than than him but i dont know how long that will last. i think im gonna get cinder blocks and make the outline of a pond and go from there. its gonna be 8x8x2.

 

[demjor19]

i try all the fish in the tank have plenty of room except the longnose. but the tank is 5" longer than than him but i dont know how long that will last. i think im gonna get cinder blocks and make the outline of a pond and go from there. its gonna be 8x8x2.

lol! this longnose keeps getting smaller and smaller. i remember on one thread it was 18", in your sig it was 16", and now it's 14". judging by the pics though, i would say it's closer to the 14-15 inch mark. 8x8x2 will be awesome...assuming it gets done.

 

[Polypterus]

i dont really agree with your tank do n donts at all... first the bigger the tank the better. if you have a small gar you should only have specific fish that are suitable with a gars slow behavior. only giving them enough room to turn with stress them out and cause them to smash in the walls more consistantly from lack of room. there should be a tank completely dedicated to growing out gars.. never put them in your main tank with bigger fish because they will die from not being able to compete with food so its best off to keep baby gars with other baby gars and other small slow moving fish or bottom dwellers that are not in the race to get food. max tank size is offf as well. a 3 foot fish should never have a 3 foot wide tank. even though its said the width should be at least the length of the fish gars are not as flexible as say an aro and need more room to turn in a broader slower motion.. just my 2 sense. what kind of gars u got?

1. "bigger tank is better": Not always.. in some cases it is better to keep them is a smaller tank. Knowing your individual fish is key to choosing tank size. there is no magic one size fits all tank for gars. This is why I primarily do not recommend any.. It is kind of pointless to do so until you know your fish, it's growth rate and it's individual behavior. If you wish to keep gar, and be successful with them, A key piece of advice is to have on hand multiple housing options anywhere from a 1 gallon tank to a 1000 gallon pond and all types in between..

2. "Gars slow behavior": Slow behavior? since when? these fish are not slow when they do not want to be. Longnosed in particular are capable of moving very quickly to either escape something or to feed. They are built for speed in open waters.. Shortnosed are similar with enlarged Caudal and paired fins to move quickly in open flowing waters. Even the smaller fined and chubby spotted is capable of moving very fast and they do not hesitate to do so.

3. "Giving only enough room to turn stresses them": No not really and in such a case it very much does reduce smashing into walls. Gars really do not stress that easily over minor things. Water quality is more likely to stress them than tank width..

4. "there should be a tank completely dedicated to growing out gars." Absolutely agree with this and the best piece of info so far in this thread..

5. "gars are not as flexible as say an aro": This is not true at all.. Gars are just as flexible as any other fish with this body shape. These fish are very capable of turning in a radius of half their body size at a very fast speed. It is this quick escape C-start that most frequently results in broken vertebrate.

 

[city_of_evil6661]

lol! this longnose keeps getting smaller and smaller. i remember on one thread it was 18", in your sig it was 16", and now it's 14". judging by the pics though, i would say it's closer to the 14-15 inch mark. 8x8x2 will be awesome...assuming it gets done.

i dont recall saying that my longnose is 18". the only reason it says 14" in my sig. is cuz i havent changed it yet. although he is about an inch and a half away from 18 he is not quite there yet. he is 16 almost 17" long now.

 

[justink]

lol! this longnose keeps getting smaller and smaller. i remember on one thread it was 18", in your sig it was 16", and now it's 14". judging by the pics though, i would say it's closer to the 14-15 inch mark. 8x8x2 will be awesome...assuming it gets done.

lol lets get an actual gar expert to get some threads started like these.

 

[justink]

1. "bigger tank is better": Not always.. in some cases it is better to keep them is a smaller tank. Knowing your individual fish is key to choosing tank size. there is no magic one size fits all tank for gars. This is why I primarily do not recommend any.. It is kind of pointless to do so until you know your fish, it's growth rate and it's individual behavior. If you wish to keep gar, and be successful with them, A key piece of advice is to have on hand multiple housing options anywhere from a 1 gallon tank to a 1000 gallon pond and all types in between..

2. "Gars slow behavior": Slow behavior? since when? these fish are not slow when they do not want to be. Longnosed in particular are capable of moving very quickly to either escape something or to feed. They are built for speed in open waters.. Shortnosed are similar with enlarged Caudal and paired fins to move quickly in open flowing waters. Even the smaller fined and chubby spotted is capable of moving very fast and they do not hesitate to do so.

3. "Giving only enough room to turn stresses them": No not really and in such a case it very much does reduce smashing into walls. Gars really do not stress that easily over minor things. Water quality is more likely to stress them than tank width..

4. "there should be a tank completely dedicated to growing out gars." Absolutely agree with this and the best piece of info so far in this thread..

5. "gars are not as flexible as say an aro": This is not true at all.. Gars are just as flexible as any other fish with this body shape. These fish are very capable of turning in a radius of half their body size at a very fast speed. It is this quick escape C-start that most frequently results in broken vertebrate.

like your info . havnt had the pleasure to experiense all the species. but seems like you really observe all the gars u got

 

[city_of_evil6661]

im just gonna make a pond instead of get a bigger tank cuz i beleive i can do that faster. the deminsions are gonna be something like 6x6x2. for my longnose BTW.