spotted gar feeding

[Schultz]

I'll be setting up a monster tank soon, housing (as of now) a rtc, birchir of some sort, a few spotted pictus cats, arowana, tsn, clown knife and gar (I'm thinking true spotted, maybe 3). i plan on feeding store bought shrimp, fish, and occasionally feeder guppy (later on maybe even small fish i may catch form rivers/lakes).

i have a few, but my main question is..after extensive research of these fish I'm beginning to become concerned with the mount they will eat. how much do they actually eat, as juvis, young and adult (not just the spotted but the tsn, knife and rtc too)?

also, do you think this combo will even work, especially with the pictus?

and if i get three spotted, they will school, correct?

 

[E_americanus]

I'll be setting up a monster tank soon, housing (as of now) a rtc, birchir of some sort, a few spotted pictus cats, arowana, tsn, clown knife and gar (I'm thinking true spotted, maybe 3). i plan on feeding store bought shrimp, fish, and occasionally feeder guppy (later on maybe even small fish i may catch form rivers/lakes).

i have a few, but my main question is..after extensive research of these fish I'm beginning to become concerned with the mount they will eat. how much do they actually eat, as juvis, young and adult (not just the spotted but the tsn, knife and rtc too)?

also, do you think this combo will even work, especially with the pictus?

and if i get three spotted, they will school, correct?

- spotted gars (and really any gars) will shoal together to some extent (schooling is organized grouping/movement, shoaling is more or less disorganized grouping).

- the catfishes will eat far more than the gars, they will also grow larger; even though the gars have a very fast growth rate, the cats will keep up if not surpass them and move to the point where they could swallow gars/bichirs.

- knife/bichir/gar combo will work, perhaps pictus too; TSN will grow quickly and could take out the gar. arow/gar combos are hit or miss, if they are kept at about the same size they will do ok.

hope that info helps--
--solomon

 

[Schultz]

- spotted gars (and really any gars) will shoal together to some extent (schooling is organized grouping/movement, shoaling is more or less disorganized grouping).

thanks solomon! i have actually always wondered the difference.

the catfishes will eat far more than the gars, they will also grow larger; even though the gars have a very fast growth rate, the cats will keep up if not surpass them and move to the point where they could swallow gars/bichirs.

your not saying this is necessarily a bad idea tho, right? shouldn't it take care of it if i got the gars and bichirs some time before the cats, to put on a little size?
with the feeding i have planed, how much do you (and/or anyone else) think i can look to be spending a month?

thanks again solomon..
keep them coming..

 

[farawayinn]

imo the tsn and rtc will be a bad mix with anything small enough to swallow whole, ie pictus cats, gar or bichir that don't keep up with fast catfish growth rate. in any case, be prepared to remove the bad actors on short notice.

 

[Schultz]

would it help if i said it will be a large aquarium?
if not, then it looks like i'll have some decissions to make. they will however, have ~600gal. to keep to themselves.

 

[King-eL]

would it help if i said it will be a large aquarium?
if not, then it looks like i'll have some decissions to make. they will however, have ~600gal. to keep to themselves.

It will even help to make the catfish growth rate even more faster and will surely eat the gar, bichirs, knifefish and pictus cat. RTC are known to swallow similar size slender fish and even choked to death trying to swallow the prey. I had a 21" RTC before tried to swallow a 24" silver arowana. Both died in the processed. TSN is not much difference with the RTC.

That pictus catfish can endanger the gar and bichir as well. My 19" florida gar almost died from trying to eat a 6" pictus. The spine of the pictus cat puntured the flesh of the gars lower jaw. A large bichirs might also try to eat that pictus catfish. You could get away with some mid-to smaller species of bichirs. An adult clown knife will also see that pictus catfish as a potential food.

Spotted gar in aquaria 18-21"+
Clown knifefish 18-26"+
RTC 3-4'+
TSN 2.5-3.5'+
Bichir will depend on which species you're planning to keep.

Pictus catfish 4-6". The Columbia variant have a potential to get up to 8" but that is rare, 6" more likely. Most for sale in the hobby are Peru variant and captive breed probably which will surely grow even smaller.

 

[E_americanus]

thanks solomon! i have actually always wondered the difference.




your not saying this is necessarily a bad idea tho, right? shouldn't it take care of it if i got the gars and bichirs some time before the cats, to put on a little size?
with the feeding i have planed, how much do you (and/or anyone else) think i can look to be spending a month?

thanks again solomon..
keep them coming..

it's hard to say what feeding will cost with the cats, as that will likely be a good portion of consumption since RTC's grow big and grow fast. i will just comment on the spotted gars (assume that you could apply this growth rate to Florida gars as well...since you're in Michigan, you know where you can get true spots )

anyway, expect a 7-9" juvenile spot to eat the equivalent mass of 1-2 small pieces of shrimp per day...they will eat least if kept at cooler temps, but you don't want to keep them so cool that it inhibits their growth. at about 75-80F assume the consumption rate i have listed.

this will also vary with individuals, and also depends on the growth you want to get. at these sizes you can safely feed every other day instead of every day if you want...and they can survive for a short period without food (say you're gone for a weekend) with no problems.

as they get bigger, i actually feed my gars less frequently, but they do get more per feeding. i have a 17" spotted gar that eats about 5-7 small pieces of shrimp per feeding, but i only feed it every other day or 2 days fast in between. feel free to extrapolate those numbers to a monthly basis. you can also feed foods like tilapia (which is often cheaper), smelt, or squid (all available usually cheaper than shrimp at Meijer/Kroger).

hope that info helps. let us know if you need further details--
--solomon

 

[Schultz]

I'm actually no longer in michigan, but if you can ship to colorado i would prefer my money go to mfk members.

however,

It will even help to make the catfish growth rate even more faster and will surely eat the gar, bichirs, knifefish and pictus cat. RTC are known to swallow similar size slender fish and even choked to death trying to swallow the prey. I had a 21" RTC before tried to swallow a 24" silver arowana. Both died in the processed. TSN is not much difference with the RTC.

to my surprise it appears i have a decision to make..cats, OR gars..

i like pictus but they aren't really that important to me, i was mostly planning on them for a clean-up crew..

again, thanks everyone for all the info. you were all helpful in answering my questions. any more input would be much appreciated, but for now it looks like i have some rethinking to do..unless anyone would like to recommend some filtation for a 600 gal.
thanks all..