Tankmate balance! Finally!

[Stanzzzz7]

The Oscar I “rescued” from a friend that was having to move into an apartment. It was 6 inches when I took him and I’ve had him three years since then.

And the chocolate was also a sub-adult when I got her so she’s also probably a year older than what I said. I generally only age them based on how long I’ve had them.

BUT… having said all of that I fell victim to the typical male trait of adding 4 inches to my actual measurement. I guesstimated but when I just threw the measuring tape on each of them it’s actually…

Oscar - just over 12 inches
Chocolate - 10 inches
Gar - 13 inches
Pearl side - yeah forget about trying to get him lined up.

Male trait of adding 4 inches? I add 2. You can't double it man.

 

[Jhefnerjr]

Male trait of adding 4 inches? I add 2. You can't double it man.

Hhhaahh! That’s awesome.!

 

[Caveden]

Florida Gar can get up to 36” long. The reason you have probably not seen them that large is due to them being kept in aquariums that are too small. Even at 22”-26” the aquarium wouldn’t be large enough due to the fact a 150G is generally 2ft wide so the fish would barely/ not be able to turn around without touching the front and back of the aquarium (depending on size)

The fish you have, isn’t a Texas. It is Hericthys Carpintis. It doesn’t really make sense to call this species a Texas cichlid due to the fact it does not occur in the continental United States. H. Cyanoguttatus is the true Texas cichlid. This an example of why I don’t like common names

Florida gars don’t reach 36” bro. If I’m not wrong even thebiggerthebetter has Floridas in a 4500g aquarium which barely exceed 24”. In the wild it is also rare to find any 3ft Florida gar. Florida in aquaria settings reach about 18-22” USUALLY

 

[Jhefnerjr]

Florida gars don’t reach 36” bro. If I’m not wrong even thebiggerthebetter has Floridas in a 4500g aquarium which barely exceed 24”. In the wild it is also rare to find any 3ft Florida gar. Florida in aquaria settings reach about 18-22” USUALLY

I’m hoping that’s right. It’s pretty much what I’ve heard as well and, like I mentioned, the one we had as I grew up never got that big. So… ?

 

[SalviniCichlidFan]

nice setup!

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Florida gars don’t reach 36” bro. If I’m not wrong even thebiggerthebetter has Floridas in a 4500g aquarium which barely exceed 24”. In the wild it is also rare to find any 3ft Florida gar. Florida in aquaria settings reach about 18-22” USUALLY

We have only one FL gar named Elvis, a rescue, left in the 4500 gal and it is around 8 years old and around 30". Six others have been adopted out at 1.5' last year. Gender may matter and the females may grow larger but I'd have to check myself on that.

We have another that's about 3 years old and about 12" in one of the 240 gal and it's not growing, not significantly in the last year. It's a rescue that came from a small tank, like 50-100 gal range, perhaps stunted.

IDK the source of FL gars in the US pet shops. Are they captive bred or wild-harvested?

I kept other FL gar that we caught in the wild at 2' that in our ponds grew to 2.5'. I've only heard of 3-footers, never seen one even in the wild, having lived in SW FL for 10 years now. All the wild ones I see (in various places, including when they breed in the shallows, in the grass on our property in the early summer when it floods) are 1.5'-2', rarely a bit bigger.

 

[Jhefnerjr]

nice setup!

Thanks!