this gar make me confused

[phen_dox]

i still new with gar fish. i just bought a juvenile garfish about 4 inch 2 days ago and this is my first gar. till now i still don know the gar belong to which species. all gar juvenile garfish look almost same except for alligator gar. i also want to know what the best food should i feed to my gar. i need your help. sorry for the bad quality pic.

 

[Panerai1950]

Looks like a spotted or florida gar to me, feed it with blood worms and small feeder should do

 

[phen_dox]

Looks like a spotted or florida gar to me, feed it with blood worms and small feeder should do

tq Panerai1950! u been very helpful. can i feed it with market shrimp?

 

[Mampam]

looks alot like the one i caught tday, (3 1/2 in)

 

[E_americanus]

it's a Florida/spotted gar, very likely a Florida gar (although the two species are very hard to distinguish at this point). it is at a good stage to start experimenting with none-live food like market shrimp, so go for that...if not, you can feed it feeder rosies (small minnows) until it gets a little bigger, then switch it to non-live. raw frozen (thawed of course) fish is also a good food item to transition the fish with. good luck--
--solomon

 

[phen_dox]

it's a Florida/spotted gar, very likely a Florida gar (although the two species are very hard to distinguish at this point). it is at a good stage to start experimenting with none-live food like market shrimp, so go for that...if not, you can feed it feeder rosies (small minnows) until it gets a little bigger, then switch it to non-live. raw frozen (thawed of course) fish is also a good food item to transition the fish with. good luck--
--solomon

Tq for your advice E_americanus, now, i feed my gar with small guppies. looking forward to feed them with market shrimp when it large enough to take it. how frequent i need to feed the monster ? can i know the max size for spotted/florida garfish in captivity?

 

[E_americanus]

Tq for your advice E_americanus, now, i feed my gar with small guppies. looking forward to feed them with market shrimp when it large enough to take it. how frequent i need to feed the monster ? can i know the max size for spotted/florida garfish in captivity?

at that size i would feed the fish every day, about 2-3 one inch-long pieces...or something along those lines. they grow fast in their first year, easily reaching over 12". in captivity a Florida/spotted will generally grow around 18"-24" over the course of its life, probably skewing closer to the smaller end of that spectrum. keep in mind max sizes in captivity are quite variable and also depend on a lot of outside factors. that being said, a 2' wide tank should hold the fish for several years, and in some cases for life--
--solomon

 

[phen_dox]

at that size i would feed the fish every day, about 2-3 one inch-long pieces...or something along those lines. they grow fast in their first year, easily reaching over 12". in captivity a Florida/spotted will generally grow around 18"-24" over the course of its life, probably skewing closer to the smaller end of that spectrum. keep in mind max sizes in captivity are quite variable and also depend on a lot of outside factors. that being said, a 2' wide tank should hold the fish for several years, and in some cases for life--
--solomon

i put the fish in 3 ft aqua with some comman pleco and every is fine now. the fish seem very comfortable and happy. how about their sex, how to determine? i heard that female can growth larger than male. i getting excited with gar now, maybe the alligator gar is my next pick up.

 

[city_of_evil6661]

i put the fish in 3 ft aqua with some comman pleco and every is fine now. the fish seem very comfortable and happy. how about their sex, how to determine? i heard that female can growth larger than male. i getting excited with gar now, maybe the alligator gar is my next pick up.

having a gar in with plecos is probobly not a good idea as they can suck the gars slime coat off and cause infection. i have also heard the same thing that females grow larger than males, but there is no external way to tell the sex of a gar. and for the gator gar, thier average size in captivity is 5 feet but they have potentail to grow larger. so if you get one make sure you can house it properly once its hits adulthood. they are also the most aggressive of the gar species and will kill any thing they are housed with if they cant eat it.

 

[phen_dox]

u been very helpful city_of_evil6661 by given me those info.
my gar still refuse to feed on market shrimp, what should i do to make the fish accept on dead food. i had try to staved the gar about 2 days, but stil wont work. any suggestion how to train the gar to accept on dead food?
can i feed the gar with mealworm?