Ugh... wanted it so bad.

[Younglin]

I don't know much about aros But I thought it went silver < black < jar? For aggressiveness that is. Silver being the least aggressive.

 

[creepyoldguy]

I don't know much about aros But I thought it went silver < black < jar? For aggressiveness that is. Silver being the least aggressive.

Not sure, but my 8" black is w 4 1.5"tinfoil barbs, a ck and 2 retic rays and he bothers no one.

 

[smartlove_518]

I believe one answer to your question may be due to the fact of the ganoid scales a gar has. Take that plus the impact of a bite from a gar and an aro of similar size has a hard time competing with an aggressive gar. Saying floridas aren't aggressive is just a generalization. Regardless, putting a sick gar in with an aro, a black at that, is not a wise decision.

i agree with your point of not putting the sick gar with the black..as a matter of fact no sick fish should be put in with any healthy fish..i know gars can be aggressive, for example Madding lost his afro to his gars but on the other hand they can be docile as well...i have four floridas with my silver aro and xander has a whole army of gars with his afro..but im not going to go against the general rule..im not asking anoyone to try it..im just sharing my experience and opinions in keeping these two fishes together.

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

afro is an exception to the rule. its not actually an aro BTW.

true aros as a general rule is a no no. works for u fine. silver aro and florida is the only way it might work. other than that i highly suggest against it.

 

[lungfishlover]

just to shake things up a little i have a florida gar and a black aro and i haven't seen any aggression from either!!! they both feed together on the same foods too.... check my videos. they are pretty much equal in size too give or take an inch. though the aro seems to grow slightly faster.....

 

[Sidrock]

this is not true. there are people on here that have had. gar like shiney silvery fish. due to feeding responce, and silvery issues as well as other things(im sick, cant think atm) gar are aggressive.

again, just because it works for some doesnt mean its an advisable combo. believe me or not, but when ur gar dies dont come crying to me.

ps, isnt black notorisouly aggressive? hmm, yeah i dont want that with my gar.

Firstly, You are among the most experienced monster fish keepers on..eh.. Monster Fish Keepers , so my intention is just to learn more about this rather than question your judgement.

Having said that...

I think the primary consideration when keeping Silver Aros with FL Gars is that the relative size of the Silver Aro should always be larger than the Gar so that the Gar don't consider it food.. But still small enough that the Aro doesn't consider the Gar as food.

I can see that in the long run, the growth rate of the FL Gars slows down around 15-16 inches.. but the growth rate of the Silver Aro also slows down around 24 inches.

So, if the Aro is about 6-8 inches larger than the FL Gars (with the Gar being a min of 6-8 inches). This combination might just work..

I have raised mine from 4 inches to 14 inches.. and since they were 6 inches, they have been sharing a tank with a Silver Aro which has always been about 6 inches longer/larger than the Florida Gars. I have NEVER seen any aggression whatsoever between the FL Gars and the Silver Aro.


I concur with that point about Gars attacking Silver fish which they (think they) can swallow. My Gator Gar (~15") tried swallowing a 8" (and fat) Bala Shark. While he could not eat him, he did manage to kill him. So, a smaller silver fish with a Gar is definitely NOT a good idea.


Just my 2 cents,
Sid

 

[screaminleeman]

Florida gars are not aggressive. I highly doubt it would bite the aro.

While my Florida gars are not in the general vacicity of aggressive as my two longnose garss, I would still not consider the Floridas to be a "non-agressive" fish.

I have never kept or had intrest in Arows, but I guaran-ar$e-tee that my longnose gar(s) would shred the Arow or die trying.

As for meal size: I was freaking shocked and appalled by the larger of my two LNG's (~14" at the time/ now > 2') eating a Florida gar that was close to 10"!

As far as Gar attacking other fish only to eat: I have found that to be on the verge of a bold faced LIE, and at absolute bare minimum a TOTALLY ASANINE STATMENT! I had a small (~5") florida gar brutally destroy TWO considerably larger asian needlefish. Just good old fashion murderous aggression at its very best! Nothing that could be remotely misconstrued as consumption was even attempted!!

 

[DrownedFishonFire]

I wouldn't advise it myself. Some people get lucky with the combo, others don't get so lucky.

Is the Black your prized fish? only yourself can answer that question for yourself. Worth the risk, yes or no.

BTW- I would say if you felt bad for the gar, rescue it nurse it back to health in a qt tank/tub and then rehome it as theres plenty of MFKers here!

 

[scalesandfins]

i have 2 florida gar both about 13 inches and 0 aggression even towards fish they could eat. its easy to get them to eat market shrimp too.
yes the arrow is a pricey and pretty rare fish but i doubt you will have an issue. keep them fed and they will be fine

 

[Younglin]

I have never seen a Florida gar show any aggression to any fish it didn't attempt to eat. I have seen Long nose and Alligator gars attack other fish just cause but never a Florida. The guy I bought my Jack Dempsey off of had a Florida gar with tilapia, a scat, two grren terrors and various other fish. He had all of those fish together for 7 years with no problems from the florida and he had more florida gars in other tanks with aro's and an Arapaima.