What is the difference of Longnose,Florida and spotted Gar.

[RTC probe 3]

Hello everybody,

I'm about to buy a Gar for my 270 gallon pond. I was thinking of buying a spotted or Florida Gar but in the internet I got mixed up with another species called the longnose Gar when I was searching about the Florida Gar. Are they the same species? And could you tell me the difference between the longnose Gar,Florida Gar (if they are different species) and the spotted Gar and how to identify each of them, and each of their maximum size in feet?

 

[tlindsey]

Hello everybody,

I'm about to buy a Gar for my 270 gallon pond. I was thinking of buying a spotted or Florida Gar but in the internet I got mixed up with another species called the longnose Gar when I was searching about the Florida Gar. Are they the same species? And could you tell me the difference between the longnose Gar,Florida Gar (if they are different species) and the spotted Gar and how to identify each of them, and each of their maximum size in feet?

Maybe this may helphttps://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/the-gar-pictorial-id-guide.410396/

 

[RTC probe 3]

Thanks! That was very helpful. But there was no info on spotted gars right?

Some more replies would be appreciated.

 

[kno4te]

Spotted and Floridas are hard to tell apart. The one thing is ganoid scales under the neck area.

Long nose get much bigger and their mouths are longer and thinner compared to Florida’s/spotted.

Spotted and Florida’s can get 2.5ft. Kept well and a long time.

Long nose can likely get 3ft. Kept well and a long time.

 

[RTC probe 3]

My pond is around 10 feet long, so no worries on keeping any of those three. But still,I'll stick to the ones that are smaller anyway (spotted and Florida) so that they would live quite comfortably.
Thanks a lot .....

And is it ok If I feed them some raw meat or perhaps prawns?

And I saw in the internet that you could feed juveniles fish food pellets. Is this true?

And another important question. Do gars suffer from over feeding? One red tail catfish I brought died due to over feeding(mistakenly).

 

[tlindsey]

My pond is around 10 feet long, so no worries on keeping any of those three. But still,I'll stick to the ones that are smaller anyway (spotted and Florida) so that they would live quite comfortably.
Thanks a lot .....

And is it ok If I feed them some raw meat or perhaps prawns?

And I saw in the internet that you could feed juveniles fish food pellets. Is this true?

And another important question. Do gars suffer from over feeding? One red tail catfish I brought died due to over feeding(mistakenly).

Yes thawed fish such as Tilapia will be fine and yes juvenile gar can learn to accept pellet food.

 

[kno4te]

My pond is around 10 feet long, so no worries on keeping any of those three. But still,I'll stick to the ones that are smaller anyway (spotted and Florida) so that they would live quite comfortably.
Thanks a lot .....

And is it ok If I feed them some raw meat or perhaps prawns?

And I saw in the internet that you could feed juveniles fish food pellets. Is this true?

And another important question. Do gars suffer from over feeding? One red tail catfish I brought died due to over feeding(mistakenly).

You can feed cut up raw fish and prawns. No prob. No terrestrial animals. No live feeders unless u have to.

Yea if u can get them to take pellets. Good start for young gars.

Gars can get overfed. So maybe every other day feeding. Make sure not to feed if the belly is still full. Aquarium version of intermittent fasting lol.

 

[RTC probe 3]

Yes thawed fish such as Tilapia will be fine and yes juvenile gar can learn to accept pellet food.

Thanks

 

[RTC probe 3]

New You can feed cut up raw fish and prawns. No prob. No terrestrial animals. No live feeders unless u have to.

Yea if u can get them to take pellets. Good start for young gars.

Thanks again

 

[RTC probe 3]

Gars can get overfed. So maybe every other day feeding. Make sure not to feed if the belly is still full. Aquarium version of intermittent fasting lol.

How do I know when their belly is full? And how much food could I feed the juveniles per day?