who have the largest alligator gar here !

[X24]

i must say i hate seeing alligator gars being bought...or any fish that gets to such extremes of sizes....seems most of the time they don't reach half of their usual natural size...why not instead of getting an alligator and trying to grow it to full size using the smallest tanks possible for this, you go with a florida, shortnose, longnose, ect. and grow it out to full potential with a nice size tank for it?

it must just be me....

nice fish none-the-less.

 

[Polypterus]

I personally like to see people working with Gator Gars but one needs to understand them a bit and understand what they are getting themselves into. These are not fish to keep just for some status statement. They are tough to work with and need a great deal of attention and resources.

 

[minizookeeper]

im sure i dont know everything about these fish but i am for sure up for the challange.he is in this tank until i finish a new tank that is in progress. its two 55 gallon tanks ,one on top of the other with a sump in the stand. he will be in one tank and am looking for a snakehead right now for the other.this summer my rtc,aro,and blk pacu move up from 300 and get an indoor pond. keep fish for life, can i hear an amen!!!

 

[Death Pony]

not the biggest Gar on here but i like her . this is from a gud few months ago, when she was bak in my 4foot tank for a while (long story). shes only about 15inch or so in this pic but shes about 22inch now.

She's beautiful!!!!!! If I had a large pond I'd put one of these beauties in there. Had one big enough at my old house but it was never filled.

 

[KNH]

Can you explain please Brooklamprey? Thought a bigger tank would be good to start?

I always feel that large growing fish should be raised in a large tank from the start. Catching and moving a fish is very stressful for them and can weaken thier immune system. The only exception would be if the fish was too small for its tankmates and needed to grow-out first in order to survive.
KNH

 

[minizookeeper]

i agree with knh, but still unsure with perticular breed and always open for more opinions.the two 55 gal tank set up is being filled as i type and am still going to put him in the 55 from the 210.i only worry about one tank mate in the 210 and that is a med. size artc.in the 55 he will be alone.keep the knowledge coming. thanks guys and merry x-mas.

 

[Polypterus]

Putting a tiny fish in a huge tank can stress it and weaken it's immune system much more than netting it.

Gars are not like other fish species and an understanding of them on a morphologic and physiologic level is how you succeed with them. I can not repeat this enough.. Large tanks and small gars is generally a bad idea. Step them as they grow and you will have much better results.

 

[ethnics]

my 12" gator loves his 400gal tank. along with many tankmates.

grew him from 2" to 12" in a few months in a 150gal then moved him just a week or 2 ago.

nowhere near biggest, but give me a few more years, and if you know me as well as others on here do, you'll see some updates of him in the future.

and yes i still have my shortnose gar you denied me of, and yes he's 2ft long now, and yes he's more then healthy.

 

[minizookeeper]

i have the room for going 2 ways. 1. leave him in the 210 which he looks fine in for now (experience tells me its ok but risky)or ,2. i just set up my 110 combo and is ready to go, for him to be bye himself.i have moved tons of fish and water so stress in movement is at min.his new home will be the 55 this way there will be no tankmate losses, and i can truely keep track of him better at this stage of his life.

 

[KNH]

Putting a tiny fish in a huge tank can stress it and weaken it's immune system much more than netting it.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one
KNH