Got it! We will check on him in the morning, thanks for the help so far!
New Gar Owner.
- Thread starter Vaughne01
- Start date
Hi! I've got two Longnose Gar and they routinely sit at the bottom and come up for air. It's a fairly typical behavior that I've seen and as long as your parameters are in check and he/she is eating, shouldn't be anything to worry about! Gars are fun fish to own, but be prepared for it to get quite large!
This ^ should be made into a bumper sticker!
V Vaughne01 , you should do a search here on MFK regarding thiaminase in many species of fish that are commonly used as feeders (including, sadly, Rosy Reds). It's an enzyme that breaks down thiamin and can cause problems if your predators are fed a diet of feeders that contain it. I use a lot of (frozen) Rosy Reds myself, but I am careful to ensure that they only make up a relatively small portion of the diet of any individual fish or reptile.
It's yet another excellent reason to get your fish switched over to pellets.
Good luck with your gar!
Just got home, he is active once again and also i had a question about the feeders and his size. If what is said is true and he is a florida gar, what am i expecting as far as maximum size, want to make sure the 75 gallon i have him in is enough for now((as stated before, he is around currently 7-9 inches long)) Also would it help at the moment that the feeders he is eating are being fed nutritional food before entering his tank. We keep our feeders living in another tank until he finishes those in his and move them over bit by bit. I also plan to try and start pellet feeding him soon, I just know after reading a bit that young gar are better off on feeders until they grow a bit larger. Again, thank you all for helping!
It goes without saying that feeders should be as healthy as possible, meaning they should be properly maintained and nourished. I haven't kept a gar in many years, and I'm not sure where that info about keeping them on feeders comes from or how reliable it is. Could it possibly be referring to keeping very young gar, a couple inches long, and being forced to feed them live food...mosquito larvae, guppy fry, etc...until they grow large enough to begin training them to pellets? A 7 - 9 inch gar is young, but is still far larger than a newly-hatched one and can definitely be trained to take non-living food items.
