The A. spatula I bought Feb 23, 2001 from Jake at The Fish Place in Tonawanda NY. it was 10.2cm/4inches and cost $8.99.
The L. osseus I received Feb 3, 2000 from a hobbyist through Jerry Draper at The Tropical Fish Room in Brantford Ontario at no charge. It was 27.9cm/11 inches.
Both made their way to my 15kg/56kl and then to the 52kg/196kl where they are now.
While feeding the tank pellets and flakes today the longnose took out a small frontosa female about 15cm who was paying too much attention to eating and not noticing the ambushing gar. The gar caught her at about the 8 1/2 foot/260cm deep level. The gar always takes off at full speed when it captures anything and goes to the far back corner of the tank which generally is dark and about 25 feet/762cm away from the area I was feeding in. The fish looked too wide for the gar to eat it but I never know for sure. The shoal of brycons always try to steal the gars food from its mouth and that's why the speed and flight plan. The Arapaima
also took out a synspilum about 25cm this morning during the feeding period. This happened at surface level when the pima came straight up and nailed the cichlid eating floating pellets.