Could my Florida, eat my Alligator Gar?

[lhamagedon]

Hi
I just picked up my Alligator Gar today and added him to my tank with my S/F Gar. The Alligator Gar is about 4.5" and the Florida gar is 7"
I don't think the Alligator gar will fit down his throat but I am a little worried. I am thinking I should probably rig up some sort of a divider or something until the Gator catches up in size.
I would really like some opinions.
Thanks.

 

[ultimatejay]

You should be more worried about the alligator gar eating your florida gar. And no, the florida gar will not eat the gator gar.

 

[city_of_evil6661]

i agree. gators are better without tankmates. cuz if they cant eat it they will kill it.

 

[E_americanus]

regarding their sizes at the moment, and not their eventual sizes in a couple weeks/month, i think they will be fine. i am pretty sure, judging from the pic of the gator, that if you were to take it out and measure it it would be over 4.5"...looks more like 5-6". either way you should be ok...that being said, if you're ever concerned, go ahead with a divider.

the gator will soon exceed the Florida in size, at which point they would likely need to be separated. good luck--
--solomon

 

[Venatrix]

i agree. gators are better without tankmates. cuz if they cant eat it they will kill it.

Not true, i have seen many gator gars living more than happily with tankmates such as redtail cats, other gars, arowanas, oscars, peacock bass etc etc etc.

They just all have to be of a substantial enough size not to get munched, but thats just common sense!

 

[city_of_evil6661]

Not true, i have seen many gator gars living more than happily with tankmates such as redtail cats, other gars, arowanas, oscars, peacock bass etc etc etc.

They just all have to be of a substantial enough size not to get munched, but thats just common sense!

in fact this is every bit true. being that gators are the most aggressive of the gar species, they will eventually try to eat any tankmates given their average size. which is 5'. and most tankmates people keep these with reach nowhere near 5'. resulting in the gator turning on the given tankmate.

 

[ctoychik]

Not true, gars are kept in company quite OK. I have two gators (at least i hope they are) ... they live with two RTCs and an Oscar- no problems. Granted, one of the gars has killed an equally sized silver aro in the past.

 

[ctoychik]

in fact this is every bit true. being that gators are the most aggressive of the gar species, they will eventually try to eat any tankmates given their average size. which is 5'. and most tankmates people keep these with reach nowhere near 5'. resulting in the gator turning on the given tankmate.

I must say i have seen a gator gar living with a bunch of smaller fish (tilapia, walking catfish, flowerhorn, koi etc in an outdoor shallow pond) ... i was surprised to learn from the owner that it stopped eating live food (frogs, feeders) after being introduced to catfish pellets (farm grade).

My two gators are also hooked on catfish pellets BUT they love live fish (small catfish, snakeheads, eels from the market) and frogs

 

[CTU2fan]

Granted, one of the gars has killed an equally sized silver aro in the past.

See there you go. Gators with tankmates is always a roll of the dice, they can be fine for some time and then something will trigger the gator to take a whack at his tankmate, and with those teeth the result won't be good for the mate. Could be the silver color of the aro attracted the gator; gars seem more attracted to silver colored fish and will often try to eat them.

 

[Venatrix]

in fact this is every bit true. being that gators are the most aggressive of the gar species, they will eventually try to eat any tankmates given their average size. which is 5'. and most tankmates people keep these with reach nowhere near 5'. resulting in the gator turning on the given tankmate.

I am well aware that they are the most aggressive of the gars but doesnt mean they have to be kept seperately, they will not eventually eat any tankmate it just takes common sense and paying some attention to your fish.
I agree that it is fairly likely that they will turn on tankmates of smaller or similar size but i do recall that i said you need to use comon sense and only put in tankmates of a size not likely to get eaten!! And i would hope that any fishkeeper would be able to figure out that once their gar has reached anywhere near 5' it might be wise to remove anything smaller!

Just because people frequently put them in with unsuitable tankmates does not mean that they will eventually eat or kill any tankmate, it depends on many factors such as the individual temprement of the gar and the amount of common sense the owner possesses.