GOLDEN OR YELLOW GARS

[ernest]

Hi members i m keen to own a golden or yellow gar seen a few at my local aquarium shops .My friend bought a yellow short nose gar abt 5inches paid a very expensive price for it after 6mth the color faded to almost a common gar.Hope members can comment on this any members own a big pure golden gar with picture to show thanks you.

 

[Aquaman_95]

Well usually fish lose their color because,They are going through stress. Tell your friend to give him so time and he should be fine in a week or so. Feed him good to.

 

[Polypterus]

It is highly inadvisable to buy a so called "golden gar" until the fish is at least 12 inches and can show stability in coloration..It is not uncommon and it is not rare to find Juvenile gars that are pale or lacking in color only for them to 'show' later...Coloration of small gars can be highly influenced by diet and it is not all that hard to make a 'golden gar' just by feeding it a astaxanthin or capxanthin rich diet at a young age. I actually have been playing with doing just this with a Shortnosed and it works very well...Fact is though as soon as you take it off enhancing supplements they turn right back to normal coloration.

 

[csx4236]

A buddy of mine has a 28" gold florida gar, 9 months out of the year it is like pure gold and the other 3 it gets very dark almost black. I am not an expert but i think they do go thru color changes during the year and will turn pure gold to dark not sure why, we thought might have somthing to do with breeding not really sure.

 

[Polypterus]

A buddy of mine has a 28" gold florida gar, 9 months out of the year it is like pure gold and the other 3 it gets very dark almost black. I am not an expert but i think they do go thru color changes during the year and will turn pure gold to dark not sure why, we thought might have somthing to do with breeding not really sure.

This has been well documented from mature gars (Golden and normal) and is indeed caused by hormonal changes associated with spawning..It is often the males that will show the most dramatic changes.

 

[demjor19]

This has been well documented from mature gars (Golden and normal) and is indeed caused by hormonal changes associated with spawning..It is often the males that will show the most dramatic changes.

you say this can be true w/ normal colored gar? could this be the reason for the change in my floridas coloration? from the time i purchased him back in the begining of december up until march or april he was very dark (almost black). now he is much lighter. i thought at the time it was caused by stress because of us moving and him going into a new tank, but he is still very light in coloration and has been in this tank for over 3 months now. could this be caused by hormones?

 

[Polypterus]

you say this can be true w/ normal colored gar? could this be the reason for the change in my floridas coloration? from the time i purchased him back in the begining of december up until march or april he was very dark (almost black). now he is much lighter. i thought at the time it was caused by stress because of us moving and him going into a new tank, but he is still very light in coloration and has been in this tank for over 3 months now. could this be caused by hormones?

I would be hesitant in saying that your case would be related to hormonal concentration due to the movement of the fish and the fish being under duress..There are many other causative factors that will alter a fishes coloration and the concentration or lack of Black pigmentation.

The above mentioned seasonal coloration change in an adult sized fish in a stable environment could very well be due to spawning condition and hormonal changes.