Share your gar set-ups

[xander]

Future fail thread...

No offense Alex but this format (Internet forum) just is not very conductive to information gathering and databasing like this. Tried this many times and it would almost always fall flat. Best to recognize when your beat and just give up trying to make something do what it is not designed or expected to do. Other avenues work better for this type of data collection and databasing.

the few posts above yours does seem to prove you right... pretty much exactly why i insisted for people to take the time to carefully construct a response and refrain from making pointless posts. any advise on areas i've missed out on (husbantry wise)? -i'd be willing to bet 3 fingers you can come up with a 3page response to what i've missed out on...

those below give me hope thou, lep plat great looking scape, don't think i've seen this noe before right? gotta say it looks somewhat familiar

i'll give it a chance still, i have time on my hands and effort to be wasted. perhaps with some help (and a LOT of deleted posts?) this could work out...

 

[Noddy]

Don't know if it will be a sticky, but i had fun replying!
here's the info:

tank
-6x2x2 12mm glass tank
-50gal sump, powered by central heater pump, 500+GPH;
-Ph 7 constant
-50% waterchange weekly, adding prime and kH+
-kH 7
-2 to 3 frozen feeders every (other) day
-i keep my kH at 7 to mantain the stable pH
-lots of decoration in my tank, and my Gar makes good use of it.
His favorite spot in in the right front corner, resting with the cover of driftwood next to him. like in the below picture.

fish:
-Florida Gar, one year at 1 foot, and growing...
I've had him since the was about 6" small year ago.

-successful tankmates:
-10"Oscar, 1 Hypostomus pleco @12",one catus pleco @8", ,no incidences
:10"Vieja Synspillum: Rehomed,Had a beef with all the above fish, but with my gar, no incidences

-risky tankmates:
6 Silver Dollars, repeatedly steal food out of gars mouths, causing them to dart off. I feed the sd at the same time my gar comes for the fish.Keeps them busy while my gar is eating.

incidences:None, my Gar doesn't spook easily and has proven to be an excellent choise for my tank, although my tankmates are not to be adviced.
All my fish are gentle and show no real aggression and so the combo works for me.

Note the tank is not made for Gar in the first place, he was the last fish to join and all his tankmates seem to respect him.

 

[jay_leask]

very nice set-up

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

xander, no you havent seen that scape before. recently done. i like it! so do my gar.

 

[Polypterus]

the few posts above yours does seem to prove you right... pretty much exactly why i insisted for people to take the time to carefully construct a response and refrain from making pointless posts. any advise on areas i've missed out on (husbantry wise)? -i'd be willing to bet 3 fingers you can come up with a 3page response to what i've missed out on...

those below give me hope thou, lep plat great looking scape, don't think i've seen this noe before right? gotta say it looks somewhat familiar

i'll give it a chance still, i have time on my hands and effort to be wasted. perhaps with some help (and a LOT of deleted posts?) this could work out...

Well just to tell you one big thing missing.. Temperature

This is far more important information than pH... (Though I have some theories on pH being a factor in Gar coloration and condition.) Temp though is quite critical and has many direct actions on these fish.

 

[sbuse]

well my temp is 84f

 

[msjinkzd]

tank
-tank specs- 7x2x2
-filtration- fx5 and a c360
-pH value 7.8; gh 10, kh 14; temp 77
-waterchange regime- 30% 2x weekly
-feeding regime/ diet- massivore; market shrimp, homeraised livebearers (occasionally), tilapia fillet, earthworms


fish: do add duration of the co-hab followed by any incidences (constant aggression, food stealing, sudden movements causing gar to speed off & potentially causing injury- 3 endlicheri polypterus and 1 tropical gar. Been together for about a year
-gar: number, species, sizes- 1 trop, about 20" or so
-successful tankmates(past or present): co-hab for extended periods of time with few to no incidences- polypterus
-risky tankmates: never wanted to risk it
-incidences: stress, injury or death caused to gars- when in a 4x2x2; gar was "pesky" to the female poly. Occasional scrapping caused fin damage which always healed very quickly with an additional water change or two.

4x2x2:




new 7x2x2:



One thing to note, when I had taller driftwood in the tank, the gar had a difficult time navigating and seemed to be stressed. It seems better to have much more open swimming space though I kept low wood in teh tank to give the endlis places to camp out. The gar and the endlis would rest in the low light plants provided.

 

[Matt&Catt]

Nice set up.