# Any Gar Exp.??



## Netmancer (Mar 10, 2003)

I went to the local LFS (not really local, but anywho) and he had gotten a shipment of gar two weeks prior to my visit. They seemed very healthy and active. He had a "rocket gar" and a "needle-nose gar" both in the same tank. I noticed the temputure in the tank was at 61°F and didn't have a heater in it. I asked him if it would be an okay addition to one of my community tropical tank with larger fish in it that it would not be able to eat. I told him my temp was at 82 degrees and he seemed a little hesitant, but then said "Oh sure, you can keep him in there, just make sure you acclimate him really well." I acclimated him for 2 hours almost and when I put him in the tank he seemed okay. He swam around the top for about 5 minutes and then started flipping out and running into the glass. I wasn't sure what to do so I waited a minute thinking he might just be scared. Didn't take the whole minute and he settled, but his body was shaped like a "J" so I took him out and put him back in his bag but it was too late. The poor guy had died already.









I can't find too much info on gar but I'm curious as to whether it was just bad luck or if gar really are only a cold-water species.


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## RhomZilla (Feb 12, 2003)

Needle Gars are dope..s'pecially when they get bigger and their teethes pertrude while chomping down on feeders. I rate them there with Barracudas


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## pcrose (Mar 9, 2003)

What does a gar look like?


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## Netmancer (Mar 10, 2003)

Gar looks kinda like a barracuda too, really neat fish and pretty ferocious to boot.


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

sceintific name?


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Innes said:


> sceintific name?


 Choose your site here


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## KIKI (Mar 20, 2003)

never had problems with gars and I kept them at 82 F and none of mine ever died


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## WebHostExpert (Jan 16, 2003)

he was probably allready on his way to dieing when you bought him. The big change im temp even though you acclimated him for two hours might have been to much. I do beleave they are tropical fish and should be in a aquiro of 73-82 degrees F.
Sorry
MAD


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## SnowCichlid. (Jan 10, 2003)

Sorry about your loss... go back and get your $


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## RedDragonFish (Mar 19, 2003)

gars can relatively live in almost any water r very very hearty they r atmospheric breathers so dont need well oxygenated water but they get very large so they need a big tank tho i would say it had some kind of disease when u got him


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## Black Piranha (Feb 1, 2003)

I had a Florida Gar. they all arent cold water. i kept mine at 82 and he was very happy with that.


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## Netmancer (Mar 10, 2003)

Ahh alright. So he was probably pretty unhappy in his 15 gallon tank with no heater then. Too bad he was so used to it. He was a great looking fish, but you live you learn. I learned-do more research before buying and if something's not right about the tank, don't buy and let the idiot errr...manager know. Thanks everyone!


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## scrapedogg (Apr 28, 2003)

What kind of fish were you going to put in with the gar? I am curious as to whether or not he'd mix with piranhas, or if one would eat the other


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## RhomZilla (Feb 12, 2003)

scrapedogg said:


> What kind of fish were you going to put in with the gar? I am curious as to whether or not he'd mix with piranhas, or if one would eat the other


 Bad Idea, Scrapedogg.. I had Felcauts (Red Tail Barracudas), cousins of the needle gar and even more aggressive. Didnt last an hr with the RBs. Gars are nice, but they're too slim and weakier than Ps.


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## scrapedogg (Apr 28, 2003)

Ok, that's cool, better to ask than to assume!! It's just that the people at petco are dumb as all hell and never get it right with fish combos. They try to tell me that I can't have more than 1 piranha in a tank unless it's the size of a feckin' ocean, I suppose they just don't want a dead fish returned from some idiot who tried to put them all together in a 10 gallon tank or something


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## RhomZilla (Feb 12, 2003)

scrapedogg said:


> Ok, that's cool, better to ask than to assume!! It's just that the people at petco are dumb as all hell and never get it right with fish combos. They try to tell me that I can't have more than 1 piranha in a tank unless it's the size of a feckin' ocean, I suppose they just don't want a dead fish returned from some idiot who tried to put them all together in a 10 gallon tank or something










Leave it to those LFS employees that only go by the books mandated by their workplace.


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## bgshortys (Apr 7, 2003)

Alligator Gars are coldwater. I see them all the time in the Fox river in Wisconsin. They are so hard to catch though.


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## Polypterus (May 4, 2003)

bgshortys said:


> Alligator Gars are coldwater. I see them all the time in the Fox river in Wisconsin. They are so hard to catch though.


Those are not allagator gar there long-nosed, actually these
fish are just fine in warm or cool, any Lepisosteus is fine
from 50 to 90 degrees,
longnosed gar
here are two young long nosed gar
this is an allagator gar
allagator gar 
allagator gar 2
(The fish commonly called the allagator gar in the trade, is really the
flordia gar an adult Flordia can be seen under the Allagator
in the first photo)

Needle nose gars are not in the same family in fact not even
remotly related, Needle fish are more closly related to the halfbeaks,
these fish are very fragile and not easy to keep, they are very much
warmwater species and require a very spacious tank to avoid them
damaging themselves, they are very nervous fish and not 
easy to acclimate


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## Seifer (Apr 10, 2003)

i would never get a gar unless you have a 300+ gal tank..

i have caught florida gar while fishing in the everglades that reached over 20lb is weight and 3 feet long.

they sell them all the time at pet stores at about 3-8" in length. little does the consumer know that the fish will need TONS of food, a HUGE filter, and will grow to the size of your leg.


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

MAD piranhas said:


> aquiro



















that word is so funny


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## dead golfish (Apr 24, 2003)

thos ealligator gar look awsome
ive seen the longnosed before at big al's actually i also got to see them see them ffed it was awsome


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## goldfishkiller (Mar 26, 2003)

You only need like a 5000 gallon tank for allagator gar, look here's a 225lb'er


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## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

yes, pics like those are my motivation for building a 50'x50' backyard pond when i get a house and a job, 10 years into the future. I could throw cats in there and stuff.


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## goldfishkiller (Mar 26, 2003)

Well hell then, check this one out then...It's an oldie


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

HHHHHHHHHHOOOOOLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYY FFFFFFFFFUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!

sorry! but i NEEDED to say that


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

piranha45 said:


> yes, pics like those are my motivation for building a 50'x50' backyard pond when i get a house and a job, 10 years into the future. I could throw cats in there and stuff.


 oh ya, for sure.

i would throw neighborhood kids in there. maybe even tell them they could go swimming. LOL j/k


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## GARGOYLE (Feb 12, 2003)

haha, I dont think anyone short of a millionaire could even afford to keep one of these monster full sized in any size pond. Unless you do feed them neighborhood kids, hmmmm, just got an idea


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