Boulengerelia Lateristriga (Striped Characin Gar)

[kniesh]

I recently bought 2 of these, unfortunately misjudged the sizes and one I think has been eaten by my 12" Ornate Bichir. I just havent seen it at all since the first night in. I moved the other (roughly 6") but reasonably slim, to another tank to grow out. I decided I would try my luck with a few frozen and dry foods before anything live, and the only thing he has taken to so far are the Hikari Cichlid Pellets. He seems to eat these pretty freely but I am worried he wont take anything meaty like bloodworms or Prawns/Mussels/Squid. Is this an ok diet for him until he starts to pick up the others, and if so, how many do you think I should be feeding him a day/how many times a day? He is around 6" now but skinny, not an unhealthy skinny though.

Thanks in advance Vinny

 

[nmonks]

If you characin is eating pellets, that's fine. They will do okay on such a diet, though some fresh or frozen foods will help avoid constipation. Depending on the size of your chaps, tilapia fillet cut to size and offered with forceps should be taken pretty readily. That's a thiaminase-free meat, and therefore very healthy.

Gar characins may be fed daily when young, but once every other day is usually fine once they get above a certain size. Healthy specimens will have slightly rounded bellies.

I'd be surprised if they'd eaten an 12-inch fish. Mostly they go for bite-size prey they can swallow whole. My Ctenolucius live with a whole bunch of Ameca splendens, and while they eat the fry readily enough, adults are completely ignored, as are subadults a couple of inches long.

Cheers, Neale

I recently bought 2 of these, unfortunately misjudged the sizes and one I think has been eaten by my 12" Ornate Bichir. I just havent seen it at all since the first night in. I moved the other (roughly 6") but reasonably slim, to another tank to grow out. I decided I would try my luck with a few frozen and dry foods before anything live, and the only thing he has taken to so far are the Hikari Cichlid Pellets. He seems to eat these pretty freely but I am worried he wont take anything meaty like bloodworms or Prawns/Mussels/Squid. Is this an ok diet for him until he starts to pick up the others, and if so, how many do you think I should be feeding him a day/how many times a day? He is around 6" now but skinny, not an unhealthy skinny though.

Thanks in advance Vinny

 

[kniesh]

Cheers Neale, you put my mind at ease. I was just worried the Pellets weren't nutritionally ideal. I will have a look round for that Tilapia, presumably just my fishmongers to get this, not something I have looked at but will probably be quite good for a lot of my Bichirs an such.

I think I havent been too clear on who ate who. My 2 new Boulengerelia Lateristriga were only around 6" each, and my 12" Ornate ate them I think. He is the main suspect, got a 10-12" Banded Knife and a 9-10" Lima Shovel. I think my Ornate has previous with a similar size Needle Gar I had, but was never totally sure.

 

[nmonks]

Yes, this bichir will eat smaller fish! Adults are somewhat piscivorous as I'm sure you realise, even though the juveniles mostly eat insect larvae. In any case, at night, they'll eat whatever they can overpower.

Gar characins are extremely gentle fish. Keep them with peaceful companions. Your lima shovenose is ideal, as are other catfish that keep a low profile, like plecs. The knifefish, I fear, will cause problems, if this is Gymnotus carapo. This species like other members of this genus is territorial and somewhat snappy if it feels constrained. But you may be okay.

Cheers, Neale

 

[kniesh]

Yeah, spot on Neale, It was a stupid mistake by myself, I judged on length rather than bulk, and the Bichir was much, much thicker than the Gars. Not only because I had just paid £30 for him too.

It is Gymnotus carapo I have and although I really like the fish, if I had to choose a Knife again, it certainly wouldn't be one of these. Never ever see it and it is extremely aggressive towards other Knives mostly, mine doesn't seem to bother anything else. I tried A BGK in with it a long time ago and it was killed overnight. Very aggressive towards other Knives.

 

[always4lora]

i found ornate's to try and bite everything i've got just o see if it's edible. you'd be suprised what they can eat. Remeber they have the death roll to make things smaller

 

[kniesh]

Yeah, this was totally my fault mate. I had the tank I have moved the survivor to but decided to take the chance. Problem with this Ornate is, he's massive compared to anything else I have. He seems to ignore anything that's not too skinny though. He left alone 4 other tiny Bichirs in a 40 gall. He just seems to take down really thin bodied fish, how I missed that I don't know. Lesson learnt though.

I am certain when I first put the Lima in he tried for that too. I got up one morning and it loked like the back 2 inches had definitely been ragged, but right the ay around, so presumably in the Ornates mouth. They are fine together now, I moved the Lima to grow a little before putting him back.