Gar In A 75 Gal?

[flakes]

can i put a gar in a 75 gal.?
what species is it?

 

[nmonks]

You can't put standard gar (Lepisosteus spp.) in a 75 gallon system.

You'd be much better off looking at things like needlefish (Xenentodon spp.) or gar-characins such as Ctenolucius spp. The large estuarine halfbeaks, such as Zenarchopterus spp., are strikingly gar-like, but are more active and would make a good alternative for the advanced hobbyist.

Cheers, Neale

can i put a gar in a 75 gal.?
what species is it?

 

[flakes]

what do i feed it?

 

[nmonks]

Feed which fish? Lepisosteus are easy to feed on seafood, earthworms, even pellets. They don't need (and shouldn't be given) cheap feeder fish like goldfish or minnows. My specimen of L. oculatus loved squid and small bits of mackerel as well as Hikari Cichlid Gold.

Halfbeaks eat algae and insects in the wild, but readily take Spirulina flake and small pellets. Ctenolucius are a bit more fussy and prefer live foods like earthworms and river shrimps to begin with, but can be trained to take dead foods. The same holds for Xenentodon, which in the wild feed almost exclusively on crustaceans (not fish!) but will take various invertebrate live foods as well as frozen lancefish.

Do feel free to say "thank you"; good manners cost nothing!

Cheers, Neale

what do i feed it?