Two more rescued Gars

[Clare]

Yesterday i posted a topic on my new Florida Gars. We were so pleased with them but we had also seen 2 in another fish store, only this store isn`t quite so fish friendly. We have been thinking about the poor things for a while now, so today we bought them. They were a total rip off price wise, and the fish store has had them in for ages but we didn`t care!
They were in a tank with 3 RED SNAKEHEADS!!!! AGGH. " One of them had been sold, the other had jumped out and was living in the sumps ( now is a danger to staff) and one was left, closely watching the gars. There were also Fahaka`s with a label saying they grow to 10cm!! Lots of other horrible fish stories but for now, it is a happy ending for the gars.
They are now swimming happily with the 2 bigger ones, feeling very protected because they get on well in a group. There is no bullying to smaller ones.
Our Mbu is really happy, wow, 4 new mates in 2 days, all who love swimming with me and actually rub against eachother as they swim past!
We also got another Tire Track Eel as we lost Lawrence to what we think was a tumor, not to replace him but just to give one of these amazingly curious fish a good home.
A happy day.

 

[SirMinion]

That's great Clare, I have a hard time seeing animals in bad petshops too.

How big was the red snakehead in the sump? A danger to the staff? gosh!

(btw, Martha ate her first mussel a few minutes agao, we are so glad she's eating!)

 

[Clare]

I am so glad about Martha eating. Our Martha hasn`t eaten yet, in fact, only one of the small ones we got today has eaten. That`s usual for Gars at first though so we are not too worried.
Just don`t give her Squid! When we gave Gomez squid he hated it and sulked for ages!
The snakehead must be at least a year old, they turn at 9 months. Also living in the sump is an electric catfish, plus others!!!!!!! They had a load of catfish but they are not sure what they were, lots of Pseudodoras Niger which reach 3ft. A widemouthed cat which we read actually grows 5 ft in the wild so you would expect half that in captivity at least but it is so fierce it even attacks surfers!! They assured us it`s friendly!!! I hate the shop but the only redeeming quality is that the fish are generally in good health, that is until they are eaten by their tank mates.
I think you will find Martha such a joy to have, i mentioned her to Gomez but apparently Fahakas aren`t too interested in what sex the fish is, they`d rather just savage it!!
Clare

 

[Bomag]

hiya there claire think i know the shop your on about is it the one near a tram museum because i heard those two storys the other day about catfish and snakehead and saw the walago in there and the black doridids i wanted the snakehead but they wanted to much for him.
and the arrowana with a bad eye did you see him
i am sure we are onabout the same shop another clue does it begin with Bir

 

[Clare]

Yes, it does begin with Bir!! The people in there kind of mean well but they just buy in any old fish and stick a label on it. DON`T BUY THE SNAKEHEADS!!!!!! The other fish are all mixed up in tanks. Is the place we are talking of also a garden centre? If so, we live 45 minutes from there.
Didn`t see the Arowana, sounds sad if it only has one eye. Did see one in with some rays, is it the same one? What are your opinions of the shop? One thing they told me, was that if a supplier names a fish, they sell it as that name even though it may be something totally different and don`t use their initiative. Their only knowledge comes from looking things up in books ( very dodgy).
Our Gars were sold as aligator gars!!! If you`ve seen the ones in Wharf Aquatics tank then you would see a major difference in them, one is fierce and massive, the other isn`t!!!!!!
Clare

 

[CFC]

Oh dont worry, those florida gars (Lepisosteus platyrhincus) will get fierce and massive enough themselves, you can expect them to reach at least 40 inches in length and with the right diet and clean water they can top 50 inches, when you then consider that gars can and do swallow fish half their own size i think you can safely say that makes them pretty large and fierce, i hope you have plans for a 14 foot by 6 foot tank or pond!!!!

One gar to watch out for at the moment is a fish called the crocodile gar, this is a made up name given to a hybrid of the florida gar and aligator gar. Since they have not been around long no one knows quite how big they will get but judging by how other hybrids such as RTCxTSN has worked out there is a chance that the fish may grow larger and faster than either parent fish.

 

[Bomag]

yeah it is a garden centre i am also 45 mins away from there.

yeah the arrowna was in with the rays and he did have two eyes but the second one had the droop syndrom i think caused by looking at the bottom of the tank to much while swimming at the top watching say the rays in this instance.
and his eye is now permantly like that.

also yeah a lot of the fish were named by what the supplier had sent them in as under there own addmission which i thought was a little poor

but the tanks seemed in good condition and most of the fish healthly

but am still tempted by that snakehead

 

[CFC]

he did have two eyes but the second one had the droop syndrom i think caused by looking at the bottom of the tank to much while swimming at the top watching say the rays in this instance.

Droopy eye in arowana's is caused by diet, in the wild arowanas live on mainly large insects which they snatch from branches and leaves above the waters surface, but in a aquarium people tend to feed them large ammounts of high protein foods like mussles and fish which causes fatty deposits to form behind the eyes causing "droopy eye" and at the back of the head giving the fish a spoon shaped head.

but am still tempted by that snakehead

Remember that red snakeheads will grow to around 3 feet and cannot be kept with any other fish, they are lovely fish but a 12x5x3 tank for one fish is a bit more than most people are prepared to supply.

 

[Clare]

Thanks for the advice on the Gars, i will stay away from the new species. The spotted Gars that i have will be lucky to reack 2ft. They are in with my mbu at the moment and are all soon to be re homed in a tank 8ft x 3ft x 2ft. If they did grow big enough to go in the 12ft x 5ft x 4ft tank that would be fine

I sent you ( Bomag ) a personal message on the other topic we were discussing. Did you know that red snakeheads grow huge, and that owners have to feed them with specialist gloves on and beware of them jumping out of the tank? Look on the Aquaria Central website. They are described as the nearest aquarium equivalent of the great white shark!! Good luck if you do decide to buy it, they have a bigger one living in the sump in the shop, with an electric catfish, agghhh!!
Clare

 

[Bomag]

thanks cf know what you are saying think i will leave it well alone and have heard of that fatty thing going on as well did not release it caused that i stand corrected once again by god lol but i am sure i only put i think anyway lol.


but they do have some cool fish even if they dont know what they are doing

 

[CFC]

The spotted Gars that i have will be lucky to reack 2ft.

I doubt very much that you have true spotted gars, Lepistoseus oculatus is a species very rarely seen in the trade let alone here in the UK, i would be 90% certain that what you have are young florida gars which will easily top 2 feet, if you can get a photo i will be able to confirm it 100% for you.

 

[Clare]

I will try to post photos but it will take me a couple of weeks. I was sold them as Lepisosteus Oculatus and have been trying to get them for ages. I got them from Wharf Aquatics in Pinxton. The guy there writes for PFK magazine in the oddball section and is spot on with his fish so i do trust that they are the real thing.
If they do grow big though, i will have the big catfish tank as an option.
Clare

 

[ryan]

I will try to post photos but it will take me a couple of weeks. I was sold them as Lepisosteus Oculatus and have been trying to get them for ages. I got them from Wharf Aquatics in Pinxton. The guy there writes for PFK magazine in the oddball section and is spot on with his fish so i do trust that they are the real thing.
If they do grow big though, i will have the big catfish tank as an option.
Clare

I presume you are talking about Richard Hardwick? As CFC Lepisosteus oculatus aren't as commonly seen as others.

 

[CFC]

Well i will admit Richard Hardwick does know his stuff so prehaps two of yours are spotted gars but i find it difficult to believe that two shops would both have L.oculatus in stock. The florida gar is the most commonly imported gar as these are now farm bred in Asia for the aquarium trade and appears in shops all over the country from March till September, after which i presume the season for them ends till the following year.

This thread is a very good one for identifying gars and the author really knows his stuff http/www.predatoryfish.net/ibforums/inde...showtopic=59288

 

[JohnFM]

Gar nomenclature is pretty crappy in most places I've been to. They tend to label everything as Alligator gar or Spotted gar.

How positive is the identification on the Florida Gar coming from captivity? Its quite a rare fish compared to Spotted, so I'd have thought it more likely that it was L. oculatus being bred....