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FAQs on Gars, Family Lepisosteidae
Related Articles: Gars, Bowfins,
Related FAQs: Bowfins,
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Florida Gar and Pleco, comp., nutr. of
Loricariids 7/24/08
Hi all--
I love your site, and have spent many hours reading in the last few months
since I discovered it. However, I've had an issue come up that I have not
been able to find an answer to. I have a seven-inch Florida Gar in a 125
gallon tank, with six larger-sized silver dollars and a Pleco. I am not sure
of what type he is, but he is definitely not the "common type". He is brown,
with a short, wide, compact body, about seven or eight inches long.
<Do bear in mind some of these fish will get extremely large; Gar will
exceed 60 cm and potentially 90 cm in captivity if they are among the common
species traded, such as Lepisosteus platyrhincus, the species usually sold
as the "Florida Gar".>
Lately, we have noticed him interacting with the gar in a way we had not
previously observed. He appears to be sucking on the gar. I know from
reading your site and others that this is a bad, bad thing.
<Has been reported between these species, and yes, is damaging to the Gar.
When the skin is abraded, the mucous is lost and it becomes much easier for
secondary infections to get started.>
We chase him away and offer algae disks, which he goes for (lately, he's
seemed overly ravenous, often eating four times the amount of disks that he
used to).
<People tend to underfeed Loricariidae. Understand this: they are constant
grazers and mud sifters in the wild, and don't understand the "two meals per
day" notion many aquarists prefer. You need to give them vegetable foods
such as courgette, sweet potato or carrot that they can nibble on through
the day, plus bogwood for fibre.>
My question is this: is the Pleco suffering from some type of nutritional
imbalance that we can remedy?
<Likely not an imbalance, but quite probably not enough fibre, so that the
fish feels hungry because it isn't full. These catfish are adapted to
feeding on a bulky rather than concentrated diet.>
If he's just being rude, and that's definitely possible, we can take him to
the LFS. However, due to their lack of adequate space for larger fishes, and
the fact that hideously overprice any fish that aren't tetras or mollies,
therefore forcing the fish to be there in less than ideal conditions for a
long period of time, I fear for his life. This would be a last resort.
Please help! Thanks.
--Melinda
<Seemingly no simple answers here, but very likely these fish will need to
be separated. Perhaps try offering a better (more vegetable-rich) diet, but
if that doesn't help, you will need to rehome one or other fish. Cheers,
Neale.>
Re: My Florida Gar and his Pleco Friend,
comp., fdg. -- to Neale 8/9/08
Hi Neale--
Melinda here again.
<Hello!>
You responded to my email a few weeks ago regarding our Pleco (have since found
out he is a rhino Pleco) and our Florida gar.
<Hmm... Pterygoplichthys scrophus, rather a nice catfish! Not common in the
trade, and I think quite a handsome beast.>
The Pleco was getting a little too friendly with Fluffy (the gar), and seemed to
be trying to snack on him.
<Can happen; not commonly, but does happen.>
You suggested feeding a variety of fiber-rich veggies, but predicted we'd
eventually need to separate the two. Well, Dino (the Pleco) had no intentions of
eating any of my tasty veggie offerings. In any case, we have separated them.
<Let's see if this helps. If not, then back to the drawing board. I suppose you
could try offering her some meaty food. My Panaque is ostensibly a vegetarian,
but she enjoys raw mussels in the half shell, partially shelled shrimp and other
such delicacies. You may be able to tempt your cat to eat these things instead
of her tankmates...>
Thank you for your advice.
--Melinda
<Good luck! Neale.>
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Gar With Sores On His Head - 09/07/06
I have a spotted gar that has developed some type of disease. It has
white film and ulcers, deterioration, on it's head. I have been treating it
with Maracyn-two. Following the directions for the 6 day treatment. Not much
improvement. Since their skin is not the typical fish type, would this be the
correct treatment? Also, by putting aquarium salt for freshwater fish in the
tank harmful to him? Could this cause a problem. Thanks.
< Gars are actually pretty tough critters. There could have been some damage
to his head as he tried to jump out and now they got infected. I would try
Nitrofuranace. It treats a wider range of parasites and it also has some
antifungal properties. Salt wouldn't harm him unless it was an unusual
amount. Do a 50% water change, vacuum the gravel and clean the filter. This
medication may harm the good nitrifying bacteria so watch for ammonia
spikes.-Chuck>
FW/BW Mis-mixes - 03/26/2006
First off, I just wanted to say that I love your site and you all do a great
job. I was just wondering what you thought about the mixture of fish I have in
my 90 gal tank. I currently have 2 red devils, 1 Florida gar,
<Neat fish... illegal in many States... get way big>
1 green terror, 1 tiger Oscar, a small Pleco, 1 figure eight puffer, and 1
dragon goby.
<These last two... are increasingly brackish with age, size... should they
live...>
The biggest so far is the red devil at about 7 in.
<I'll bet! Some of these are really devils!>
So far I have had the tank for about 4 months with no casualties. Everyone seems
to be getting along swimmingly. I am worried though that with this size tank
there will not be enough room for all species when they reach their full
potential.
<To put this mildly>
I have gotten so attached to them all I can't bare to let one go. (Unless it's
for their own good.)
<You need at least two more tanks... and a lake if you're going to try raising
the lepisosteid>
I do weekly water changes, vary their diet, etc.... and treat them all with the
care they deserve. What do ya think? Thanks - Steve, MI
<A brackish tank, an easier going cichlid tank.... See WWM re these species
systems, compatibility... Bob Fenner>
Gar fish
I thought about what you said from the last e-mail and I just want to go with
one gar fish. I just need some basic knowledge about them first.
<Unfortunately I wasn't the person who had answered your previous email. So,
I'm not sure which Gar you are referring to. There are many different
species. Just to be on the safe side I'll give you a run down on the
typical ones found in the aquarium hobby. Gars appreciate the following water
conditions: a pH between 7.0 to 8.0, slightly hard water, and temperatures
between 70 to 80 ºF (23 ºC).>
What size tank would I need? What should I feed it? What diseases should I look
out for?
<Short Nose Gar (Xenocara dolichopterus) grows to about 2 feet long in the
aquarium, I've read that they are found as long as 4.5 feet in the wild. so
they need a tank that can accommodate a long fish. They like the temperature
of the tank to be 75-80 degrees. They do fine in small schools and
are not to difficult to care for. These are surface dwellers, and will only eat
tankmates it can fit in it's mouth. Other fish are said to be okay
with it. These are hard to get to eat anything but live foods.
Alligator Gar (Lepisosteus sp.) These get to be very large (±8 feet). I
have seen these be as long as 15 inches in the home aquarium, and were still
growing. If you should go to any fishing website you will be amazed
to see some of the monsters that people catch while fishing. These
need massive tanks when they are adults. These will snack on fish in
the tank unless they are as large as it is. I have seen them with
Large Oscars and Snake heads. They seem to leave Plecos alone. Alligator
Gar are much more likely to eat frozen and prepared foods than others. These
are much easier to care for, the only problem is you need a large tank with nice
filtration.
Needle Nose Gar (Xenocara dolichopterus) These fish are the smaller Gars, and
are readily found in the aquarium hobby. These get 12 inches long
when full grown so they need a smaller tank than their cousins. These
are surface dwellers and will feed on live foods such as guppies, They are
harder to get to eat the dry foods but with persistence they are said to take
krill. They do well in groups and can be kept with fish of similar
size. They also like the warmer water conditions.>
Anything else that you can throw in will be helpful too. Thanks
<They are interesting fish, but not very active. They often times
are just floating near the surface waiting for food. Good luck.
-Magnus>
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