Gar in a planted aquarium, Vinz

[Plantbrain]

Some gar in my tanks:

http://www.aquatic-plants.org/gallery/album02?page=1

They are native here in Florida and we saw some on the Santa Fe river where these babies were from. Pretty nice predator for a large planted tank, these get longer than Aro's.

The small cubes are non CO2.

I figured Vincent might like this

Regards,
Tom Barr

[vinz]

Hi Tom,

Yeah, I saw the earlier pics, but I don't remember seeing the full tank pic.
Real nice, both the fishes and the tank. How big is that tank and how big will the gars get? What do you feed them?

I imagine the NO3 levels could get quite high. How are you handling it? I suppose high CO2, light and nutrients?

I see a pleco(?) on the front glass and a few small ones at the right. What other fishes/critters are there?

Last week, my mind started toying with the idea of a planted Channa (snakehead) tank, but probably a smaller species.

[GaspingGurami]

Hi Tom,

Wouldn't those gars outgrow your tank? An angling buddy of mine used to pull these monsters on rod and reel in Texas (or maybe it was the other way around, he gets pulled by them in his tiny coleman scanoe )

They can grow up to 300lbs in those parts.

My buddy used to fish em in the 70-90lb sizes.

And yes, very nice tanks you have.

Vinz, I used to keep a snakehead when I was a kid back in the 70s. Unless you have a very thick glass, be prepared to see it broken wnen you throw in live food. I had a cement tank made (cement on 3 sides, with a cement frame in the front and perspex instead of glass) I dun think you can find these tanks now-a-days. Maybe in Malaysia.

Don't put too much water or the snakehead tends to jump out. I put 6 inches of water and had a hollow half log for it to hide.

BTW if it takes hold of your finger, dun pull, the teeth hidden beneath the gums are hooked inward. Get someone to open the mouth for you Ouch.

[Plantbrain]

NO3 are not an issue, weekly 70% water changes.
I do not over feed them either.

Tank is a 75 gal, 48x20x18 inches
The fish are about 1 ft, they get huge, but they will do fine in a 150-180 for many years, in nature they easily get 4-5 ft. About 3ft if not over feed in a tank. A frined has had one for about 8 years, it's only 2 ft.

There are many other fish in there that would be food. It leaves most things alone, likes the small goldfish I feed 2x a week.

These went back to their home in the Santa Fe River. I "borrowed" them.
But if I wanted, I could keep them for about 2-3 years and then need a 180 or so. They are not as jumpy or neverous as many other fish like this.

A group of Whimple Piranha, or Hydrocolus would be nice.
There are quite a few odd ball fish that are well suited.


Regards,
Tom Barr