hustler Posted November 2, 2010 Report Share Posted November 2, 2010 They are the SMALLEST gars i have ever seen...... lol I believe the 2 left are either longnose or spotted that will grow into thier beak :)I didnt see the scales too well but if your has a sharp diamond or triangle shape odds are they are longnoses and More rare... Very long narrow head for a spotted/florida but i never seen one so small. I didnt buy any as even my clown loaches in the new 180 would eat them Back to the want adds for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knifefishfan Posted November 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2010 (edited) hehe jlake...i heard so some rays attacking gars cause they sometimes lay flat on the bottom. id keep an eye out for that. and thats a good idea, earthworms. do you just hand feed them or drop them? im also gonna try small cut up pieces of silversides hehe hustler, in my big tank, they would be eaten for sure. dont you have a smaller tank for grow outs? and what size you looking for?...well good luck with finding the bigger ones man. Edited November 2, 2010 by knifefishfan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustler Posted November 2, 2010 Report Share Posted November 2, 2010 Im looking for anything bigger than say 6"..... My grow out tank...... one of the 180's i picked up this weekend has 6" clown loaches too small for my rays in the 300.... The other 180 adopted my redtail cat and giant gourami so there is just no way i can make use of $50 food sticks lol Jlake..... My big female motoro can fit a 6" clown loach as fat as a golf ball alomost into her mouth...... and tried and tried again till i took them out..... If it fits in the mouth its fair game to any predator fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLake Posted November 3, 2010 Report Share Posted November 3, 2010 Yeah my retic pups are 5 inch at best! They are eating only cut up worms. I hope they leave the gar alone for now. I cant get the gar to eat yet. I threw in a red raspberry fry and a back scraper fry in there with him tonight so i hope he eats them. I tried the blood worms and he didnt eat them. And I am not a fan of blood worms in my ray tank. Ill give him a few more days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knifefishfan Posted November 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2010 i noticed the 2 i bought love bloodworms. i bought earthworms and cut them up and dropped them on top of the gars...nothing. i thawed bloodworms in a cup and dropped them on top of the 2 and they kept eating for 10-20 mins. they had their fill. i dont worry about the leftovers as the bgk angelfish and bichirs eat what ever bloodworms there are. ps the bichirs love earthworm and had an earthworm each lol, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustler Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 Get em off the bloodworms asap....... Bloodworms always cause me headaches in getting fish off them and High ammo cycles...... not too mention they hold little actual food in them...... more of a treat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLake Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 Yeah i regret feeding my gar the bloodworms today. He ate a few but more ended up on the bottom than in his belly. I had to suck em all out. How bad would it be to feed them rosy reds? I understand that I would run a risk by introducing rosies to that tank. Do the gars have any natural protection from diseases that the rosies would carry? Just because they are piscavores you would think they would be a lil more resiliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knifefishfan Posted November 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 mine ate all the bloodworms i gave them. if the bichir and angel didnt eat, the gars would of ate them up. i dont have any bloodworms left in the tank. it also doesnt hurt that my bgk cleans up after them at night eating all the leftover food. i was thinking of rosey reds too but i dont want to introduce them cause the risk to the other fishes. also im a little hesitant of feeding them roseys they might be too big for the gars still. i already had this happen to a needlenose i had that was about the same size. he ate rosey and died 3-4 days later cause the small rosey was too big and cause him internal damage. he pooped them almost whole and then 2-3 days later he was swimming vertically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustler Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 Dont get me wrong...... Ive bought gars fed on minnows and goldfish that were just fine...... Ive also bought wild caught that had actual 1/4" fish lice on them I had to pick off with tweezers....... They are a keystone species...... they can endure alot more than your average fish..... but it all comes down to how much they eat and water quality..... They could live in ich infested water with zero oxygen if they were eating pinky mice daily...... but thats neither here nor there lol..... If they arent eating anything but bloodworms i would start with strands of TINY pieces of tiger prawns and beefheart...... get them on that and you will have a fish that will outlive you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knifefishfan Posted November 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 im also trying earthworms and cutting them into little pieces and drop them the same time as the bloodworms. so far only the bichirs eat them hehe. im hoping once they realize earthworms are food, they would be off bloodworms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLake Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 HAhah yeah feeding is a lil bit of a problem at this size. I want a clean healthy way to feed this guy. Here is some info I found on the net at work! hahapower feeding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knifefishfan Posted November 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 nice article hehe. i decided to throw in some sinking pellets with the blood worms and earthworms. i noticed 1 of the gars bitting the pellet but ended up spitting it out. ill try that again and hopefully he takes pellets as that would make my feeding so much easier hehe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLake Posted November 7, 2010 Report Share Posted November 7, 2010 I caved today and bought 5 rosies for my gar. I gave the rosies a quick dip in a aquari sol bath and into some water for a rinse and then just threw them in there. Its been 20 mins and he ate two already. He went to the bottom and picked the smallest one off instantly. Im prolly gonna regret this, but the gar is small i just want to grow him to a larger size. His mouth is so small right now im limited to what he will eat. He has been living off bloodworms all week and I have had enough. He wont eat shredded prawns or pellets or earthworms. I want him to be healthy not lack nutrients. Lets hope these rosies fattem him up a lil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustler Posted November 8, 2010 Report Share Posted November 8, 2010 Well i dont suggest you gut load the poor lil guy just yet lol...... 5" a month isnt healthy for arapima nevermind the smaller gars...... But you do what you gotta do..... seeing as they are aqua stock getting it to eat anything is important just to build up immunities..... but that being said a good meal then fast em till he will take slivers of beefheart or prawns would be your best choice.... that or krill the frozen kind not dried out has worked wonders for me in the past. Keep the temp around 82-84 aswell.... it will get them digesting same night Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knifefishfan Posted November 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2010 (edited) i guess i was lucky with my gars...they are eating sinking pellets and earthworms and now sliced up silversides. i feed them 3-5 times a day and they eat whatever i drop and at times, the food doesnt even hit the bottom. its only been a week and they are fat and one and half times the size. i bought 20 rosey red minnows just in case and are being quarantined for atleast 2 weeks. what do you have with your gars? mine are with bichirs and i guess seeing the bichirs eat EVERYTHING, they learn whats food and to eat it. even my bgk eats pellets now. guess its a race before the bichirs eat it lol. Edited November 8, 2010 by knifefishfan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.