Gars as pets..

amelia · 08-31-2005, 02:14 PM

I want to go out and catch one of our native alligator gars from a spot that I know they are lingering.. Eventually, I would like to have a large aquarium or a pond to keep these fish in. Would it be worth catching my own to not add to the on-market demand of the fish? I'm going to go down today and see what I can get, if anything..

Even if I don't keep the fish as a pet, I'd like to at least get some in-aquarium photographs of it then release it back into the wild. Whatever I do, the fish will still end up back in it's native home.

shev · 08-31-2005, 02:22 PM

Dont catch, keep, then release. its illegal and dangerous, especially if your tank is already set up. oh, and you need a pretty gigantic tank to keep gars.

**Cichlid Man** · 08-31-2005, 03:15 PM

Number one, why have you posted here, and no. 2 I keep gars, but not ones that grow 3 feet long! Jesus!
Mine grow to a maximum of two feet, and eat barbs and discus.
They are slow finders of dead food though, and my snakehead often beats them to it. Though a live fish will be snapped off my fingers before I even drop them in the tank (Just a metophore)LOL.
A pleasure to keep, I've never sold them before.

**Scuba Kid** · 08-31-2005, 04:06 PM

you feed your gars discus?

**Cichlid Man** · 08-31-2005, 04:20 PM

Yeah, I get them imported from Bangladesh, they are the poorly breed specimens which are worthless to breed. They are very cheap.

**TheOldSalt** · 08-31-2005, 11:45 PM

The Alligator gars Amelia mentioned don't get 3 feet long, Cichlid Man.

They get TEN feet long.

Amelia, if you do catch one, don't put it into a tank which ever held exotic fish, and don't release it. Go instead to nanfa-l@nanfa.org and ask if anyone wants it. You'll find that many will want it indeed.

solar-ton · 09-01-2005, 04:47 AM

my friends mom had an ex-boyfriend like 15 years ago he had 2 oscars and an alligator garr in a 55g and yeah you gussed it feeder goldfish

amelia · 09-01-2005, 05:51 AM

Shev--In Missouri I don't think it's illigal if the gar came from the wild in the first place.. o.O I'll have to look up on those laws though.

Cichlid Man--I posted here because this isn't really aquarium related, and there's no subforums concerning wild or native species.

I'm going to wait a while on this gar thing (As I seem to be doing with every other thing..) and maybe try in a few years. I've got enough on my hands right now, but I'm still very interested in keeping the gars.

shev · 09-01-2005, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Shev--In Missouri I don't think it's illigal if the gar came from the wild in the first place.. o.O I'll have to look up on those laws though.

i'm betting it is illegal. or its just too dangerous, they dont want you releasing some exotic disease to the native fish population.

fishboy · 09-01-2005, 05:07 PM

you could possibly take some in aquarium picture then follow theoldsalts instruction

08-31-2005, 02:14 PM	#1
amelia the ami Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: missouri Age: 19 Posts: 270	Gars as pets.. I want to go out and catch one of our native alligator gars from a spot that I know they are lingering.. Eventually, I would like to have a large aquarium or a pond to keep these fish in. Would it be worth catching my own to not add to the on-market demand of the fish? I'm going to go down today and see what I can get, if anything.. Even if I don't keep the fish as a pet, I'd like to at least get some in-aquarium photographs of it then release it back into the wild. Whatever I do, the fish will still end up back in it's native home.

08-31-2005, 03:15 PM	#3
Cichlid Man Super moderator Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 2,100	Number one, why have you posted here, and no. 2 I keep gars, but not ones that grow 3 feet long! Jesus! Mine grow to a maximum of two feet, and eat barbs and discus. They are slow finders of dead food though, and my snakehead often beats them to it. Though a live fish will be snapped off my fingers before I even drop them in the tank (Just a metophore)LOL. A pleasure to keep, I've never sold them before. __________________ If you have a big enough tank with enough hiding places, pH of around 7, you can keep virtually any fish together as long as all the fish are around the same size and these two groups of fish are avioded: Serrasalmus Tetradon(figure eights and dwarfs are the exception). I keep a successful community of fish in a 4 foot tank including the following families: Cichlids, tetras, loaches, gouramis, barbs, rainbows, livebearers, killiefish, catfish, puffers.

08-31-2005, 04:06 PM	#4
Scuba Kid Moderator Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: RI Age: 18 Posts: 4,221	you feed your gars discus? __________________ Current setups: 1800 gallon koi pond, 10 gallon planted, 150 gallon reef, other FOWLR tanks

08-31-2005, 04:20 PM	#5
Cichlid Man Super moderator Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 2,100	Yeah, I get them imported from Bangladesh, they are the poorly breed specimens which are worthless to breed. They are very cheap. __________________ If you have a big enough tank with enough hiding places, pH of around 7, you can keep virtually any fish together as long as all the fish are around the same size and these two groups of fish are avioded: Serrasalmus Tetradon(figure eights and dwarfs are the exception). I keep a successful community of fish in a 4 foot tank including the following families: Cichlids, tetras, loaches, gouramis, barbs, rainbows, livebearers, killiefish, catfish, puffers.

09-01-2005, 04:47 AM	#7
solar-ton guardian of the sea Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: a tree Age: 16 Posts: 685	my friends mom had an ex-boyfriend like 15 years ago he had 2 oscars and an alligator garr in a 55g and yeah you gussed it feeder goldfish __________________ minimum oscar tank size: 75 gallon for 2 a 125 goldfish can cause hith diesease! so dont feed them goldfish as a staple diet!

Members currently in the Chat:8
	Users In Chat Room: WildForFish, Buggy, lohachata, Ricker, karazy, Obsidian, k-dawg-, Blue_Cray Come On In!

08-31-2005, 02:22 PM	#2
shev Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Montana Age: 19 Posts: 1,561	Dont catch, keep, then release. its illegal and dangerous, especially if your tank is already set up. oh, and you need a pretty gigantic tank to keep gars.

08-31-2005, 11:45 PM	#6
TheOldSalt Darth Ichthyos Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 4,358	The Alligator gars Amelia mentioned don't get 3 feet long, Cichlid Man. They get TEN feet long. Amelia, if you do catch one, don't put it into a tank which ever held exotic fish, and don't release it. Go instead to nanfa-l@nanfa.org and ask if anyone wants it. You'll find that many will want it indeed.

09-01-2005, 05:51 AM	#8
amelia the ami Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: missouri Age: 19 Posts: 270	Shev--In Missouri I don't think it's illigal if the gar came from the wild in the first place.. o.O I'll have to look up on those laws though. Cichlid Man--I posted here because this isn't really aquarium related, and there's no subforums concerning wild or native species. I'm going to wait a while on this gar thing (As I seem to be doing with every other thing..) and maybe try in a few years. I've got enough on my hands right now, but I'm still very interested in keeping the gars.

09-01-2005, 05:07 PM	#10
fishboy Custom User Title Join Date: Feb 2005 Age: 17 Posts: 1,656	you could possibly take some in aquarium picture then follow theoldsalts instruction __________________ It is only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Any of you here have other pets?	Shaggy	The Water Hole	203	01-26-2008 11:55 AM
Barge Gars	amelia	The Water Hole	30	09-02-2005 08:07 PM
Live better with your pet!	maxpayne_lhp	The Water Hole	15	08-31-2005 02:00 PM
Turtles for sale!!!! Great pets	Diablosdomain220	Want To Sell	5	08-19-2005 09:05 PM
What other pets do you have?	shadowd_dreamr	The Water Hole	38	05-13-2005 01:59 PM