I want to buy florida gars. How fast do they reach full size

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Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

I want to buy florida gars. How fast do they reach full size

by Peterkarig3210

The thing is, I would like to put baby florida gars in tanks of graduatingly larger sizes so as to keep them stunted as much as possible. I want to keep them in a 20 gal tank(with lots of plants, etc) for as long as it seems humane, then move them to a 60 gal, then my 100gal, then one larger depending on how big they grow. How long does it take before they are mature? I would assume that when they reach a certian age their growth will slow, if not stop. I have a couple hydro gars and have read that they can grow to 1.5feet in the wild. They grew to about 8.5 inches in my 60 gal. Then at about three years of age I put them in my 100 gal tank and they grew another 1.5 inches. They've stayed at ten inches for the last eight months. The Florida gar grows to about three to four feet in the wild and I've seen them on you-tube at about two feet in aquariums. I would immagine that most people introduce the baby F.gar straight to a larger tank where maybe they would grow faster and end up larger than if they did it as I want to, but I'm not sure about that. Specificaly, I want to know how fast they mature, how small they can be humanely stunted, and what the smallest adult size would be if eventually I gave them a tank of say 500 gal.
Last edited by Peterkarig3210 on Sun Oct 28, 2007 1:48 am, edited 1 time in total.


dragonmoray
 
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2007 11:14 am

Re: I want to buy florida gars. How fast do they reach full

by dragonmoray

Can't say i understand or agree with the idea of 'humanely stunted'. Seems like a contradiction in terms IMO.


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

Re: I want to buy florida gars. How fast do they reach full

by Peterkarig3210

I don't want to get defensive, but it seems to me that all fish in captivity have to deal with a caged in environment with walls they don't understand and I really want my fish to be as happy as possible. The thought of having a 2ft gar in any space smaller than 4ft by 10ft seems cruel, but the fact is, all fish in captivity will naturally stunt to a degree depending on the space they have avaliable. I have lots of fish and have heavily planted tanks whereby I arrange the plants in a manner that provides convenient hiding and shelter. I adjust at least one powerhead with air entrainment so they can get excersize(I see them playing in it's outflow), and I considder the general current in the tank so that whatever fish I have will not be overly taxed as well. I spend a great deal of time getting my fish used to me by making what might seem like silly (mouth opening and closing, like a fish) faces close to the glass, and I interact with them so they get tame. I have a 14 inch arawana that I always stroke with my hand as I feed it and it doesn't seem to mind a bit. I don't want to keep a growing juvinile F.gar in a 20 gal tank any longer than I have to, but I'm thinking of it's future. I've seen what people sometimes have in terms of tanks for F. gars and it makes me sad to see them struggle to turn in the space given. I want my fish to be as happy as possible, and that's why I don't want them to grow too fast. That's why I have so many tanks of graduating sizes. If someone told me that it didn't matter if I put these fish in the biggest tank as juviniles, that it made no difference to their eventual growth as opposed to what I have planned, then absolutely, then I would. Also, I know that having these fish in small groups of say three gives them company and is good for them, and I also think of the general 'community' in the tank, if stocked correctly, to be benneficial to their wellbeing. I rarely have a fish die before it is old too. My two hydrogars have been with me for almost four years and they show no signs of slowing down, and I've read that they don't live long in captivity. We'll see! I do feel a little guilty about having anything bigger than tetras, but I tell myself that at least they never new what a real lake or river is like. Wouldn't it be cool to have a house whereby the whole side of your living-room was looking into a river or pond? Then you could get the fish to come to the glass when they were hungary or out of curiosity, and they'd still be in a natural environment. Immagine a school of rainbow trout swimming against the current in your living-room. Peter

I want to buy florida gars. How fast do they reach full size

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