tank mate for gar?

[hugh jass]

I have what I believe is a Florida gar in a 55 gallon tank. I've had
this fish for about 22 years and he (she?) has been alone for probably
the last 10. The fish is about 16" long now. I was wondering what kind
of fish would be compatible with this gar and would it even be a wise
idea to try and introduce any fish into this tank. Several years ago I
bought a few very large silver dollars thinking that they were
obviously to big to eat so the gar would leave them alone. He killed
them in pretty short order even though I feed him only pellet food.
Any thoughts?

Andy Donohue

[blove]

why not get a bigger tank and get him another gar friend

"hugh jass" > wrote in message
om...
> I have what I believe is a Florida gar in a 55 gallon tank. I've had
> this fish for about 22 years and he (she?) has been alone for probably
> the last 10. The fish is about 16" long now. I was wondering what kind
> of fish would be compatible with this gar and would it even be a wise
> idea to try and introduce any fish into this tank. Several years ago I
> bought a few very large silver dollars thinking that they were
> obviously to big to eat so the gar would leave them alone. He killed
> them in pretty short order even though I feed him only pellet food.
> Any thoughts?
>
> Andy Donohue

[hugh jass]

I read a few places that they don't get along with their own kind very
well. Many years ago he shared the tank with cichlids, snakes and
other fish roughly his same size.

Andy

"blove" > wrote in message >...
> why not get a bigger tank and get him another gar friend
>
> "hugh jass" > wrote in message
> om...
> > I have what I believe is a Florida gar in a 55 gallon tank. I've had
> > this fish for about 22 years and he (she?) has been alone for probably
> > the last 10. The fish is about 16" long now. I was wondering what kind
> > of fish would be compatible with this gar and would it even be a wise
> > idea to try and introduce any fish into this tank. Several years ago I
> > bought a few very large silver dollars thinking that they were
> > obviously to big to eat so the gar would leave them alone. He killed
> > them in pretty short order even though I feed him only pellet food.
> > Any thoughts?
> >
> > Andy Donohue

[blove]

according to this
http://www.piranha-fury.com/forum/pfury/index.php?&act=ST&f=106&t=7163 ,
they arnt territorial so hed prolly like a gar buddy or maybe a big oscar
or something along that lines but he definatly needs a bigger tank.

"hugh jass" > wrote in message
om...
> I read a few places that they don't get along with their own kind very
> well. Many years ago he shared the tank with cichlids, snakes and
> other fish roughly his same size.
>
> Andy
>
> "blove" > wrote in message
>...
> > why not get a bigger tank and get him another gar friend
> >
> > "hugh jass" > wrote in message
> > om...
> > > I have what I believe is a Florida gar in a 55 gallon tank. I've had
> > > this fish for about 22 years and he (she?) has been alone for probably
> > > the last 10. The fish is about 16" long now. I was wondering what kind
> > > of fish would be compatible with this gar and would it even be a wise
> > > idea to try and introduce any fish into this tank. Several years ago I
> > > bought a few very large silver dollars thinking that they were
> > > obviously to big to eat so the gar would leave them alone. He killed
> > > them in pretty short order even though I feed him only pellet food.
> > > Any thoughts?
> > >
> > > Andy Donohue

[NetMax]

I've got a couple of 12" 'Columbian needlenose' (whatever that is), and
if they are anything like Florida gar, then a 'gar-friend' might be
tricky. Mine are starting to *not* get along (faded colour seems to
indicate the alpha fish). This is not a fish you want to keep unhappy.
ymmv, just my observations. It might be easier if they could be sexed.

For tank-mates, surprisingly, I have Kribensis in the tank with them
(60g). The gars stay higher up and don't move much except to stalk prey
(rosy feeders), and the Kribs stay low moving through the underbrush. I
wouldn't have predicted that this combo would work, but I suppose the
Kribs are very conscious of the threat above and behave accordingly.
Probably not a repeatable combo (ymmv), so you might have to experiment a
bit.
--
www.NetMax.tk

"blove" > wrote in message
...
> according to this
> http://www.piranha-fury.com/forum/pfury/index.php?&act=ST&f=106&t=7163
,
> they arnt territorial so hed prolly like a gar buddy or maybe a big
oscar
> or something along that lines but he definatly needs a bigger tank.
>
> "hugh jass" > wrote in message
> om...
> > I read a few places that they don't get along with their own kind
very
> > well. Many years ago he shared the tank with cichlids, snakes and
> > other fish roughly his same size.
> >
> > Andy
> >
> > "blove" > wrote in message
> >...
> > > why not get a bigger tank and get him another gar friend
> > >
> > > "hugh jass" > wrote in message
> > > om...
> > > > I have what I believe is a Florida gar in a 55 gallon tank. I've
had
> > > > this fish for about 22 years and he (she?) has been alone for
probably
> > > > the last 10. The fish is about 16" long now. I was wondering what
kind
> > > > of fish would be compatible with this gar and would it even be a
wise
> > > > idea to try and introduce any fish into this tank. Several years
ago I
> > > > bought a few very large silver dollars thinking that they were
> > > > obviously to big to eat so the gar would leave them alone. He
killed
> > > > them in pretty short order even though I feed him only pellet
food.
> > > > Any thoughts?
> > > >
> > > > Andy Donohue
>
>

[sophie]

In message >, hugh jass
> writes
>I read a few places that they don't get along with their own kind very
>well. Many years ago he shared the tank with cichlids, snakes and
>other fish roughly his same size.

my lfs has had big gar in a ginormous tank with a couple of big plecos
and an arrowana - they have all co-existed in there quite happily for at
least the last couple of years (the gar and the arrowana at least, I
think the others come and go).

>
>Andy
>
>"blove" > wrote in message
>...
>> why not get a bigger tank and get him another gar friend
>>
>> "hugh jass" > wrote in message
>> om...
>> > I have what I believe is a Florida gar in a 55 gallon tank. I've had
>> > this fish for about 22 years and he (she?) has been alone for probably
>> > the last 10. The fish is about 16" long now. I was wondering what kind
>> > of fish would be compatible with this gar and would it even be a wise
>> > idea to try and introduce any fish into this tank. Several years ago I
>> > bought a few very large silver dollars thinking that they were
>> > obviously to big to eat so the gar would leave them alone. He killed
>> > them in pretty short order even though I feed him only pellet food.
>> > Any thoughts?
>> >
>> > Andy Donohue

--
sophie

[Ram Firestone]

(hugh jass) wrote in message >...
> I have what I believe is a Florida gar in a 55 gallon tank. I've had
> this fish for about 22 years and he (she?) has been alone for probably
> the last 10. The fish is about 16" long now. I was wondering what kind
> of fish would be compatible with this gar and would it even be a wise
> idea to try and introduce any fish into this tank. Several years ago I
> bought a few very large silver dollars thinking that they were
> obviously to big to eat so the gar would leave them alone. He killed
> them in pretty short order even though I feed him only pellet food.
> Any thoughts?
>
> Andy Donohue

Don't know if these would get along, but you can try some of the
larger bichirs (Polypterus). These are what I keep. It would be kind
of cool becuase Gars and Bichirs are the only two fish with rhobic
scales.