alligator gar care&needs

that is true, but please have a place that will be willing to take him/her in when you need to get rid of it.

 

that is true, but please have a place that will be willing to take him/her in when you need to get rid of it.

 

Ok, are we sure that the fish at the LFS is the same one that we're all thinking about? I just can't see a fish like that being sold anywhere. It's like selling baby dolphins at the LFS or something like that. Maybe you should do some research and find out how big this one at the LFS really gets. If it is the huge one, I'd just leave it at the LFS. As sad as it is, it wont live long in their over-stocked tanks. If you do buy it, what would you feed it? That thing looks like it would eat full grown cows! Are you thinking about building a pond, or putting it in a local river/lake?

 

I was gonna build a big mini lake, but heck with it ill just put it in the local park

 

am i causing a lot of problems here, if so then im sorry i was just tryin to get help if i end up buying it from LFS

 

You can't put that thing in a local park! I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and believe that that was sarcasm (that was my initial thought anyway). It's very illegal to dump fish in rivers/lakes/ponds, etc. It really screws up the ecosystem. If you put an enormous fish like that in a little pond it will most likely eat anything and everything in the lake and destroy the ecosystem. You just cant do that. Please just leave the fish at the LFS. This is not a fish that should be kept as a pet, it's like having a pet dolphin or elephant or something like that- it just doesnt work. Go buy a neon tetra instead.

 

the LFS says it an alligator gar, but what if its a smaller version like a florida gar do u think that would be ok if it in a small pound in my back yard?

 

pond not pound
and no

 

fishie chick has a point, never put a fish in a streem, lake or pond that is a public place. a few reasons, it damages the balance, what if pets get in there? little kids falling in, and inhumane.

 

You can't save every fish from the LFS. Sometimes it's better to just let someone else deal with it.

A lot of LFS's are all about money. They don't care how big the fish get or what size tank they'll need. Otherwise they wouldn't be selling things like pacus, irridescent sharks, channel cats, red tailed cats, etc.

And even florida gars can get over 4' long, so I wouldn't recommend getting them either.

We're not trying to be mean, just trying to keep you from making a mistake. Some fish simply aren't meant to be kept as pets and if you get this fish, you'll either end up with a dead fish or a monster of a fish that you can't find a home for. I'm currently having a hard time finding a home for a 12" oscar. It will be next to impossible to find a new home for a 4+ foot long gar.

Also, you never did say what region you live in, but since you have piranhas, I'm going to guess that you have them legally and don't live in a southern state that has warm winters (like Florida & California). In that case, a gar would not survive a winter outside in a pond.

-Chelle

 

i just want an agressive fish something more agressive then my piranhas, any suggestions?

 

Why do you want an aggressive fish? Do you want to see them fight & rip eachother to shreds? If that's the case, then I'm sorry, but I'm not going to help you.

Or do you just want a fish that's active and has personality? In which case I can give you lots of suggestions.

-Chelle

 

i oppose of fish killing each other, like beta fighting if find that cruel and unusual punishment. I love my fish alot, and i would never buy them to rip each other apart. I just like active wild fish, i dont like for instance sucker fish, because they just sit around the tank and it's boring to see. I also want agressive fish, becuase a lot of them have beautiful colors. Like my piranhas

 

now thats just cruel and is a waste of money, I cant see why someone would do that

 

What size tank do you have or plan on getting for whatever fish you end up buying? What size tank ar eyour paranhas in?

 

i have them in 20 gallon tank i will move them once they grow bigger. They are about the size of a quarter, i bought them when they were the size if a dime. I was told that you need 20 gallon per full size piranha

 

What every size they need.

 

Well I dont really know much about piranahs, but I had pacus which are cousins of the piranah. I can tell you this for sure, these fish need a lot more than 20 gallons each. I'm sure they get bigger than Oscars, and they require a lot of space, t_chelle can tell you all about that. I can't tell you for sure what size tank you'll need, but if they're anything like Pacus you'll need to have about a 500 gallon tank. You obviously can't get an alligater gar, it's just not an option, these fish get enormous and need to be left in the wild. Don't even worry about them at the LFS, they'll die soon anyway. I think you should get your piranahs a good home (500+ gallon tank) and THEN think about getting another fish. But dont think about getting more fish until you get your piranahs sorted out, ok?

 

My piranhas are the size of a quarter i think they are pretty fine of now. FYI pacus grow over twice the size of a full grown red belly piranha, thats just crazy to have a 500 gallon tank for a piranha the size of a quarter u probally cant even see them. And your right u dont know much about piranhas

 

No, I dont know much about piranhas, but at least I didnt pretend I do. Most of my knowlege is about reef aquariums, that's what I keep now, but I used to have FW tanks. I didn't mean get a huge tank for your piranhas now, but once they get bigger you'll need a much bigger tank. I'll assume you know a lot about piranahs and know what you're doing with them. So are you still set on this alligator gar?