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How to prevent a common gar problem?


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#1 Guest_Yeahson421_*

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Posted 16 July 2011 - 10:57 PM

My 2 inch Longnosed Gar snapped his neck today. I was just wondering how to prevent this for my next Gar. Any ideas?

Edited by Yeahson421, 16 July 2011 - 10:57 PM.


#2 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 16 July 2011 - 11:27 PM

This is awful, so I'm trying to understand it. Did you examine the tank and find it dead? How do you know it was its neck and not something else? How did it snap its neck? By running headlong into the glass, like birds do on skyscraper windows?

#3 Guest_gzeiger_*

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Posted 17 July 2011 - 08:51 PM

If you search old posts I think you'll find a number of people having this problem with gar. The recommendation in the past has been to keep them in proportionately smaller tanks when they're small so they have less distance to accelerate. A 2 inch gar would probably be happy in a 2.5 gallon biocube or similar setup with just a couple Gambusia/guppies or whatever feeders. As it grows, transfer it to bigger tanks, but it should always be close to the glass so it hits before it gets up enough speed to kill it.

Alternately, you might try adding heavy cover. Floating vegetation like water lettuce might help, or you could go to a fabric store and get a large bunch of silk flowers. That would help keep the fish calm, since it would be under cover, and would also cause it to change directions frequently since there would be visible obstacles.

#4 Guest_Yeahson421_*

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Posted 17 July 2011 - 09:35 PM

This is awful, so I'm trying to understand it. Did you examine the tank and find it dead? How do you know it was its neck and not something else? How did it snap its neck? By running headlong into the glass, like birds do on skyscraper windows?

I know it did because after I turned on my light I saw him crash into the side. When I pulled him out he was shaped like an L, with his head being the bottom.

#5 Guest_Yeahson421_*

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Posted 17 July 2011 - 09:37 PM

If you search old posts I think you'll find a number of people having this problem with gar. The recommendation in the past has been to keep them in proportionately smaller tanks when they're small so they have less distance to accelerate. A 2 inch gar would probably be happy in a 2.5 gallon biocube or similar setup with just a couple Gambusia/guppies or whatever feeders. As it grows, transfer it to bigger tanks, but it should always be close to the glass so it hits before it gets up enough speed to kill it.

Alternately, you might try adding heavy cover. Floating vegetation like water lettuce might help, or you could go to a fabric store and get a large bunch of silk flowers. That would help keep the fish calm, since it would be under cover, and would also cause it to change directions frequently since there would be visible obstacles.

Okay, thank you. Sadly, the gar have moved on, so I don't think I will be able to catch another by the end of the year.

#6 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 17 July 2011 - 09:38 PM

Don't feel bad. Common problem. Many of us have done it. Graduated tanks!

#7 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 18 July 2011 - 10:23 AM

O_O That's so awful. My fish startle when I turn on the lights, too. I've been thinking about putting in a timer and a dimmer switch to turn them on gradually.

#8 Guest_gzeiger_*

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Posted 18 July 2011 - 10:01 PM

I don't know that this has been tried, but maybe you could find a chemically inert foam to cover three walls of the tank with something soft. You could leave the front since the fish won't startle toward you.

#9 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 18 July 2011 - 11:48 PM

I don't know that this has been tried, but maybe you could find a chemically inert foam to cover three walls of the tank with something soft. You could leave the front since the fish won't startle toward you.

"Great Stuff" by Dow is a chemically inert foam. Link: http://greatstuff.do...pond-and-stone/

#10 Guest_nativeplanter_*

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Posted 19 July 2011 - 11:53 AM

I can see it now... Yeahson421 will come home to find his gar stuck in the foam like a dart...

#11 Guest_Yeahson421_*

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Posted 19 July 2011 - 12:01 PM

I can see it now... Yeahson421 will come home to find his gar stuck in the foam like a dart...

Haha! Now THAT would definately be post worthy!

#12 Guest_Yeahson421_*

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Posted 19 July 2011 - 12:02 PM

"Great Stuff" by Dow is a chemically inert foam. Link: http://greatstuff.do...pond-and-stone/

I've worked with great stuff quite a bit, and it gets pretty hard.

#13 Guest_Irate Mormon_*

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Posted 20 July 2011 - 10:53 PM

I've never had this problem. Don't startle your gar.



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