Will Gar Bite? May-Be!
Because of their toughness, gars are easy to keep in the home aquarium as long as you’re able to supply a steady diet of live fish or wean them over to other high-protein fare. Young gar, because of their fast metabolism, will waste away if not fed at least a couple of feeder-size guppies a day. But be forewarned: properly fed young gar grow quickly and can reach a foot or so within the first year. Adult gars can be trained to eat thawed frozen smelt and beef heart.
Keep gar in as wide an aquarium as possible to prevent injury to their large snouts, with plenty of floating and submerged plants to provide cover. Avoid driftwood and rock work except in exceptionally-large aquaria. It goes without saying that gars can’t be kept with other fishes not much larger than themselves. Although, larger, more active tank mates can harass sedentary gars. Under the right conditions, you can expect a gar to live in the aquarium for many years, even decades.
Because they can breathe atmospheric air, gars are none-too-fussy about water conditions. Since they can tolerate higher temperatures, some aquarists keep them with large tropical piscivores, such as oscars and Jack Dempseys. Keep the tank covered, as any surface-dwelling fish is a jumper. But don’t keep the tank so tightly covered that no atmospheric air gets inside. Even in highly oxygenated aquaria, gars need to “break” to avoid drowning.
Young gars can be collected with dip nets and small seines in shallow still water with lots of vegetation. Carefully remove all the vegetation from the net or seine before making another pass; camouflaged within those plants, leaves, and twigs may be the fish you’re looking for. Young gars can also be collected at night when they float near the surface and are easy to net once you learn to distinguish their shape from that of floating debris.
(Credit: NANFA.)
