Most people have different fish....

[satyra]

...in their ponds than i do...lol. just happened to come across these guys, picked them up today. CBB too! i can def tell they were CB, they arent skittish at all even though they are in a new home, and we were working and stuff in the pond today and they didnt swim off and hide at all. very awesome fish!

http://pics.boasbysatyra.com/assets/galleries/54/DSC03981.JPG

http://pics.boasbysatyra.com/assets/galleries/54/DSC03982.JPG

http://pics.boasbysatyra.com/assets/galleries/54/DSC03991.JPG

sorry these were the best pics i could do since i dont have a side viewing glass :p:

[brokenhalo]

What are they?

[satyra]

theyre spotted gar

[jlcoop277]

Awesome! Now I want a Gar pond.

[Txoscar]

Are they in a pond?.????...if so how big of a pond?

[satyra]

Yep its a pond, I wanted something different from your average pond so I decided to go with gar. Its 600 gal and the gar are about 12 in

[Txoscar]

Pardon my French ......... That is kick ass bro!.....:pimp:

[donkey]

I know they live in our lakes but can they survive in a pond during the winter ? Cool idea if they can do ok

[satyra]

I live a little south of most of you guys lol. It doesn't get very cold down here but we will be using a heater over the winter :)

Thanks for the comps! I LOVE my pond! Its fun to watch these guys hang out together, and they seem fairly smart for fish :D

[hungdang]

What are they?
they are Florida gar! most likely be spotted if wild caught in Texas, but if bought from some one it's most likely FLG!

[satyra]

The parents of these fish were wc here in tx, but these particular fish in my pond were born in one of his ponds. They look just like fl gar though, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference if I saw them side by side. Is there any new good info about how to tell the difference between the 2?

[FlamandalayBay]

I would talk to Blake(Biggin) as he seems to be a go to on gar imho

[biggin]

Those look BIG for 12", great color on them as well.

If they were born in Texas chances are VERY good they are Spotted, but the only real way to ID them is via blood / scale sample(DNA testing).

Either way, there is no real difference for the average keeper, I know the difference between mine just because...

I am not sure that gar are smart, they are curious and are not the cold blooded killers that a lot of people think they are.

Nice little group, do you have plans for other tank mates?

[satyra]

Nice, I didn't know you could run dna tests on them! Very cool. Idk if I'll ever do that, I wanted them for my own enjoyment :D

I'm not all that sure if I can put anything in there with them. Even with it being 600gal I can't put TOO many fish in there...i always hear bichers do well with them, but even with the heaters during the cool months idk if it with keep it warm enough for bichirs. I'm prob gonna do some research and see what native fish I could put in there...if anyone has any idea lets hear 'em!

[Virc003]

Nice, I didn't know you could run dna tests on them! Very cool. Idk if I'll ever do that, I wanted them for my own enjoyment :D

Actually, most living organisms are now classified and named based on their dna. I've even heard of species being renamed because they look like they belong in one group, and were originally named based on that info but actually evolved from elsewhere

[T-Angel]

Beautiful Gar ! Reminds me of the two years I was working in Fort Lauderdale. We had a lake on the campus full of small blue gill, bass, and gar. A buddy of mine would toss bits of yeast roll into the water and get the blue gill into a feeding frenzy. Then here would come the bass and gar to pick off thier lunch :D...

[hungdang]

hey, any chance if your friend still have some small gar for sale?

[satyra]

Its possible I'll ask him and shoot you a pm when I find out.

[Typical Tony]

very awesome, makes me want a pond.

[Txoscar]

Nice, I didn't know you could run dna tests on them! Very cool. Idk if I'll ever do that, I wanted them for my own enjoyment :D

I'm not all that sure if I can put anything in there with them. Even with it being 600gal I can't put TOO many fish in there...i always hear bichers do well with them, but even with the heaters during the cool months idk if it with keep it warm enough for bichirs. I'm prob gonna do some research and see what native fish I could put in there...if anyone has any idea lets hear 'em!
Texas Sunfish would be cool!

[satyra]

I think the gar might eat them unless they're really big :O they're really beautiful though i'd love to have some. they were actually something I was really gonna take a good hard look at :)

[hungdang]

channel cat! maybe koi, some people keep koi with gator gar with not problem but those are huge pond, SPG should be safer with koi!

[Super Fish]

WOW very nice love the pics and the gars look great..

[flamenco-t]

Nice gars..

[Sigmar]

now one of those would definitely take care of my guppy problem in the pondroflmao

[Erniec]

Thanks for sharing, awsome fish

[jlcoop277]

Hey what's the area around your pond like? Shaded, covered? I'm curious bc I got the ok from the wife for a backyard pond after a few other things she wants are done first.

[satyra]

now one of those would definitely take care of my guppy problem in the pondroflmao

im sure they wouldnt mind living in your guppy pond! roflmao

jlcoop, the pond is right under the tree in my front yard, its shaded all day except for little glimmers of light that makes its way down through the leaves. its above ground, we built it on a level patch of concrete. in the shade like this the highest temps i have seen so far is 87. its also hidden from neighbors lol, no one ever knows its there unless we have told them about it :D

[biggin]

One concern might be wildlife eating them.

[satyra]

oh yea i worry about that too, especially cause we have stray cats here. the pond has wire-screen stuff thats used to build rabbit cages to cover it, id be PISSED if one of those cats or possums or rats or whatever else lives out here ate my fish! i take off the screen covers though when we are planning on sitting out there to look at the fish for a while or for pics, feeding etc :D

[Carg]

That's the kind of pond I could do, thank you for sharing!

[satyra]

Lol yea I wanted a pond with cool fish in it and now I have some :D

Now if I could expand it to say, oh....about 20,000 gal then just maybe I could keep an alligator gar or 2 :D

[hungdang]

Lol yea I wanted a pond with cool fish in it and now I have some :D

Now if I could expand it to say, oh....about 20,000 gal then just maybe I could keep an alligator gar or 2 :D
20,000 should be too enough for 2 gator gar!

[jlcoop277]

I don't know how big your front yard is, but that would really be cool

[Flapjack]

very awesome! what are you feeding them?

[satyra]

I don't know how big your front yard is, but that would really be cool

lol that sure wont fit in our yard now, but we have been looking around at land locally to get ideas on how much its gonna cost to buy a few acres and then build our house there. that pond is gonna be like an exhibit you would see at an aquarium or something :D cant wait! it involves at least one viewing glass....lol.

so far they have eaten a few live feeders, ive been trying to find some massivore pellets locally but havent had much luck. im gonna try some frozen (thawed) shrimp or fish and see if they eat that too.

[bcody21]

those are soo cool. what do u have to feed them?