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Gar, family Lepisosteidae
Gar are large, predatory fishes that are hardy and easy to keep in aquaria, provided they are given enough space.
Whilst they are primarily freshwater fishes in most of their range, several species enter brackish water and one or two species may even be found in salt water from time to time. Atractosteus spatula is particularly common in brackish water where they feed heavily on blue crabs. All gar are opportunistic predators that will eat pretty much anything they can catch including arthropods of various types, fish, small turtles, aquatic mammals and even wildfowl. Because of their large size and heavy armour, once they reach adult size, most species are relatively immune to predation though alligators will sometimes eat them.
Four species routinely enter brackish water and can be considered possible additions to the brackish water aquarium. These are:
- Atractosteus spatula, fresh, brackish and salt water, maximum length ~300 cm
- Lepisosteus oculatus, fresh and brackish water to at least SG 1.005, maximum length ~100 cm (~60 cm in home aquaria)
- Lepisosteus osseus, fresh and brackish water to at least SG 1.005, maximum length ~200 cm (~100 cm in home aquaria)
- Lepisosteus platostomus, fresh and brackish water to at least SG 1.005, maximum length ~90 cm (~60 cm in home aquaria)
Lepisosteus oculatus and Lepisosteus platostomus stay relatively small in captivity and can be kept safely in tanks 700 litres (200 gallons) in size without problems. The main issue with these fish is the width of the tank from front to back; because gar are inflexible fish thanks to their armour plating, the tank needs to be broad enough that they can turn around easily. In other words, the tank should be at least as broad as the fish is long. The bigger species are not viable fish for the home aquarium, and are more normally seen in public aquaria.
Broadly, gar can be considered community fish when kept with fish too large to eat. Docile cichlids, catfish, Siamese tigerfish, and large sleeper gobies like Dormiator maculatus work very well. Gar also get along with their own kind, and in fact actually prefer to be kept in small groups. They will eat practically anything meaty, from floating carnivore pellets through to chunky strips of fish and squid. Small specimens particularly enjoy bloodworms and other insects. There is absolutely no reason to feed them live feeder fish.
Water chemistry is relatively unimportant, and the brackish water species at least will tolerate a specific gravity of at least 1.005. They are air breathers, and must have access to the surface of the tank. Although many species are tolerant of stagnant water in the wild, in aquaria they do best in well-filtered water.