GARS: Can I keep these fish?

Florida Gars have been a favourite in the tankbuster scene for as long as that scene has existed, and on the whole, they tend to do relatively well in captive care. Much like lungfish care, the primary concern is space. In an ideal world, these should be the realms of public aquaria sizes, though fish of up to 60-70cm are regularly seen in tanks of a few metres long. Famed UK aquarist Jack Heathcote used to keep them in a tank that was effectively half of his cellar with a huge glass pane at the front. Although they don’t breathe atmospheric air to the extent of lungfish, these gars will still take gulps from the surface as needed, and again, warm, moist air should be provided. Part of their success in so many tanks is down to their eating speed. These things are ambush predators with a body built for speed (just look at that streamlined arrow shape) and soon learn to accept whole fish. Be careful not to overfeed, in part because of water quality issues, but also to avoid them becoming overweight. Gars can be gluttonous, and while juveniles may need daily feeds to get them up to size, adults should require a modest two or three feeds a week. Monitor the shape of the fish and adjust accordingly.

For temperature, aim to keep things around 25°C. Wild fish are subject to seasonal changes, and can go down to around 18°C, but it doesn’t seem necessary to recreate this. Much like lungfish, as long as water chemistry isn’t in the extreme, they should be find, Somewhere around 7.0pH and 4-18°H will suit them.