I had 2 needle nose gar fish and one recently died. I honestly couldn't figure out what the problem was...there were no prior signs of distress and the water was perfect when i tested. None of the other fish in the tank were affected.
When I found the dead fish it looked as if it had actually split down the middle, from head to tail...there were some holes along the underside of the abdomen which may have been caused by my pleco picking at the dead fish, but through one of them i thought i could see a large feeder fish, undigested. I realized that we had recently fed them a batch of feeder fish, and after they ate the rest, one large-ish feeder minnow remained and when i had gone to bed that night it was the only fish left uneaten. I found the dead gar fish the next morning and the large feeder was also missing in action.
This may sound ridiculous but can a gar fish actually be killed by it's prey from within? It didn't look like it exactly choked on it..or couldn't get it down because it probably would then have been partially sticking out of its mouth? But I still cannot figure out why it died or how? Its very frustrating...please help!
My remaining gar fish has now become very lonely, it actually now almost seems intimidated by my bala sharks (4 inches maybe). The gars were both about 8 inches long when the one died, we'd had them a few months and they always swam side-by-side. It looked as if the remaining one was looking for his buddy after it died for a few days. Now it will not eat at all (has not eaten in over a week). Before they used to eat as many fish as they could, usually at least 5 each, once every 2 or 3 days. My gar hasn't eaten since the other died, although we have certainly given it the opportunity. I have made sure all the feeder minnows are the right size (not too big anymore)...and have left them swimming around for a couple days but it will now eat any of them. I'm really worried...i don't want it to die too! HELP!
When I found the dead fish it looked as if it had actually split down the middle, from head to tail...there were some holes along the underside of the abdomen which may have been caused by my pleco picking at the dead fish, but through one of them i thought i could see a large feeder fish, undigested. I realized that we had recently fed them a batch of feeder fish, and after they ate the rest, one large-ish feeder minnow remained and when i had gone to bed that night it was the only fish left uneaten. I found the dead gar fish the next morning and the large feeder was also missing in action.
This may sound ridiculous but can a gar fish actually be killed by it's prey from within? It didn't look like it exactly choked on it..or couldn't get it down because it probably would then have been partially sticking out of its mouth? But I still cannot figure out why it died or how? Its very frustrating...please help!
My remaining gar fish has now become very lonely, it actually now almost seems intimidated by my bala sharks (4 inches maybe). The gars were both about 8 inches long when the one died, we'd had them a few months and they always swam side-by-side. It looked as if the remaining one was looking for his buddy after it died for a few days. Now it will not eat at all (has not eaten in over a week). Before they used to eat as many fish as they could, usually at least 5 each, once every 2 or 3 days. My gar hasn't eaten since the other died, although we have certainly given it the opportunity. I have made sure all the feeder minnows are the right size (not too big anymore)...and have left them swimming around for a couple days but it will now eat any of them. I'm really worried...i don't want it to die too! HELP!
