Anyone keep a Gar? need advice.

[forsure]

A fellow I know needs to go away for awhile, and I might take care of his gar for the time. I belive it is a Florida Gar. It has it's own tank an equipment, and he will let me use all these things so that I keep his gar alive and well until he can take care of it again.
I am wondering what I need to know about taking care of his fish. I am looking forward to it, but I would like some good advice too. I know it needs lotsa live foods. It is maybe 15 inches long and solitary.

 

[Stephen]

Live food is a must for a gar unless it's been turned to something else. The one's I've kept were pretty simple... I fed them guppies, shiners, mosquito fish, did bi-weekly water changes, and kept the algea off the glass. They seem to be pretty hardy fish and judging from some of the places I've seen them naturally they'd have to be. I would suggest you make sure the tank is covered however. I did have 2 jump out on different occassions.

 

[OrionGirl]

You may want to check predatoryfish.net for more--lots of gar keepers there.