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I saw these at the ol LFS, and decided to do a lil research. From what I gathered they're one of the smaller gars, and reach about a foot in length. I also found that about 55 gallons is a good size tank for one.

So here's the questions I have.

1. Would one about 8 inches be compatible with a *gets out tape measurer* 5 1/2 inch common pleco? That's a must for me to get one. I've been gradually upgrading his tank size (didn't know they got so big when I got one for my 10 gallon over a year ago, but know I know better). From what I've read, it would be ok with anything not small enough to fit in it's mouth, and boy he's massive. Plus they would be at opposite areas of the tank. This will only be for a few months until a larger tank for the pleco is available.

2. Foods they eat. From my understanding, they only eat live fish. But, is there something else they eat? Or maybe I was just misinformed.

3. Compatible Fish. What would be a good tankmate for one? Maybe 1 or 2 more gars? Some kind of cichlid like a firemouth? Oscars? Some kind of bigger catfish?

That's all the questions I have for now, and other info you have to share would be appreciated though.

Many cichlids are too boisterous to keep with this timid species. They might be predators, but they are very peaceful and will be intimidated/bullied by aggressive fish. Their best tankmates are other peaceful, medium-sized predators, such as Leopard Ctenopomas and Amazon Leaf Fishes.

These gars are only able to eat small fish, so you can keep some of the larger tetras (Congos, Bleeding-Hearts, etc) with them.

Needlenose Gars rarely venture from the surface, so it is important to feed them guppies instead of golfish. Guppies are suface-dwelling fish and are easy prey for the gars, whereas goldfish will head straight for the bottom of the tank when put in.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Thanks for the tips.

Would any of these fish work with one? Black Ghost Knifefish, Freshwater Barracuda, Various Eels, Pictus Cats, Chaca Chaca Catfish, Water Cow, hmmm...those are all I can think of right now.

Xenentodon cancila does best in water of light-brackish salinity.

Agreed that they do best in light brackish. As for tankmates, mine did fine with fish that were too large to be considered food, but not big enough to consider the needles food.

As for foods, cory is right, and mine only ever took live (including my finger once when I was working in the tank and not paying attention...boy was that a shock!) I was able to feed the rosies and guppies. Even at nearly a foot in length, my big one still couldn't down a small goldie, it was too deep bodied. The rosies and guppies however slid down easily...

Last edited by puffer_archer at 30-Apr-2005 00:45

After looking for info, it came up with they're found in freshwater or slight brackish, so I'll check with the LFS and see what they're kept in.

Tankmates sound simple enough, and for feeding I guess just nothing too big and bulky. I'll keep it on a diet of roseys, guppies, any livebearer fry that pop up in my tanks, and I'll experiment with various insects and worms and such.

Thanks for the help and info.

Just a word of warning - though X. cancila can be acclimated to lower salinities, they, in freshwater, are typically more susceptible to disease and generally experience a shortened lifespan; while some specimens exhibit greater resiliency (likely due to geographical extraction), it might not be wise to assume to go upon general assumptions.

Last edited by Veneer at 30-Apr-2005 02:03