Longnose Gar

Question
We have a longnose gar in our aqaurium that is about 8 inches long.  He has always looked healthy and eats well.  This morning he looks sick.  It looks like he broke his back.  There are no other fish in the tank that could have done anything to him.  Is this something bad?  We just put live guppies in the tank and normally he goes crazy but he is just barely moving.

Answer
Hi Robin,
 It certainly does not sound good.  

 I assume that you have been doing regular water changes. You should be changing about 25% of the water once a week, every week, to keep him happy and healthy.  Have you been doing that?

 It is also possible that he caught a disease from a feeder fish. It is for this reason that I strongly discourage people from using feeder fish.


-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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