Jurrassic Fish

[gonesnakee]

Snapped some pics the other night & finally got a few not bad ones of a couple of my Bichers (Ornates) & my new Gar. It was the Bichers that first got me into snakes. Mark

<img src="http://members.shaw.ca/gonesnakee/ORNATE.JPG"width="500">

<img src="http://members.shaw.ca/gonesnakee/ORNATES.JPG"width="500">

<img src="http://members.shaw.ca/gonesnakee/GAR.JPG"width="500">

<img src="http://members.shaw.ca/gonesnakee/GGARR.JPG"width="500">

[Tim and Julie B]

Wow you keep your bichers together? In all the info I have seen it says they do not get along with their own species. I watched one at a petstore eat a lemon yellow cichild it just grabbed it and ate it like a snake. So cool. They quickly moved it to another tank. :D I like your gar I don't think I have ever seen one that color before. Nice fish. It's amazing how many people that are into reps are also into fish. I have two 66 gals and a 130 myself. TB

[Scales Zoo]

Very nice pictures of the fish, I'm glad you got some good ones of the gar!

Ryan

[gonesnakee]

As long as they are all of approx the same size range they can stay together. They scrap a little occassionally, but do well together. Bichers as you probably know are old school carnivores that have been around since the Jurrassic era & will eat just about anything they can swallow sometimes. In the last 10 years I've kept a whack of various ones. Currently I have the 2 Ornates, Senegal & Marbled in with the Gar & in another tank with my Tiger Datnoid I have 2 albino Senegals & 2 Delhezi. I haven't had any Rope/Reed fish for a while now. My last one got killed by a big Delhezi I used to have (he was trying to eat it). The Gar is the only one like it anyone around here has ever seen & was a really good score on my part. I think the Yellow ones are more available (or should I say are even available LOL) in the US than they are here. I've only ever seen a yellow one in my Jurrassic Fishes book. Mark

[samurai]

That gar looks awesome!!

[Katt]

GORGEOUS!! I love bichirs! I kept a rope fish for a while, but in our move to SK, I had to rehome her for a bit, and she just stayed there as I did not set up a tank after the move here.

Bichirs and rope fish are the only fish I'd keep. Okay, actually loaches too! and arro's!!

[Manitoban Herps]

I love loaches, I used to have tons, clowns, yo-yo's, horsefaceds, weathers, skunks, and more :D

[munchy]

damn those are sweet. makes me wanna get back into fish. i still have my complete old 75 gal. mbuna setup in the shed. id really like to set it back up with some malawi cichlids but for real if you wanna do it properly maintenance is a royal pain in the ***.

[Oliverian]

Holy Mark! Those are neat looking fish. Don't think I've ever seen any like that before. Are they some sort of loach? The first thing I thought of was that they look like Dojos, because I have a couple. Nice tank, too.

Take care!
-TammyR

[gonesnakee]

THX everyone! Hi Tammy long time no hear! They are definitely not loaches or related to them closely by any means. Just checked my book "Jurrassic Fishes" & they (Bichers or Polypterus)orginate in West Africa & have actually been around since the Mesozic era & to quote the book "The characteristics of such fishes are thick, ganoid scales, a large gular plate, exterior gills in the young, and a pair of lungs, on on each side of the trunk, as in humans." These "primatives" aren't just your average fish & the Ornates reach sizes in excess of 60 cm making them able to swallow quite large prey as they are strick carnivores. Not something "cute" to keep with your "tropicals" LOL I think they look like Sea Monsters or something, pretty frigging cool fish anyhow, if it weren't for them I wouldn't have "Gone Snakee", Cheers Mark

[Dozer]

what kind of gar is that? looks crazy!!!

nice to see some more fish fanatics in the house

[gonesnakee]

I'm pretty sure the Gar is a Spotted or a Florida Spotted. There is a picture of a Yellow one in the "Jurrassic Fishes" book that is a Florida Spotted. It says that they have shown up in the AQ trade & were well recv. I'm assumming they mean in the States, but the book (1994 T.F.H. Publications) was orginally done in Japanese in 1992 ("Ancient Fish" by Marine Publishing Co.). I am happy to have scored him irreguardless, THX Mark

[AgaR]

your gar is awesome man! I need one like that!
I already have one but a floriga gar
I can't wait to get a 200galons to get some new ones!
http://albums.reptilic.com/photos/DSC04994.jpg
Cya
Alex

[gonesnakee]

One Gar thus AgaR? Cool pic. Ya the only main difference between the Florida Spotted & a Spotted is the FS has a broader shorter snout & grows around twice as big. Spotteds are the more common ones too. That & their different ranges of course. So we could have the same kind, but mine is just a color morph. Cool reflection pic, Cheers, Mark