Silver Hujeta Gars

[AggressiveFishTanks]

Hi! Im new to this site so please don't be mad if I post this in the wrong place

 
I have a Silver Hujeta Gar (Rocket Fish, Freshwater Barracuda) that I got about a week ago. It was with a spotted puffer, but sadly the puffer got pretty chewed up and died. (The people at the LFS said they'd be fine together, but I guess not...) I've been feeding my Hujeta feeder guppies and small rosy red minnows, but I'm not sure about how many I should feed him. I gave him 2 on accident (I meant to scoop 1 out of my feeder tank, but the other one snuck in) and he gobbled them up pretty fast. I didn't give him any more because I don't want him to overeat. He looks really fat but he seems to be searching the tank, maybe looking for more? Anyways, how much is too much when It comes to feeding these guys?

 

[Ch4rlie]

Quoted from A guide to Oddballs
 
Ctenolucius hujeta, Rocket gar/Silver gar; Another highly predatory schooling Characin C.hujeta can grow to 2 feet or more in the wild but in captivity a size of 12 inches is more likely. As with Boulengerella species they are shy nervous fish which require clean well oxygenated water and a large well covered tank.
 
 
A little more information, do note the red highlighted paragraph, this time quoted from SF - Ctenolucius hujeta
 
An obligate predator feeding mostly on smaller fishes and insects in nature but in most cases adapting well to dead alternatives in captivity.
 
Smaller specimens can be offered bloodworm, small earthworms, chopped prawn and suchlike while adults will accept strips of fish flesh, whole prawns/shrimp, mussels, live river shrimp, larger earthworms, etc.
 
Insects such as crickets or are also suitable to use although it’s best to fill the stomachs of these by feeding them fish flakes or some kind of vegetable matter before offering them to the fish.
 
Take care not to overfeed as it will gorge itself given the opportunity.
 
Like the vast majority of predatory fishes this species should not be fed mammalian or avian meat such as beef heart or chicken.
 
Some of the lipids contained in these cannot be properly metabolised by the fish and can cause excess fat deposits and even organ degeneration.
 
Similarly there is no benefit in the use of ‘feeder’ fish such as livebearers or small goldfish which carry with them the risk of parasite or disease introduction and at any rate tend not have a high nutritional value unless properly conditioned beforehand.
 
 
 
Hope these bits of information will help a little.

 

[CSnyder00]

We used to feed two small rosy red minnows per day to our gars. That's more than enough. You can fast for a day or two. In the wild they go days without eating I'm sure.

 

[AggressiveFishTanks]

Thanks for the help!