Gar? Barracuda? Characin?

Ctenolucius hujeta is a remarkable fish, with many common names. We call it the Silver Hujeta Gar, but you'll see it marketed as Silver or Hujeta Gar, as well as Rocket Gar, Freshwater Barracuda, and frequently as a Pike Characin, Silver Pike Characin, Hujeta Characin and even (confusingly) Gar Characin, and honestly, there's probably more names for it, but while this fish does bear a superficial likeness in appearance to Gars and Barracuda, it is actually a Characin, which doesn't mean much to a lot of you; moving on.

Regardless of what you call it; these are very cool fish. They're nearly chrome and shaped like a fish missile that will rocket ambush anything small enough to eat! They're a vibe, but a peaceful one. No really, if they can't eat something, they pretty much ignore it; we've seen them in Discus aquariums! Really, in the end, this is the catch with them. As you'll read, they're pretty easy in most ways, but you can't keep them with smaller fish or shrimp. They are social fish, and like to be kept in groups, especially when small, so we'd suggest getting at least three or four of them and more if you have the space. Other fish that do well with them are Plecos, Cats, larger Eartheater Cichlids, Pacu and some other more peaceful (but large) new world Cichlids like Oscars or Jack Dempseys.

Space can be a concern; these aren't tiny fish and they're also pretty active. An adult male can get up to ten inches long; you'll see online reports of them up to a foot or so, but we've never seen one get that big, a much more common adult size is around eight inches. Females will be a bit shorter, but stockier. Three active fish of that size are going to need a decent sized tank, and you should think of a six foot long 125-gallon tank as a minimum, 180 would be even better because of the extra width. These fish love cover, and so the more driftwood and plants you can offer the better. They'll be fine with substrate plants, but floating plants is what they'll really love. Sand is immaterial in this display, so choose it based on the needs of your other fish or plants, or keep these beauties in a bare bottom, or even a leaf litter tank. Whatever you choose for the bottom, you need to choose a lid for the top. Silver Hujeta Gar are Olympic level jumpers, which they'll do for prey in the wild, and when startled they'll do right out of your uncovered aquarium.

On the topic of prey and ambush, Ctenolucius hujeta would love to continue eating live food in your aquarium. Live insects like crickets or roaches and other live food like earthworms or redworms will all be taken with aggression by fish large enough to eat them, which is fun to watch. Live feeder fish like guppies and mollies are also fun to feed, but you need to have a clean source for them, and they should be gut loaded, so they have better nutritional value. Silver Hujetas require live food, and will happily eat thawed offerings, which is mostly what they get here. We feed them Gamma Bloodworms, Mysis, Brine Plus etc when they are small, and Chopped Mussel and Chopped Prawn etc. when they get bigger. They are also easily trained to take pellet foods like Nutramar Freshwater Complete and / or a high-quality flake when small.

Water quality wise, these are pretty easy fish, but they are also large and messy eaters, so filtration needs to be strong and water changes need to be large and regular. We recommend changing at least 20 percent of the water weekly, and more if your filtration is weak or your fish density is high. You're looking to keep your nitrates under 50ppm, with 25ppm or lower being a better long-term situation. The water should be tropical, 70-82 degrees Fahrenheit, slightly acidic to neutral with a pH between 6 and 7, and water hardness isn't usually a factor in keeping Silver Hujetas healthy.

Does your big, planted tank need activity? Are you looking for the right five fish to make that display come alive? There's lots of choices out there for showpiece fish, but big social ones are less easy to find, and Silver Hujetas should be on your short list. They get big, but not too big. They're peaceful as long as your tankmates are too big to eat. They're social, shiny and super active and quite hardy to boot. Head over to your LFS (Local Fish Store) and ask them about getting you at least a few Ctenolucius hujeta from Aquatropic today!