I need to know about Garfish!

I own a half feet long Garfish which is still a baby. I bought it from an aquarium shop not long ago. At first, I wasn't sure what kind of fish it was. I bought it because it's shape, size, and "likeness" impressed me.
I have searched in books, internet, and TV... and I don't have enough information about this fish. I know it is a bit brackish, p.h level needed is around 7 to 8. Temperature around 27 to 30 degrees celcius. It eats live food but can be fed pellets once in a while.
I need more information about this fish and fast! I'm afraid if I miss out something, it could mean the Pike, the fish's name he's life...

 

The only info I was able to get was that they grow to 24-40" and come from Lake Erie/Michigan and the MississippI River. Sorry if you already know that.
Tom

 

Yeah, gars get really big.
Here's the big thing. Are you positive that the one you got was the brackish fish? There are also freshwater gars.

 

I can't say I know anything about the fish other than my mother pointing out something that looked like one at the lfs. The guy came running over and told me he would not allow me to buy such a fish for my tank (he only listens to half of what you're saying which is the main reason I'll buy fish from him but I'll make sure I get all my advice and sugestions here). My mother was saying when she was little there were counts all over about them turning over boats in lower Niagara and Lake Ontario. I'm not sure what kind they were but hopefully there are smaller, much smaller versions for a home aquarium :-\

 

There are many different species of gar. However I think that they all are annoying. They have toxic guts for a first part. They also eat like crazy. I have gone Gar fishing before and when they feed they are raising heck! They will eat and kill anything that is in there way. I would not recommend gars because of the amount of space they need to feed. They like to eat on fish that are at the surface and they sort of jump out of the water a little bit. They swim to the bottom to swallow it then return to the surface to eat em. They will eat anything smaller then them too.

You know how you catch these things with a rod? A piece of string no hook required. They have so many teeth that they get caught on the string and can't let go. Even if they could they would not let go because they are a selfish fish.

However I am sure the gar that you buy at a pet store is different then the Long Nose gar I am talking about. But I am sure they act alike.

 

It depends on the gar species. If you can post a pic I'll be able to tell you... I currently have a Florida gar who is only 7 or so inches, but will grow to be more than 30. I hope you have a large tank...the majority of all gar species get huge.

 

Like the others said you might want to make sure of the species of gar you bought, we here in TN have gar in our lakes naturally which are freashwater gar. There are many species of gar out there. If its the species we have here the water temp can vary so much our temps in our lakes go way down.
Look up aligator gar, they seem to be the popular species for tanks these days.