View Full Version : lima shovel nose
oscar andy
01-14-2003, 7:58 PM
I need any info I can get on these fish(food, tank mates, size...)
Thanks
MrArapaima
01-14-2003, 8:55 PM
they grow so quick and eats a lot, how 'bout an Arowanna or Pacu?
oscar andy
01-14-2003, 9:59 PM
um right, anyone else?
PredatorFish
01-14-2003, 10:41 PM
Limas get up to 18". My lima did not grow fast. I had a hard time getting mine to eat anything but feeders. I wouldn't recommend puting them in a tank with large cichlids because the limas have trouble competing for food with them. Limas tend to wait until the food is right in front of them to strike. Any one who has kept cichlids like oscars know that if they see food they have it in their mouth within seconds. Limas just aren't quick enough on the draw. I kept my lima with a spotted gar and a clown knife that were of the same size as the lima and it did well.
oscar andy
01-15-2003, 1:19 AM
did yours get to 18", I heard it was rare for them to get that big. I read 12" is more common
I second Predator's comments. Limas are slower to get to the food and most of it would be eaten by my medium sized cichlids.
If the lima is too small in most cases it will get battered by cichlids unless you have lots of room in the tank.
My cichlids would go after the limas whiskers thinking it was food sometimes too. My limas were basically pushed around the tank by my cichlids. Even though they are predatory, limas are not really aggressive or territorial as most cichlids are.
I dont recommend limas with cichlids unless you have lots of room for them to coexist. Maybe smaller less territorial cichlids but you will still have the food problem.
PredatorFish
01-15-2003, 6:01 PM
Mine was about 5" when I bought it and it was 5.5" when I traded it in at the lfs 6 months later. I kinda got bored with it because it wasn't very active. I have read that they like to be in groups. When I went to Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, they had limas in very large groups and they were very active. Most of the time when they aren't moving they are trying to look like a peice of wood or something. I think that they feel more secure in groups so they spend less time trying to camofloge themselves.
mooseman
01-15-2003, 6:52 PM
I bought my Lima at about 8 inches about 8 weeks ago and it is now topping over 9.5 inches (must have had a growth spurt) Mine is in a tank with an Oscar but I find if I put the food on the bottom while my Oscar has his mouth full that the Oscar will leave it alone for the Lima. I feed mine mostly beef heart which he seems to love, at least he eats a lot of it and it sure hasn't stunted his growth at all.
Mine is not real active with the bright light on, he mostly stays under the plants but if I dim the lights he will come right out and eat.
After the initial shock of him eating 2 of my 3 inch balas we now get along pretty good!
Good luck!
ChilDawg
02-08-2003, 10:33 PM
http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/db.cgi?db=fresh&uid=default&ID=0131&view_records=1
qieter
02-09-2003, 10:26 PM
Can I keep a Lima in a 55 gal? Its about 6 inches long and i currently have 2 4" JD, butti and a marble sailfin Plec..in there...thanx
vic
ChilDawg
02-09-2003, 10:49 PM
Temporarily, it seems. After a while, we're talking 135g for just the LSN, according to AC.
tnlguinn
03-09-2003, 11:53 PM
i feed mine shrimp pellets and floating cichlid food and occationally beef liver or heart. never had a bit of trouble with the cichlids, but did with the pictus in my tank. it was 4" when i got it last christmas and now 15-16". its a fast swimmer and really likes a clean water system. the giant danios it ate were in the tank with the oscars(three at the time) and they never payed any attantion to them, and it ate all eight.:cool: