Lima shovelnose... few questions

[Hypancistrus]

I have a 75 gallon predator grow out tank that has several young predatory species in it. I have a true pair of severums (5{" and 3"), a 4" pike cichlid, a 2.5" asiatic leaf fish (Nandus nandus), three 4" silver dollars, a 3" african butterfly, a 6" senegal bichir, a 6" african brown knife, a 5" peacock eel and a 5" pictus cat. As you can see, the largest fish in the tank are about 6" long (bichir and knife) and the smallest, the Nandus, is about 2.5-3".

I am very interested in obtaining a Lima shovelnose cat (Sorubim lima), but am not sure 1) if a shovelnose would eat my smallest fish, the Nandus, and 2) if adding a shovelnose would overwhelm the bioload of my tank.

The tank is filtered by two Emperor 400's and recieves a total of 50% water changed per week. Parameters all look good. Nitrates stay around 40 ppm. Can't keep live plants cuz of the sevs. They mow anything live down to stems.

I am planning on purchasing a 125 within the next 18 months or so... having the electricit outlets for it put into my basement on Wednesday of this week.

So I am close, but not there yet. I have read conflicting reports on S. lima. Some reports say expect 18" which would be far too big for a 125 and others say they rarely attain lengths of more than 12" in home aquaria.

Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated. I haven't purchased one yet... looking to clarify and get some advice before I do so.

 

[snyder810]

i currently have 2 Limas, one for just over a year and is 12in and i don't know how old the other is but is currently 13in. in my experience it's not a matter of the length of the fish but it's height. severums are a taller fish and therefore will be safe while fish like the eel, and pike would probably be in jeapordy of becoming lunch if the lima is bigger or the same size. i believe a 125 would be fine for the lima for life and as for tankmates if you think it could eat another it usually will try as the first lima i mentioned once attempted to eat an elephant nose of the same length, i had to pull the fish out of its' mouth for fear it would choke on it.

 

[Hypancistrus]

I will forgo getting one until I have the 125 then. I am planning on keeping my smaller preds in the 75 for life... i.e. the african butterfly, peacock eel, Nandus, etc.

Do you think an adult lima could take down a reasonably sized fire eel? 10" or so? I love those too and would like to have one in the 125.

 

[mattheuw1]

The shovelnose Lima is not an aggressive fish. It is usually calm. They grow Extremely Slow! I would say MAYBE a half inch a month. But it depends on what you feed them. It should be fine with any eel that usually lives under gravel. The tiger shovelnose is the aggressive one, not the lima. Limas are very interesting fish, mine eats catfish pellets and ghost shrimp usually. He is only about 6 inches though. I have had him for about 4 months and have not noticed a bit of growth. Very strange but like I said, slow growing fish.

 

[snyder810]

lima's can actually get a little nasty if they feel it's "their" tank, meaning theyv been established for a while. i tried adding new fish to one of my limas including my smaller lima and the big guy beat up on them pretty good, no death but some damage