Update on Lima Shovelnose

[annamarie92]

Just wanted to upload a photo to show how much she's grown in exactly one month!! I love this catfish!
She still won't eat pellets, but I've been stuffing her food with massivore and she will take it readily.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Hard to say how much it has grown from a photo. So, how much? The tank looks wonderful and it sounds like you are taking good care of your shovelnose. One of the unfortunate things that this fish is prone to is spooking and not too rarely breaking its snout. Has it spooked yet?

What do you stuff the massivore into?

 

[annamarie92]

She's grown roughly 1 1/2 inches in one month. It's hard to get a good measurement on her, when I put her in she was right at 4 inches. Now she's hovering around 5 - 5 1/2. Her colors have brightened a lot too. She hasn't spooked yet, but I have heard they will do that. She is very very fast. I can see how they would be able to break their snout. She has shed her slime coat a few times, I can't seem to find a rhyme or reason to why she does it. But she is a great fish, pretty active for a catfish. I have loved watching her grow. I normally feed her a piece of frozen silversides with massivore stuffed into it. She loves it and will take it right from my hand. I've tried shrimp, but she doesn't seem to like that. I want to try a piece of fresh fish fillet but I'm leery about it.

 

[raubiy]

great grow rate
I ordered one a month ago
It's great cat fish

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

A surprising growth spurt indeed. I hope it's a Sorubim lima then, not elongatus. If you like it so much, consider getting 4-5 more. The pleasure / fun level will increase super-linearly. Meaning ~10-20 times. You will see their interaction, which is fun. They will get more relaxed and more naturally behaving. They will swim more. Far less of a chance of spooking. When they all float vertically in ~sync, it's an unusual and adorable sight.

Beware though they will associate less as adults.

 

[Big Jay]

Try not feeding for a couple days and drop the massivore in at dark. I bet he'll take it. Try to hit his wiskers with the pellets when you drop them in.

 

[annamarie92]

A surprising growth spurt indeed. I hope it's a Sorubim lima then, not elongatus. If you like it so much, consider getting 4-5 more. The pleasure / fun level will increase super-linearly. Meaning ~10-20 times. You will see their interaction, which is fun. They will get more relaxed and more naturally behaving. They will swim more. Far less of a chance of spooking. When they all float vertically in ~sync, it's an unusual and adorable sight.

Beware though they will associate less as adults.

I would love to have more than one, my tank is limiting me right now. I have a 120g, andI had originally planned to get a group of 3 with plans of upgrading later, but I don't want to take a chance of not being able to upgrade because who knows what my situation will be in a year. I've read different things regarding their max growth but since she's grown an inch in a month I'm glad I stuck with one for now. I'm excited to see how big she's going to get.

 

[annamarie92]

Try not feeding for a couple days and drop the massivore in at dark. I bet he'll take it. Try to hit his wiskers with the pellets when you drop them in.

That's what I did last time, she nudged it with her snout but didn't take it. Right now she's eating about every other day, so tonight I'm going to try just massivore again and see how it goes! I'm hoping that stuffing her food with it has gotten her used to the taste.

 

[annamarie92]

Here she is after Monday nights feeding. I love to see a full belly sorry for the bad quality photo, she's fast! It's hard to catch her being still.

 

[Big Jay]

That's what I did last time, she nudged it with her snout but didn't take it. Right now she's eating about every other day, so tonight I'm going to try just massivore again and see how it goes! I'm hoping that stuffing her food with it has gotten her used to the taste.

Might sound silly but try just rubbing the massivore on the food thats being stuffed. Might be enough scent for it to pick it up when it smells it with its whiskers.