Sorubim lima question?

[johnnyev, posts: 32]

Hi all.
I hace recently purchased a shovel nose catfish, had it around a week now. It was brought into a lfs after outgrowing its tank. It is approx 12" long & is currently housed in a 5x2x2 with a Acanthodoras cataphractus catfish.
My first quaetion is, if i were to add a group of four Crenicichla lucius approx 4/5" would they be likely to become food? Also the shovelnose has a split pectoral fin, is this likely to heal & is there anything i could add to the tank to aid its re-growth, apart from regular water changes?

[johnnyev, posts: 32]

Anyone please?

[Shane]

My first quaetion is, if i were to add a group of four Crenicichla lucius approx 4/5" would they be likely to become food?

It is possible the Sorubim could eat them, but not a certainty. Once the cichlids reached something nearing adult size they would be safe. That said, I would be more worried about the catfish in the long term. If it does not eat the cichlids, I doubt it would be able to compete with them for food. You would need to watch very carefully that the catfish is getting something to eat when you feed.

It is hard to say without a picture, but in my experience almost all damaged fins heal up just fine over time.

-Shane

[Viktor Jarikov, posts: 2280]

Kudos for saving the fish!

Also the shovelnose has a split pectoral fin, is this likely to heal & is there anything i could add to the tank to aid its re-growth, apart from regular water changes?

As Shane says, the quality of an answer depends on the quality of the question, wherein pics would go much farther then words. Normally, this is a very minor damage not worth worrying over. Catfish's fins and barbels are often damaged, split, and even partly broken off. In vast majority of cases, they heal up/grow back just fine. Yet, this does not mean a permanent damage, fin rot and other infections, inherent deformations, etc. do not occur.

[johnnyev, posts: 32]

Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated.

[Viktor Jarikov, posts: 2280]

Any time. Let us see your fish and setup if and when you will. It is always nice to see what people have.

[johnnyev, posts: 32]

Cheers Viktor, i'll try & get some pics this week.
I've really quite taken to this fish, it seems to be quite interactive too. Actually approaches my hand when i'm cleaning the tank. Should be quite easy to get it to hand feed, once its settled in properly. Also, i've been in the fish house this evening & the pectoral fin looks to be knitting itself together, so hopeful that it will heal ok. I'll keep updating as & when i have any info.
I'm also planning a bigger tank, somewhere in the region of a 7x3x2 (LDH) & i'm now seriously considering a group of Sorbium lima's, possibly five perhaps.

[Viktor Jarikov, posts: 2280]

Excellent! They do much better in groups. One hiccup you may encounter is with the ID. There exists an S. elongatus with its max size of ~1 foot and an S. lima, max ~2 feet. It is not easy to tell them apart IME and teh experience of others. I personally have never seen a more than 1 foot lima/elongatus-looking sorubim. Others, like SidGuppy from Holland, say they see 2-footers regularly. Here is a small sample of ID challenges: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=30938&hilit=+lima

I used to have 7 of them. Never knew if they were true lima. They never exceeded ~1 foot though, so I am thinking elongatus. Based on never sighting a 2' fish in the US (or even on pictures), I suppose lima are rare or not sold at all in the US.

[johnnyev, posts: 32]

Cheers Viktor, thats really interesting. I've been going through all the old posts regards Lima & had somehow missed that one, so thanks.

[johnnyev, posts: 32]

Hi all.
Just an update & a couple of pics as promised.
Good news is the Lima's pectoral fin has now totally healed, so well pleased about that.
Here's a couple of pics, just to give you an idea of what my Lima looks like. Apologies for poor pics.







Cheers guy's thanks for the help.

[Viktor Jarikov, posts: 2280]

Might need to be beefed up a bit later but a healthy and good-looking cat! My three 1-footers looked like that too. I keep my fingers crossed for you it grows to 2 feet, so we are sure it is a lima and you'd become my first firsthand acquaintance with a, surely, Sorubim lima. Unless, of course, your tank(s) cannot handle that length. Let me know so I take you off my prayer list

[johnnyev, posts: 32]

Ha ha! Cheers Viktor, but should be ok. I'm currently planning a larger tank upgrade, just got to get rid of the smaller ones that are in the way first.