Feeding Preditory Catfish

[WAJRHALL]

Hi, I'm new to this forum, I come here alot to research possible additions to my growing collection. In just the past year became interested in catfish after seeing some tiger shovel nose at a lfs. After doing some research, I came to the sad realization that me owning one was not going to happen.

Someone along the way suggested Sorubim Lima, so after more research and talking to my guy at the pet store, I got one last November. Feb. of this year I picked up two more and after some shuffling of my stock I put all three in a 125g with a common Pleco. Before I put them in their current home I was gut loading rosies with new life spectrum. I switched to cut raw shrimp, and they have been on that for about six months.

I feed them every other day, two 3" shrimp cut into 1/2" chunks. I have noticed they're eating less and less. I do around 40% water changes every week. I want to give them more variety. They've always been alittle picky, just not snapping at everything that they pass by like some of you have said. I love watching them eat feeders but its pricey and getting decent looking feeders is a crap shoot. Not the mention, my wife's lack of excitment about me having another tank to take care of.

I'd love to here what everyone else is feeding their large preditory Catfish.

[Richard B]

Different (large) predatory cats often need different things - for instance RTC's eat soft fruit & crabs in the wild but i wouldn't suggest this for a lima.

I'd suggest not feeding for 3 or 4 days then offering one of the following to see how they like it: mussels, cockles, lancefish, squid pieces, prawns/shrimps/krill, large earthworms - the more varied the diet (within applicable parameters) the better & it'll stop your fish becoming used to & dependant upon a single foodstuff

[KCLAMBERT]

I have an RTC. I feed him Massivore pellets, freeze dried jumbo krill, beefheart, Whiting fillets and some fruits on occassion. Beefheart and whiting filets are relatively cheap. I can get a 2 lb bag of filets for a little under $5 and an entire beef heart for $3. I cut the heart and filets up in to strips and throw them in the freezer in sandwich bags. Then when it is time to feed I just thaw them and give them to him. I probably feed him about 2 times a week on average.

[PlecoCrazy]

I kept Lima's for many years (enjoyced them greatly) and they never seemed very interested in anything that wasn't moving to me. I have no great substitue for you. The only thing I could get my three to eat was feeder fish, ghost shrimp, and whole live worms and even then you would have to make sure the worms fell in proximity of the fish intended for (and not on top of it or you'd have a fish hitting the glass at the opposite end). I was breeding convict cichlids as a hopeful readily available supply of good feeders but some of the babies were just too quick and smart for the shovlenose and wound up with too many living convicts in the tank. Not much help but thats my experience.

[ahodge84]

Although I don't currently own any limas or have any advice to offer because I never have, I am still highly interested in this thread. Someday, I do hope to get a small group such as yours together so whatever I read in this thread will someday help me out. By the way, from what I can tell, your limas do look "fat and happy," so a varied diet should do the trick to making them eat well again. Good luck!

[bcb]

Great looking tank by the way. I would be very proud of that tank. The best advice I can give you is what I did when I had some single species piranha (not red bellies) like black and elongotus. They would be very picky in the same way of not wanting to eat anything that wasn't moving. But, in my opinion, feeder fish and things alike are a waste of money, time, and most importantly fish health. I would go to a fresh fish market or local grocery store and by a variety of raw seafood with little to no additives at all. Sometimes its hard with certain fish. Salmon many times would have color enhancer. However, I would then come home and cut all I bought into small bite size pieces. In your case, make sure you take the shells or anything hard off just to avoid potential problems. I also would strip the shrimp of their thin clear shell or casing if you will. I would soak them a good 12hrs (overnight in the Refridgerator) in vitamins and garlic guard from LFS(garlic to many is believed to make fish attracted to food). I would then lay them out NOT touching on tinfoil and cooking sheets-pans. Put the sheets in the freezer and let the food freeze well. I would then place each type in its own container and label it. When I would feed I would just grab a small cup use some tank water to thaw out the food and so it sinks, then feed. Start with just one type of food until they readily accept it and catch on to it being food. Do not panick if they don't eat right away, you have to change their natural behavior in a way. You already know but take out all the uneaten food. I would continue this even if they don't eat for awhile. I doubt they will starve themselves. But if you see them getting to skinny then feed them something they will eat. The downside to that is that you will have to start the process over of introducing the new foods to them. If it were me I would do the feedings every other day just so they are getting hungry and more inclined to eat the new goodies. Just be patient with this as the fish and you will reap the benefits of your fish getting a varied diet and all the vitamins they will need. Also feel free to do your own searches and maybe come up with your own way to feed this way and how to prepare the food. I at times was jealous of my piranha for eating better than me though Lol. I would not feed everyday either.
I hope this was of help to you. I always took great pride in knowing my little "buddies" were eating good!!!

[CFC]

The best way to feed predatory catfish is to feed them one meal that is large enough to make their stomach area visibly swollen and rounded and then don't feed again until the stomach has returned to its normal flat condition, as the fish grow the size of their meal and the length of time it takes to digest will increase proportionately. With adult Sorumbim lima I would be expecting them to eat a good meal once every 5 to 6 days.


Be very careful if feeding salmon as it is very oily and the after effects of feeding it to predatory catfish can have awful results on water quality. I feed my fish with salmon around once a month and follow up with 50% water changes to remove the oil from the water again once it has been passed through the fish, my tanks are all large so can cope but in smaller aquaria it could easily be a disaster waiting to happen.

[apistomaster]

I think you have an excellent Sorubrim lima display tank and they look fine to me.
I agree that they should be fed large meals every other or few days rather than daily.
I recommend buying a couple fresh hatchery rainbow trout and chopping them up into bite sized pieces. Store them in vacuum seal bags if possible. I can't imagine a hungry Soribrum lima turning them down except perhaps their first few exposures to the new food. Allow them to fast and offer them small amounts of trout until they are used to it. Feed them pieces containing bones fins and all. Hatchery rainbow trout are disease free.
Maybe tie a piece to a thread and allow it to dangle where the currents move it. They will thrash the piece of flesh off the thread like a shark.
You can use monofilament fishing line, Kevlar thread(sold at fly fishing equipment places) rather than cotton sewing thread.
These are virtually invisible and test at 6-8 pounds, more than enough to resist breaking off and being accidentally ingested by the fish.

[Phyllonemus]

Different (large) predatory cats often need different things - for instance RTC's eat soft fruit & crabs in the wild but i wouldn't suggest this for a lima.

Great Cats !
What's RTC ?

[apistomaster]

Phractocephalus hemioliopterus

aka Red tail Catfish.

[Phyllonemus]

Oh Yes I know the fish but I did'n t know RTC

[arapaimag]

Your tank and fish look fantastic.

I've got a large female lima that also eats large sinking pellets (6mm to 9mm) smelt, mackeral, white fish, herring and pink salmon in addition to some of the foods Richard and others have suggested.

She is a large fish and probably an inch or 2 bigger than suggested max.
Those are pellets and flakes that she and the leporinus are eating.