How many Lima Cats can I put in a 180 gallon permanently?

jordan12 · Post by **jordan12** » 22 Jan 2007, 18:55

I am interested in the LIma Shovelnose.

I know they get smaller than the tigers do.

But how many can I comfortably put in my 180? I am only interested in keeping the Limas. No other fish. And would get them at around 4 inches to start. What would be a good amount for them?

thanks

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 22 Jan 2007, 20:14

You could easily fit 4-5 or so in that tank.

but it's not the gallons that are important (although 180 is nice), but the dimensions. the lima is an elongated slender fish that's a bit "stiff"; it doesn't bend easily, so what do you plan to put in for decoration?

and despite the attraction of a speciestank -lima's will appreciate this, they like it peacful and quiet- I'd put in something that cleans out the sand, but is also peaceful and not small enough to be eaten.

Megalechis or Hoplosternum littorare is an ideal companion. these can be kept as a pair or a small group; you have the room.

otherwise the sand's likely to clotter up with the leftovers of the lima's feeding habits and you'll easily get a problem with blue green algae.
A "hoplo" would keep the sand loose and clean; a good substrate for benificial bacteria, wich is an add for the health of your lima's.

if you like the weirdness of fish and you keep the sandy area open you might think of a truly beautiful alternative: adult Pseudohemiodon or a true Loricaria (the big species).
these are "sand chewing plecs" and also non territorial (except to each other). they do fine as solo even.
and they look extremely weird, wich IMO is a pre.

jordan12 · Post by **jordan12** » 22 Jan 2007, 20:26

Well, I personally dont like a lot of decoration. My other tank is a 300 gallon with one black pacu. I dont get to put anything else in there.

In this case, wasnt even sure if I should clutter it up with a lot of decoration. is that a req? to have decorations?

And So I could put 4-5 in there plus put a "cleaner"?

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 23 Jan 2007, 11:00

Decorations for a isn't a requirement, just like humans don't NEED curtains or furniture. But it makes us humans more comfortable to live somewhere if there's a bed, a chair and a table, at least. Similarly, the fish likes to have a corner to hide (it's an ambush predator, so it likes to hide behind something).

I'd make sure there's enough hiding spaces for each fish to have a choice of hiding places (that is, at least a one or two more spaces to hide than the number of S. lima).

If you go for a hoplo , then I'd say you could have a group of perhaps 5 of them. They are great fun to watch, almost ALWAYS active looking for something to eat (and they eat just about anything that can ever be considered edible, you should see them when I clean out gung from the filter...

)

Finally, I have to don my moderator hat and tell you that you should fill in your location in the profile (top right of the window). This is helpfull to you, as if you ever ask questions about something like medications, recommended places to buy something or such, we'll need to know which part of the world you live in to give the best advice (it's no use to tell you to go to a DIY shop in England if you live in the US or Canada for example). It's also part of the forum rules. It's a good idea if you put both state and country if you live in the US or another large country, as large countries can even have different recommendations for different locations.

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Mats