Time to put lima shovelnose in the big tank???????

[biomechmonster]

We've been keeping a 5" lima shovelnose in 'quarantine' for uh, 2 1/2 months now and I'm getting tired of seeing the temporary setup. Is it ok to put the lima in the big tank (180 gallons)?

The reason the fish has been in the quarantine tank for so long is because I've been trying to wean it off live fish. It now eats red wigglers (small earthworms) but doesn't snatch them out of mid-water.

Someone on another board told me that if put among competition, the lima will become a more aggressive eater.

In the 180 we have an adult lima (12") who is a very quick and aggressive eater (he/she even snatches food right out of our hands!). Other 'competitive' eaters in the tank are a 10" oscar and 5" texas cichlid, although the oscar is blind on one side and the texas is a little timid around human hands. There are a couple senegal bichirs in the tank as well but they stay on the bottom (but they will eat anything within reach off the bottom).

Is the person on the other board right? Will the new lima be able to compete in the big tank? Of course we feed each fish a variety of foods, both individually and as a group, but there's no guarantee we can get the new lima to eat....or not?

Give me your thoughts on this please. I really want to get this fish in the big tank where it belongs.

[snowball]

It could well be that being with another lima may stimulate its appetite, but then again it may just miss out on food to the other fish which are used to the feeding routine.

If you are confident that it will be okay with the cichlids and bichars then the main thing will be to ensure it gets an adequate diet, you could always move it back if you don't thnik it's getting enough food.

[Marc van Arc]

Someone on another board told me that if put among competition, the lima will become a more aggressive eater.

Yes, although the word aggressive is a bit too strong.
A fish that sits alone will know that all food in the tank is his, whether he eats it now or in two hours. It may become (and can afford to be) lazy.
A fish with food competitors can't afford this kind of behaviour. It must eat when food is supplied, otherwise it will starve.
In your case your lima will have to adapt to the new circumstances. This may take a while, but if you transfer it well fed, it has some time to find out what is happening without having to eat straight away.
If you think it takes too long, you may feed at night while the C*******ds are asleep.

[Grubby Sculpin]

If it was me, Id worry more about your oscar eating your small lima. A 10" oscar could suck down a 5" lima pretty quickly. And I dont know much about limas but seems to me that your bigger lima could eat your smaller one without much trouble too.

[biomechmonster]

Thanks for the input. We got the new lima to eat frozen krill last night! Since that's a staple of all our fish it's an important milestone. We will put him in the 'big tank' today and keep the lights off for a while then later tonight we'll show him what feeding time in there is all about

Grubby, good point about the oscar and larger lima but I'm not worried.

The oscar is 6 1/2 years old and I've raised him since he was a little baby. For one, he was born without one eye so his vision is very limited...he doesn't bother to chase after fish unless they invade "his" side of the tank! For two, since he's a pampered fish and gets individual feeding attention, I'm not worried about him eating the lima. When we first put the bichirs in, they were rather small (around 6" each) and very wormlike looking, we were concerned about other fish seeing them as a possible snack but once everyone (oscar and big lima included) investigated the bichirs, they left them alone. So I'm confident the smaller lima will be fine.