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Hello catfish keepers

I keep a 450 with two limas at 15cm along with four discus a 10cm goldie plec l14 and a 10cm titanicus pleco l273, the problem i have is my limas contrary to what i have read about them being piscivores are mega greedy the slightist hint of even small discus granuels and there sifting through the substratum. i feed my fish very well with a very varied diet of bloodworm, smelt, discus mixs, prawn, muscle, granuel, carnivore pellets, fruit and veg, algea waffers, and the limas take all of it or everything that lands on the bottom. My l14 who has been in the tank for a while i would say has put on good weight and shows no sighn of starving due to the fact that he is very active. the titanicus as most pseudacanthicus are, are very nocturnal and no where near as active on the search for food as the goldie. will my limas pose a threat to my plecs as they grow? or will it be a case withe the plecs growing and becoming more dominant of whats on the bottom or even the limas growing out of this. the limas are not agressive but there pretty happy to theive a the plecs prawn.

thanks for any advice.

ben

ben

I fear that your fears are well motivated - the Limas (like for example Pictus cats) will eat "anything" that is a bit meaty (that includes algae wafers, 30-35% protein in them!).

For the L14 it's fine to add some courgette, melon or perhaps mango. For the L273, it's more difficult.... Myabe you can find some space the Limas can't get to, where you could hide a prawn or two (also, sticking the prawn on a "skewer" - like the handle of a teaspoon for example) will help the prawn staying in one place and not be "robbed away". Of course, doesn't stop it from being nibbled, but at least it'ts where you placed it.

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Mats


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Mats

You are lucky my limas absolutely refuse to eat 'prepared foods'

yep definatly better to have them eating than not, i had mine at a fairly young age which gives you more of a chance of swapping them from live in the wild to to prepared. the prawn on maybe a teaspoon mite work quite well as for a place where they cant get thats pretty hard with them being slender and able to swim backwards out of a plec hole in some wood. possible as they get older they wont go for some things to small.

Matt's skewere shrimp might help. Another method that I have found that is a good way to feed plecos so other fish don't take it away is a little bit of trouble at first but is great in the long run. Here is what I do.
I buy a replacement bag of AquaClear HOB filter ceramic bio media, for the bag. It is a stong coarse open mesh bag that I have found many uses for. It will hold whole food like prawns, maybe add a pebble to make it sink and stay in place and the plecos can still easily rasp at it until they are full. Bigmouthed fish like shovelnose lima cats can't get to it.
This method also is a good way to feed pieces of blanched Veggies and it is a very good way to feed chunks of frozen beefheart blends, bloodworms, and brineshrimp for fish like discus and other fish that peck at their food over a period of time. You can hang the bag at whatever level the target fish feed most comfortably. Cost $3.00US.

Thanks apistomaster for the bag idea for the plecs, sorry for long reply my computor dosnt always notify me of a reply. have tried the idea and it definatly works, thanks again.

ben

Hi Ben,
Your welcome. It's a fun way to feed your fish don't you think? My discus sure like this method. The spend a lot a time staring at the empty hanging "feed bag" hoping something good to eat will appear.

Defiantly a good way to feed them, my discus and severum also find it amusing. It?s always a good thing to give the fish something new and unfamiliar to work out in the confines of aquaria. I also use a tetra tablet contains lots of vitamins and sticks to the glass, a good way to get timid fish more used to coming forward.