Limia Perugiae

[guppymonkey]

I have some Limia perugiae coming in the mail next week. I have been able to find out a little bit about them but not a huge amount. Has anyone kept them before? I haven't kept any limias before. Any major differences between them and other livebearers?

 

[nmonks]

John Dawes (in "Livebearing Fishes") doesn't say much, except to say that care and breeding it is similar to L. nigrofasciata. One interesting note to that species is that temperature affects male:female ratio in the brood. A suggestion of 26 C is made as being ideal.

Limia spp otherwise aren't considered difficult fish, once you have them settled in. Don't forget to give them lots of algae (e.g. "green" flake food) if you want good colours.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[guppymonkey]

The Limia perugiae came in! The guy gave me 2 extra! They are very very small, the largest is about 3/4 of an inch long. The guy I got them from said that they are 3 months old right now. That seems kinda small for that old. Do you know if this is a slow growing species? I haven't seen growth this slow for a livebearer of the size that they eventually get.

 

[nmonks]

Sounds a bit small, but three months isn't that old. My halfbeaks only slightly more than double in size within three months. Just keep them warm and feed them regularly, and they should do OK. Even if they have stunted (e.g. by being not fed enough or being overcrowded) the next generation will be fine.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[guppymonkey]

I have read that Limia pergugiae need a lot of algae in their diet to obtain good color. Are veggie flakes a good addition to their diet? They are picking at the algae in the tank but don't seem to be loving it. I have been feeding them a lot of live food in addition to their regular diet of flakes and tiny pellets.

 

[nmonks]

Veggie flakes (a.k.a. livebearer flake food) is an excellent alternative to regular algae. With a lot of these livebearers, they need the extra algae to get their full colours.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[guppymonkey]

I got some Omega One Veggie Flakes instead of the livebearer food they had at my pet store. The only livebearer food I can find is by Nutrafin and I don't think much of their foods, almost as low quality as Wardley (not sure if you have those brands on the other side of the Atlantic). Should I try algae sinking wafers as well? I was thinking of trying it but the limia perugiae seem to be like most livebearer fry and stick to the top of the water a lot.

 

[dwarfgourami]

I've never seen perugia in real life, so wouldn't know what is normal growth, but there seems to be quite a bit of divergence between different poeciliids; my portholes are growing at twice the speed of my guppies; yet, the guppies seem to be growing at quite a normal pace.

You could always add a bit of veg as well as the veggie flakes; my livebearer fry enjoy squashed pea and other leftovers from the kitchen. The porthole fry are even digging into the bristlies' courgette.

 

[guppymonkey]

I would try peas but we usually don't have them in the house because my girlfriend hates them! LOL! I have noticed a surprising amount of growth from these little fry. They came in at between 1/4 and 1/2 an inch but seem to have grown some already. I will have to see how quickly they grow.