Tiburon limia

Care at a glance

Overview

The Tiburon limia is a peaceful island livebearer and a good alternative to the usual poeciliids. It suits a keeper with a little experience.

Caring for the Tiburon limia

Keep Tiburon limias as a colony, with more females than males, in a tank of 14 gal (54 L) or larger. Give them plants and hard water.

Hold the water at 72 to 81°F (22 to 27°C) and a pH of 7.0 to 8.2. Like most limias, they do poorly in soft, acidic water, the opposite of what suits most small South American fish.

Include vegetable content in their diet. Limias graze algae in the wild, and they stay brighter and healthier with spirulina flake or blanched vegetables alongside the usual foods.

Tiburon limias are peaceful. They breed without any intervention, and once mature, females give birth to fully formed young roughly monthly.

Good to know

The Tiburon limia, Limia tridens, belongs to a group of livebearers restricted almost entirely to the Greater Antilles. Most limias are found on Hispaniola alone. Several are threatened in the wild by habitat loss.

In the wild

The Tiburon limia lives on the Tiburon Peninsula of Hispaniola, in hard, mineral-rich fresh water.

Common questions

Related species

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• 

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• 

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