The Family Friendly Livebearer-Limia Perugiae

I obtained my first Limia perugiae from the Grand Valley Aquarium Club Christmas gathering in December of 2003. The club had a pot luck event, with bags of fish and plants to be won with a “raffle” style-tickets were purchased, and placed in the appropriate container for the desired item. I saw the L. perugiae, and never having kept them before, decided to try my luck. I managed to win two bags-with nine males and three females total if memory serves. Not the ideal group to start a colony with, but workable if the fish cooperate.

I did a bit of research a few months ago on the L. perugiae backwards in order I know, but I wanted to know more about the fish than what I had seen and learned on my own. Limia perugia still exists in the Dominican Republic wild, prefers water from pH 6.8 to 7.5, and is an omnivore. They do well with a higher pH, as mine usually hovers around 8.0, and do well with a basic flake diet, supplemented with brine shrimp and spirulina flakes. I kept mine in a simple ten-gallon tank, filtered with an air-driven corner filter with carbon and filter floss. I also keep some java moss and a few small live plants in that tank also, because it receives a good amount of natural light in its location in my fish room.

The L. perugiae females closely resemble many other livebearer females-a basic gray with no tail color or other remarkable features. The males are delightful – a silver body color that reflects a light violet or lilac color, a black dorsal fin, and a yellow tail trimmed with black at the edge. The latter factor seems to be one of age-younger males lack the black tail trim. This seems to come at near full physical growth, and definitely after sexual maturity is reached. Females reach a maximum of one inch in length, and males max out at about three-quarters of an inch. I would not recommend mixing the L. perugiae with any other types such as guppies, other Limias, or any of the Gambusia types. Hybrids may or may not be a possibility, but the females would not enjoy the extra male attention.

Limia perugia are not bashful about spawning activity. Having been an aquarium hobbyist for over thirty years, I have seen a lot of different fish “personalities and lifestyles”, but I don’t believe I have seen male activity such as with the L. perugiae. They are extremely active and persistent with their females. I usually remove fry after birth, but really having no other place to keep them at the time, and seeing the parents largely ignore them, I left the fry with mom and dad. The results were three generations and a species only ten gallon tank, and a memorable experience with a fish new to me. I did keep the numbers down a bit by selling or giving younger adults away, until the numbers game caught up with the L. perugiae. The spawns varied in number, and although hard to keep track of, seemed to be from six to fifteen on average.

This past September of 2005 I took the adults I had-eight nice females and twelve males of mixed maturity-and divided them into four groups of equal size. I sold them at the GVAC auction that month, and based on the check I received, they went for far cheaper than they should have. On the positive side, likely four other hobbyists now have the opportunity to keep and raise Limia perugia . I still have about thirty fry-they are now in a five gallon bucket while I try to decide their future. The ten gallon that was a L. perugiae home for over twenty months now has new resident fry. No one hobbyist can keep everything forever, and the day comes when something has to go to make room for the new and the different. I do hope that the four who purchased the L. perugiae at the GVAC auction have as much enjoyment with them as I did.

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