FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Anyone ever heard of these little guys? I saw them at a LFS, but they apparently dont know anything about them except that they have them in stock. Anyway dose anyone know anything about them(water peramiters, sociability, diet, adult size, etc.) I would love to have some in my puffer tank if allowed.
Thank you for reading and posting....Be safe all....

Sounds like a hillstream loach to me.

These guys like cool (below 72 degrees), fast-moving water. They feed on little organisms that live in algae. They tend to school, and usually stay relatively small, around 3 inches or so.

Joe Potato

i saw these at my LFS and they had them in a brackishtank with freshwaterflounder and anablpes

Yep, Hillstream Loaches.

Joe Potato pretty much summed it up. They're quite a hardy fish, quite disease resistant , but suitable for most home aquaria.

They need cool water with a lot of current and a supply of algae as they will very unlikely to touch flake food.They spend 99.9% of their time on the glass grazing.

I've had a couple for a while in a large heavily planted tank. Hardly ever see them which is a shame as they are a cool fish. I have never ever seen them swim If they pop out and are startled for some reason they just scoot along the glass to the back again. Never seen them eat any food, only graze the glass for algae, of which there is more then they can handle, I only clean the front glass so they always have a food supply.They can also change color. When stressed they tend to be a beige color, when happy it's a ver dark brown, almost black with light spots.

If sounds like something you'd be interested in and you can provide the appropiate environment they are interesting
and hardy fish. If kept in an unsuitable environment they will fade away fairly quickly.

---

Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

hillstreams are very cool. i suspect keeping them in the higher temps of our aquaria does shorten their lifespan. there seems to be several different types imported, all given the generic term hillstream loach. all are wild caught and most look similar.

i have purchased several from the same shipment at an lfs- some ate bloodworms, others sucked algae off the glass like a vacuum cleaner. none lived more then 6-8 months.

i have an old aquarium magazine from the 80's that goes into quite a bit of detail about them. after seeing pictures of their natural habitat (very fast moving streams, cold water, large rocky substrate), i concluded that my tanks setups were not conducive to their well being. i would heed bensaf's warning about providing a suitable habitat.

the article did mention an interesting tidbit about collecting them in the wild (at least then). their aversion to swimming was such that collecters would simply take the rock they were on out of the water and shake them into holding tanks!

good luck- they really are awesome fish.

Marioism's story about collecting them in the wild reminded me of the trouble I had even getting them out of the LFS bag !

Even with all the water emptied they clung to the bag for dear life. Took a of gentle handling to get them out. Even then they didn't swim , just jumped onto the glass and scurried away !

---

Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Thanks alot, you have been very helpful. Sorry about posting in the wrong spot.....They look awesom, I might have to dedicate a tank for them. Do you think Dwarf puffers could go with them?

Look up Pseudogastromyzon myersi (yes it's a mouthful! ) on Google. This should home in nicely on your Borneo Suckers.

I wrote a piece about these a while back, but that was before the "Year Zero" board archiving

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

They're Hillstream loaches..and not brackish..They do like cooler temps and a little current. Although mine rarely go into the fastest moving end of my tank. I have 5 in a 125 gal community right now. I'd definitely NOT do them with Puffers..they are very defenseless little fish. Mine love everything and aren't shy about eating..even if it means aggravating the 6" Bristlenose pleco enough so that it gets off of the food THEY want. Foods I feed are flake..sinking pellets..brine shrimp gel..frozen omnivore..frozen herbivore..bloodoworms.. They eat everything. I have Spotted hillstreams at the moment. They tend to congregate where I can see them most of the time..I have lots of holey rock that they like, and 3 large smooth river rocks..they like to slide up and down these..They do RARELY swim though..but just to get from one place to another every now and then. LFS should use a credit card to get them off of the glass..many are hurt thru rough handling when they stick to the sides of sale tanks. There are MANY different kinds..Here's some good info:
http://loaches.com/species_pages/beaufortia_kweichowensis.html
here's the Spotted Hillstreams I have:
http://loaches.com/species_pages/gastromyzon_punctulatus.html

Here's a link with some good info on creating a VERY ideal tank..from some guys who breed a few types of hillstreams:
http://www.bobd.lunarpages.com/loaches/breeding.html