FishProfiles.com Message Forums

does anyone know anything about these guys, I can't seem to find much online about them...
can you keep more than one in a tank?
are they peaceful?
how big do they really get?
water quality?
substrate?
plants?
a site that can answer the above questions?

proud father of a bunch of baby haps. http://picasaweb.google.com/Sktchy/BABIES

Here is a link that contains some (although it is minimal) information about them. It may help to answer some of your questions.

http://hillstreamcatfish.com/page20/page1/page7/page7.html

Jim

---

Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

ah yeah , thats one of the moth cats, keep the water nice and clean, and other than that treat them exactly as you would the smaller talking catfish as regard to feeding, technically omnivorous but with seriously heavy leanings towards meaty,wormy foods.The major consideration will be the water quality, very clean , and not permitted to be too warm, certainly not permitted to rise above 75f, they appreciate current and high oxygenation. Most of this genera are small, under 10 cm, with the average being about 6-7 cm. I wouldnt risk them with very tiny fish,these fish do have large mouths, but they should be safe enough for a cooler end tropical community perhaps with a few danios, and indeed other hillstream loaches that appreciate similar water condition, among which are some very useful and proficient algae eaters.

Have a look at this link for more detailed info.

http://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/hara_hara.htm

thanks for the info guys!
those web pages were very helpful!
I appreciate it!
so they're basically like a dinky raphael cat?

proud father of a bunch of baby haps. http://picasaweb.google.com/Sktchy/BABIES

Not really. I wouldn't dream of putting them with any semi-aggressive fish.

Well yeah basically.Except that you might even see these guys occasionally these guys will sit in the flow, whereas rapheals tend to just disappear until they get huge. Be nice to do a stream setup instead of a lake one, gravel , a few big pebbles a few elodea, maybe have a filter head set lower down in the tank than normal so that they get to use that specially shaped head and sit in the current. It could be a nice original looking setup, just like a section of a stream. Use all the kinetic energy of water flow and bubbles and waving weeds and algae to really make it a great display full of movement. Done well, it could be very cool, and you might be the one person among thousands that actually gives a weather loach an appropriate home.

Be nice to do a stream setup instead of a lake one, gravel , a few big pebbles a few elodea, maybe have a filter head set lower down in the tank than normal so that they get to use that specially shaped head and sit in the current.

If you are interested in setting up a stream type environment here are a couple of links for information that might provide helpful.

http://www.loaches.com/articles/river-tank-manifold-design

http://www.loaches.com/articles/a-river-runs-through-it

Jim

---

Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

now I'm tempted!
it sounds so neat, and I always love giving fish a fairly natural environment.
but what else could I keep in a river-tank?

oldtimer, thanks alot for those links
that manifold is such a great idea, now all I've got to do is scale it down for a 20 gallon tank...

it's just so neat, and I have always loved the look of hillstream loaches!

cup_of_lifenoodles, thanks for your input, the plan was to put them in a peaceful community, I too would never dream of putting a little fish with things that could beat it up, and these guys definately count as little fish!

proud father of a bunch of baby haps. http://picasaweb.google.com/Sktchy/BABIES

You could always add some different hillstream loaches. You would probably be good with WCMM as they are originally from cooler, faster flowing streams.

Jim

---

Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain