butterfly loach or pleco?

[Guest]

My husbands best friend, and our roomate is the pet manager at a local Walmart. I already have learned way more about fish than he knows just by coming to this website.. but he is the manager and can get the fish for next to nothing. Anyway, he is bringing me home two of what they call a butterfly pleco, but after doing some research, it looks like a butterfly loach. I have a common pleco but i know he will eventually outgrow the tank, will these two guys eat algae or what? Can you tell me exactly what they eat, and how to care for them? I also wanted to get 3 clown loaches, but will these guys bother anyone that i have in my tank? TIA

 

[megladonsharky]

try planetcatfish.com they have lots of abstracts on fish

 

[Guest]

wow, you answered before i even had the pic posted, now that i got the pic up, does anyone know what it is?

 

[bzbee]

There were a couple of posts about this recently. I've seen one at my LFS sold as a butterfly pleco (they are really loaches like you said), and they do stand out.

http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/ghillstream.html
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=51271
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=21756

 

[lmw80]

yes, I believe it's actually a loach. Hillstream loach is the most common "common name" I hear for it. But I have also heard Butterfly loach and Hong Kong loach.

 

[Guest]

thnkas for the article's and the posts, they gave me a ton of info, and proved it is a loach after all. Now though i kind of wish i wasn't getting them because they seem like a lot of work, and my common pleco is kind of a pig, im afraid they won't have enough to eat! I guess i will just have to throw extra algae wafers in... lol.

 

[Toirtis]

I guess i will just have to throw extra algae wafers in... lol.

Except that they really don't eat algae...Hillstream loaches are primarily carnivores...what is more, they do best in flowing, cool, highly oxygenated water, not a typical tropical tank.

 

[megladonsharky]

What is higly o2??

 

[Guest]

they do best in flowing, cool, highly oxygenated water, not a typical tropical tank.

my tank does have a lot of current with 2 bubble curtains in the back and a HOB filter. I keep it at 75 degrees, but he came home today and forgot to bring them, so i said don't worry about it. I didn't realize that my tank wouldn't be hospitable for them so im not going to get them. However, from wal-mart, im afraid they won't be going to very good home's anyway.

 

[Guest]

well, my roommate brought him/her home today, don't know how to tell the sex, but he's a cute little guy! He swam all over the tank and really likes to follow my pleco around! He's really active compared to waht i've heard. I put some wafers in just in case and some blood worms, i know some sank to the bottom, but he's stayed on the side all day. My tank is always about 75 degrees and i think thats warm enough for my other fish and cool enough for him. Everyone seems happy!

 

[Teej]

Hey... I have had butterfly loach/pleco's... Mine always ate the alge on the side of the tank.. and got into the tight corners my regular pleco couldnt;l reach... the pleco did the main glass cleaning, and the butterflys did the detail work.. and they never get that biug.. jsut about 2" maybe... Hope hat helps..

 

[Guest]

awesome, how long do they live?

 

[czcz]

http://www.loaches.com/hillstream_loaches.html

Hillstreams don't usually exhibit growth in the aquarium and have high mortality, probably in part because even a specialized aquarium is hardly a comparison to the currents they see in the wild (which is why they're shaped the way they're shaped). FWIW, I used to have mine in a 20L with HOB, and he gradually grew less active except for hanging out near HOB in/outtake. I moved him to a tank with 30x turnover one-way by using some of Mr. Thoene's ideas and a few of my own, and he's much more active and has turned into a bottom wafer (not algae) hog I still wish I had the space for a bigger tank with even more one-way current.

**Oh, btw Hillstream eating cucumber pic is in my gallery. I'm not kidding, he's got much more personality since going to the high current tank. I can understand why Mr. Thoene designed a tank for them.

HTH