Chinese Butterfly Loach

[Fishyfanatic]

While at the lfs this afternoon I noticed a cute little loach. It was labeled Chinese Loach. After searching online I find that it is the Chinese Butterfly Loach. Does anyone have experience with this particular loach? I haven't been able to find too much info on them.

Edit: Here's a pic of them from a different site:

http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/gastromyzon_sp.html

 

[flamingonhot]

They are pretty easy to care for.

Basicly all the really need is coldwater and great aeration.

They will eat anything practically including bloodworms, algae tablets, etc.

Just to clear things up they do not eat algae...maybe sometimes hair but supposedly they eat the microorganisms that live in the algae.

I had one and it was pretty low maintenance.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

So it would not be a good addition to my 55 gal Tropical tank? Do you know what size of a tank they need? I would love to purchase a few to keep, but I want to have the proper setup. I'm still searching (have been for 2 hours) and can't find too much info on them. Is there another name for them?

 

[camcorder]

i have seen them also go by borneo sucker or hillstream loach, you will get alot of info if you seach for hillstream loach, a few of them would be fine in a 55 gallon, just make sure you have a good water movement atleast in part of the tank

 

[flamingonhot]

Yeah they are more commonly called hillstream loach.

Take the temp down a bit and have some good water movement like cc said and that should be okay.

Otherwise you could even set up a simple 10 gallon for them.

THe one I had handled warm water pretty well so you could get off with dropping the temp by maybe 3 degrees? or something close to that.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I keep the temp of the 55 at 76 degrees. It has German Blue Rams, Panda Cories, True Rummynose Tetras, and Hi-Fin Serpae Tetras. I don't think I could get away with increasing the water current with those inhabitants. I do have a spare 10 gal that I could use. I was actually going to set it up as a Freshwater Puffer tank, but they are becoming hard to find. So basically I would just need the 10 gal (already has a sand substrate)? What is commonly used for water current in such a small tank? Just air stones or are we talking a power head? I could easily drop the temp in that tank to the desired level.

If I purchased, lets say 3 of them (read that they like to be in number above 2), could I possibly fit in a few white clouds? I would really like this tank to be different from the rest that we have. Thats why i was going to go the Puffer route. But this idea sounds cool too. I love the look of the Butterfly Loaches, they remind me of Stingrays.

What do you guys think of the plan? (The ideas are churning in my head.)

 

[jsoong]

I just got 2 a few weeks ago after much reading. Yes, they are commonly called hillstream loaches & if you google that you'll get a ton of info.

This will get you started: http://www.loaches.com/suckerbelly_loaches.html

Note, however that there are hundreds of different species of hillstream loaches, about a dozen are available. They are all a bit different ..... so even though you read one place that they can be kept at high temp .... the specific one you got might be heat intolerant.

Same with algae eating. Some - gastromyzon - is reputed to be good algae eater, but others will not touch the stuff and actually eat insects, meal worms, etc.

Officially, the Chinese Butterfly loach is Gastromyzon spp. However, at the lfs, I saw 3 different species called that. The ones I got might be a gastromyzon, but they looked like Beaufortia to me (when comparing to pics on the net). Beaufortia is usu. called Borneo suckers. But then , the lfs will call them anything cute to make a sale.

From what I read, all hillies like fast currents & lowish temp & high O2. That will mean some kind of powerhead rather than an airstone. When I had mine in the 10 gal QT, I had on a HOT Magnum at 150 gph. They handled the current just fine.

One other thing, they generally like to be in a tank with rocks, driftwood, etc. Mine are quite shy & love to hide. They also will do better in a mature tank with algae bed (whether they eat the algae or just the bugs that grow in them). They are said to be intolerant of bad water (ie NH3/NO3/NO4). Other than that, they are rather low maintanance.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Yup, the Borneo Sucker is the one that I saw today. I hope they make smaller power heads than the ones that we had in our tanks because I don't think that thing would fit in a 10 gal tank. Well, not with the sand as a substrate anyways. I do have plenty of driftwood and rocks that can be used. I can just take it out of the 55 gal tank. I'm really going to have to think about this. The other "original" plan was to have 2 Betta's seperated in the tank by a divider. We'll see how it pans out after the renovations to the apt are done. Thanks everyone for the info. It's greatly appreciated.

 

[Guest]

That is a hillstream loach... I have one in my 10 gallon and he lives with tropicals at about 75 degrees and used to live in the 55 gallon before i converted it to african cichlids. Yes, they are coldwater but mine has been thriving in the tropical setup although i do have a lot of current and they love current. Mine really loves to eat shrimp pellets.

 

[camcorder]

the current doesnt have to be huge, they just like moving water, i have had some for years in a 55 gallon with a filter rated for a 70 gallon tank and they did fine, although im sure they are happier in my loach river tank