Hillstream Loaches

[joannde]

I did everything I was told not to do - I bought two of these fish on impulse !!! BUT, I had read about these fish in the past and know they like a strong current, and grow to a max of 4 inches, so I wasn't completely clueless.

I don't have a "river setup" but I do have a decent current (less than a river however) and well ..... they're just TOO CUTE .... I couldn't resist.

Does anyone have any stories about these fish ? Any tips to share ?

Thanks !

 

[hc8719]

they are supposibly colder water fish, but many cold water animals, snails, goldfish, and dojo loaches do well in tropical tanks.

they like eatting diatoms, and i would guess algae. but like most algae eaters, im sure some cucumbers would be fine.

i almost got some yesterday actually, but they were $7 each

 

[Zagz]

Congrats on the loaches but where are the pictures? Not had any personal experience with them but would love to acquire some.

 

[joannde]

I paid $5.49 each - they were too cute. I have them in QT at the moment. I did put a sinking wafer in there and they seem to have no interest yet. I have plenty of algae in the planted tank, so once they're out of QT there will be plenty to eat (along with the sinking wafers and algae wafers that I also feed the snails and cories). I also feed fresh veggies at least 2x a week, so diet isn't too much of a concern. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Zagz]

Good job for using a QT tank, always nice to hear. Can't wait to see pics of them. I bet they go crazy once they get into the main tank.

 

[joannde]

I'll get a pic in a couple of days - I don't want to freak them out so soon LOL. They are REALLY cute.

Re the QT - its really driving me crazy. It seems as soon as fish leave the QT and enter the main tank that I see flashing in the main tank - I added two guppies on Wednesday and today I'm seeing flashing in the main tank !!! I can't believe that I have ich AGAIN !!! I know I only QT'd the guppies for 5 days (needed the tank for the bloated betta) but if the ich has affected the fish in the main tank after only 2 days then why didn't I see any times during the 5 they were in QT ??? The fish added before this (3 guppies) were QT'd for 10 days .... same thing, they enter the tank and I get ich. Unbelievable .... (sorry about the rant !!).

 

[coldmachineUK]

Yay, glad you're venturing into this too!
I don't know what filtration you're using, but I got my 'river' conditions by shortening the spray bar on my canister filter. It packs a nice enough punch to provide a strong current without upsetting the occupants.

Are yours 'proper' hillstreams (plec like) or more like the schisturas that live in similar conditions? I have four of the schistura mahnerti (most common of the schistura family I think) though I'm after a couple of semiarmatas.

If you're wondering about tank mates: I keep white cloud mountain minnows with them. They all get along fine and all love fast flowing cooler water conditions

 

[coldmachineUK]

It seems as soon as fish leave the QT and enter the main tank that I see flashing in the main tank

IME I've found that any change in water conditions causes temporary flashing like you describe. Even when I do a pwc I get some of my loaches flicking themselves against the substrate and whatnot. It calms down usually after a day or two. They're just highly sensitive (as would you be if I sealed up your home, emptied out part of its environment and replaced it ).

 

[toddnbecka]

You could add some salt to the tank when adding new fish to prevent an outbreak of Ich. It can be removed gradually with partials after they settle in, if you don't want to keep using it.

 

[joannde]

Hm, I'll look into the mild salting but I do worry how the panda cories will handle it. I've been watching and haven't noticed any additional flashing, so maybe I'm worried for nothing, but I'll keep my eyes opened for more flashing or the dredded spots.

As to what species of Hillstream Loach - they are Beaufortia kweichowensis (or at least I think they are ! the body shape is right, and the coloration is right, so I'm assuming it's correct)
http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/beaufortia_kweichowensis.html

I also brought home a skunk cory - another real cutie, as well as Schwartz's cory. Since they all have the eye mask they should happily school together with the panda's.

I guess I'm just a sucker for a cute face !

 

[coldmachineUK]

Ohhhh, it's a 'proper' hillstream then
Are you going to run a separate tank for them? I know someone said that despite them preferring cooler temperatures they can do ok in tropical temps, but I'm not really sure that's a good idea. +/- a couple of degrees is usually ok, but with these you're talking about coldwater to subtropical temps and a temp of 26c+ is probably on the high side for them. You're best running a slightly cooler tank (say around 23-25c at a push) for them to get the best out of them but you probably know this I know! I'm just excited for you!

What filter are you using? You gonna try adapting the output to get a faster current? It's a neat way to get it working!

 

[jsoong]

I have 2 hillstreams. Although they do prefer cooler water, I find that they are fine in warmer conditions. (We had several heatwaves this summer & my tank got up to 80+). I think the key is O2 content rather than temp or current. Because of my wet/dry, the water is highly saturated. The hillies seems to not need the high current in my setup. <With inadaqaute O2, hillies are said to sit right in the current to get the max O2 condition.> In my tank, they seem to avoid the high current area & instead spend most of the time in the shadow of the driftwood where the current is weakest .... go figure.

BTW - you should not have to worry about ich with hillies. According to the net, hillies are immuned to ich. Certainly when I had my last ich outbreak, the hillies appears totally unaffected.

 

[jsoong]

One other interesting thing .... try having a white and a black rock in your tank. The hilies are master at camaflough. When my hillies are on a black rock, they have the normal colouration (black with white lines). On a white blackground, they change colour to alomost pure white with tiny black dots. Really a most interesting fish to watch!

 

[joannde]

I had read about their color change ability - amazing. My background is black and I have a very light green cave in the tank, so I'm sure I'll get to witness some of that.
I don't think O2 is going to be a problem in my tank - I have an HOB and a 6" bubble wall so the top of the tank is quite turbulent. There also seems to be a decent amount of water movement at all levels as I can see the plants swaying it in at just about all levels except the very bottom. I may add a small underwater filter along the bottom to get some more current if the hillies seem unhappy. I'm also going to be setting up the 2 20 gallon tanks in the living room towards the end of October; during the summer the temps in that room are cooler than in my office where the 29G is, so I was thinking perhaps of moving them to one of those tanks with their more specific needs in mind. It's going to be nice having those two other tanks to provide additional options
I'm excited to have such interesting fish. I hope the next two weeks are filled with fun so that the time flies and I can move them from QT to the main tank

EDIT: well, that was a short lived excitement - I found both of them dead a few moments ago. I had read that there's a disease that is fast with them - first signs are splotchiness - I did see some color variations yesterday but I thought perhaps it was the camoflague mechanism. Guess not.

 

[coldmachineUK]

Oh no, I'm really sorry joannde. They are very particular fish (all loaches are, but hillstreams are among the most sensitive of them even), so I'm sure there wasn't anything you could have done. Sorry to hear the bad news