will he starve?

[eja206]

hi all,
last week i bought a borneo sucker (or hillstream loach i have heard them called) to deal with an algae problem in my 10 gallon tank. he did an amazing job and by sunday all the brown algae in the gladd and rocks were gone. but now i am worried he will starve, as nothing more to eat... i put some cucumber in which is what the fish shop i bought him from advised me, but i havnt seen him eat any....
any help or advice about what he may want to eat would be appreciated.
thanks

 

[thatmagicguy]

In the wild they do more than eat vegetable matter. They eat the tiny crustaceans that live in the algae. To be honest, I have never seen a hillstream loach eat algae so I read your post with interest. I wonder if they eat diatoms, which look like brown algae. These are more animal like than plant like so it would make sense, maybe. In anycase, most hillstream loaches do starve in captivity because they do not get the protein and other nutrients that they require in most home aquariums. I always introduced newly hatched brine shrimp in with mine which they relished and I suppose would simulate the small crustaceans they so actively seek in the wild. Bill

 

[eja206]

ah ok, i think you may be right, it was probably diatoms he was eating! it did look a bit like brown algae. that explains why he was less interested in vegetable matter like cucumber! thanks very much for your advice in feeding more protein, i will look for some high protein foods he may like. thanks again.

 

[jsoong]

Hillies will starve if you don't have a biofilm of live critters in your tank. They don't go for prepared fish food (or veggies).

I leave the back pane of my tank completely untouched so there is a good film of algae & stuff. My hillies live off the critters living in this algae film. Live brine shrimps is a good idea .... although dead/freeze dried ones don't work for me. <The goldies gobbled them up as fast as I put them in the tank ......>

 

[eja206]

yeah, i didnt clean any of the panes of glass in the tank - but he has eaten it all already! its only a 10 gallon...