I need some advice from people who own or have owned hillstream loaches. Would these fish do good in a 10 gallon? I read that they like high currents and cold water. What do you do to give a tank a high current? What kind of rocks do you use or obstacles for them as territory?
Hillstream loach
- Thread starter Mako_
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To create current you use a powerhead. You can use plants but they normally dont encounter them in the wild much BUT they dont mind them and dosent hurt them. For decor the most natural for them is like any fast moving stream, smooth river rocks and sand. Create places with dead currents and stuff will help. They need good oxegen in the water and surface aggitation helps, also cold water holds more oxegen. They dont do well in warm water. They will work in a 10g but i imagine making current in a 10g evenly is tuff. A 10g is not the best for them and i think a 20g long would be much better. A little fact about them is they like grazing alage. So you might want to keep alge under control in your tank if that is your personel prefrence but if you stick a tank in water outside in direct sunlight and let it grow alage an then stick them into your tank they will graze on it and dig for micro organisms to eat on them. Just a nice thing to do for them and interesting to watch.
EDIT: you could look into some nano powerheads for nano reef tanks for current.
EDIT: you could look into some nano powerheads for nano reef tanks for current.
They are freshwater fish, right? I am looking for at least one other type of fish that do good in these tanks. So far, I've only been getting into the warm tropical fish other than cold water fish but since I have two tanks now, I can do both. Any ideas?
Crepe
Aquarium Advice Addict
you could also use a marine power head and keep the intake on once side and outlet on the other with a PVC hose.
Good suggestion and the below picks are my design i use for that.
BUT, since it is only a 10g with limited room i dont suggest it.
As for fish compatibility i would suggest some white mountain cloud minnows.
IMO, A 10 is not big enough to set up properly unfortunately. You need a longer footprint (20 long is great). A simple Koralia nano would be enough to provide the flow though. White clouds are another "cold" water, high flow fish that you could look at. They'd do better in a 10.
So what I will need is a powerhead, the tank, and cold water...I don't quite understand the blueprints of the design yet but I will read over them a couple of times to try and understand it. Is all of that necessary or can I get away with the powerhead?
The point is to make a square of pvc that outlines the size of your tank. you put 2 t bone shaped pvc on the ends of them. You put a powerhead on 1 side so it creates current and sucks it through the t bone shaped pvc on the other side which you cover with some sort of sponge which acts as the media for the filter and cleans the water and houses bacteria. But i would not reccommend this design for a 10g cause it is too small. A 20g long or larger is much better. If you insist on a 10g then 1 nano powerhead and a regular filter will do.
BillD
Aquarium Advice Addict
Poly Vinyl Chloride, the plastic used for making plastic water supply pipe and electrical conduit.
jsoong
Aquarium Advice Addict
Also, remember that hillies need a mature tank to survive. They will not eat any prepared food. Generally, they survive off the biofilm (algae & other micro critters growing on surfaces in the tank.> You need to have that established before introducing the fish or they might starve to death.
White clouds are good companions to hillies, and you might also try weather loaches. At any rate, have the tank established for a few weeks (or months) with the other fish (wait till you have at least a light algae film) before introducing the hillies & you will have better success.
And a long tank is better for them, as you can create better currents. <OTOH, my hillies don't really seek out the current, staying mostly in the "shadows" of my water pump (it is 750 gph tho ....), so it may be the aeration & high O2 content, rather than current, that is absolutely necessary.>
White clouds are good companions to hillies, and you might also try weather loaches. At any rate, have the tank established for a few weeks (or months) with the other fish (wait till you have at least a light algae film) before introducing the hillies & you will have better success.
And a long tank is better for them, as you can create better currents. <OTOH, my hillies don't really seek out the current, staying mostly in the "shadows" of my water pump (it is 750 gph tho ....), so it may be the aeration & high O2 content, rather than current, that is absolutely necessary.>
Yes, very true BUT they do learn to take it almost like a treat. They will hunt it down as it hits the ground BUT this will never be there primary diet. They will always be the grazers jsoong said. That is why i suggested the tank outside making algae idea.
Good recommendation.
The high oxygen is so important for them it isnt even funny. I find the current important but he is right, they look for current pools that form on the sides of the river. It is almost like they use the river current as a travel. But i find it important to have it still. Not necessarily 750g Per hour even though that much wont hurt anything.
No
Well so far, this is my plan. I want some of suggestions. I am going to get my 55 gallon set-up once I fix the new aquarium space up. After that, I'm going to replace my danios from my 10 gallon in my 55 gallon. I am going to re-start my 10 gallon and when I do, I will add the cloud minnows. When that tank is cycled (If cloud minnows are hardy fish), I will get a few hillstream loaches (If Algea is produced). So far, that's all I have. I will probably end up changing some stuff.
