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Jennifers hillstream loach
Jennifer:
Here is a post I submitted about 1 month ago.
Congratulations and welcome to the wonderful world of Hillstream
Loaches!
I think they`re great fish and way underappreciated. Here`s what I know
from intensive searching:
They eat algae and the creatures that live in it; also blood worms, etc.
I feed mine algae disks and Sera brand Premium Tabs; they were fed
frozen bloodworms in the shop. I also give them cooked zucchini, but I
don`t know if they are eating the middles or my cherry barbs. Mine come
out mostly in the evening and night. Very peaceful. Like dark
hidey-holes. Some of mine are pretty active, swimming around, picking
at the bottom, and some just hide all day. The more I got, the more
active (not aggressive) they became, even though they are somewhat
territorial.
They like pH around 6.7 and hardness H5 according to Dr. Herbert
Axelrod. 24 degrees Celsius. I heard stories of very high temps. over
80 F. just outright killing them and temps over 77 F. or so stressing
them. 5 cm. max. length. They are sensitive to water quality.
From what I gathered, these are some species (from Asia):
Gastromyzon borneensis = light brown with dark spots (I have 8 of these)
Gastromyzon punctulatus = dark brown with light spots
Pseudogastromyzon myersi = light brown with dark, ragged splotches. The
dorsal fin has white, clear, and red stripes, I believe, unlike the
others` plainer black/clear dorsal fins.
What type you have I`m not sure, maybe myersi. But I`ve heard maybe of
a Zebra Hillstream loach? I don`t know. I wish there was a recent book
out there to straighten this out, especially with breeding information.
Various common names:
Stingray Pleco
Hong Kong Pleco
Butterfly Pleco (no,they are not plecos)
Butterfly Loach
Borneo Sucker
Chinese Butterfly Fish
Please tell us what type you think you have, especially since I have
been scouring the country for G. punctulatus and P. myersi. I`ve even
contacted exporters from Singapore, but no one really contacts me back.
There are pictures in Axelrod`s Atlas of Freshwater Aquarium Fish
(myersi) and Baensch`s Atlas (punctulatus) if you`re interested. Also,
go to www.dejanews.com and search for Hillstream and Gastromyzon to read
some good past posts on them.
good luck
frank