Anyone had hillstream loaches?

So I took a pleco & some serpaes to my LFS, as my 20 gal tank was too small for the pleco & the serpaes were a bit nippy for my taste. I intended to get some type of dwarf pleco for algae eating purposes, but I didn't really like the 1 pleco that fit the bill. Of course I did like what turned out to be a hillstream loach, & was told it would only reach 3" & fill my algae eating needs. Now that I read up on it, I'm finding out it needs cooler fast flowing water which I obviously do not have. I guess I'm wondering if anyone has kept one of these in a 78 degree tropical tank with good results (yeah right), or if worst case it'll survive long enough for me to take it back for something else?

 

If you're going to get the fish just to take it back, I suggest not getting it at all. But I'm not sure if they'd do well in a tropical tank :S

 

If you're going to get the fish just to take it back, I suggest not getting it at all. But I'm not sure if they'd do well in a tropical tank :S

I think Rikard already purchased the fish with the intention of keeping it.

Rule of thumb: research, research, and research some more!

 

Yeaaaaaah Not only do they need lower temps, they tend to be sensitive fish in general. There is a HUGE variety of species of hill stream.

 

Yeah, I fully intended on keeping it. The fish I took in were from a chain pet store, which I bought when I 1st set up my tank & I assumed would be fine in a 20 gal tank as the pet store tanks they were in were smaller. I had yet to discover the joys of discovering the little guy at the store would become a foot+ long monster or that the fish in the "peacefull" tanks could actually be aggressive fin nippers. I've tried to get a bit more info & do things the right way, so I asked the 2 LFS's if they'd take them off my hands. The smaller of the 2 offered me more for them, so I took them in w/ the intention of getting a dwarf pleco. The lady who was there when I stopped in to ask yesterday showed me 3 that fit the bill, & I thought I ID'd the one I intended to purchase as an albino bristlenose or something of that nature on this site. Problem is, the guy who ran the store (& was really knowledgeable) was in today & said it was actually a sailfin or something similar that would grow too large. At this point a younger guy was helping me & showed me the 1 pleco that'd stay small enough. When I asked about the hillstream he said either would work fine. So I went w/ the hillstream as it looked interesting. Now I'm a little upset that they didn't mention it required different living conditions, as it was obvious from the fish I brought in & the tetras I also inquired about, that I have a single tropical tank.

Sorry to ramble, but I've been trying to do the right things & absolutely did not intend to return any more fish I brought home. Especially considering I had to remove 90% of my decorations & spend 40 minutes getting the serpaes & pleco out earlier (never tried it on living fish, it's waaayyyy more difficult than fishing out the dead ones). So back to the question at hand: is there any possible way this loach is going to be okay in my 78 degree tank? I could go get a pump & airstone tomorrow to increase oxygen, & I've got a 30gal filter on there already. I hope somebody says they've had success w/ this before, as I really really don't want to do this all again.

 

We all learn the lesson that pet stores are not the place to go for advice sooner or later, in one fashion or another. I strongly recommend returning the loach, myself...

 

Hey soltarianknight, I'm surprised you followed me over here. You've witnessed this debacle unfold all day. Well here's more good news, I just put a heater in recently as I previously thought the 74 degrees or so the tank was staying at before was acceptable to tropical fish, & I got one that automatically stays at 78 & can't be adjusted. You said there was a huge variety of hillstream, do any of them take to warmer temps (I know, I know, not bloody likely)? They called it a butterfly loach if it makes any differance, which I'm sure it doesn't. Oh well, guess I'm unplugging the heater & taking the little bugger back tomorrow. Hope the temp change doesn't screw w/ the 3 tetras I also added....

 

Keep the heater plugged for now. It will take a while for the temp to go up. It shouldnt happen in a few hours. Thatd be bad for the fish. yeah...nope. they like fast moving streams, by law, fast moving streams are normally pretty cool. Much cooler then more still water. They also need high amounts of oxygen and a steady diet of algae/plant material and maybe some proteins. ...yeah. AND they are semi-social.

Butterfly loach
Hillstream loach
Chinese loach
Pleco loach
Butterfly pleco
Hillstream pleco
stream loach
all common names.

 

Oh, meant I put a heater in a week or 2 ago. It's a solid 78 now. Are there any other algae eating fish that operate the same way as the hillstream & plecos do that are small enough to be in a 20 gal tank & are comfortable at 78 degrees? It can't be that easy, but thought I'd double check.

 

Nerite snails...

 

Darn it. Just going to have to get the little rotund dwarf pleco then. My wife likes them & so does the dog for some reason. Maybe they'll throw in a little tetra or something when I swap him out.

 

I just got myself a Borneo Butterfly Sucker, two days ago and did more research when I got home. Turned down my temperature to 75F from 78F. They were sold in the tropical section. All my LFS told me was high current and oxygen levels. Anyway that fish seemed okay in my tank albeit a bit shy, read more and it's recommended that they be kept in groups of more than 3.

So I went out and got another 3 more today. Now all of them are very active, swimming around my tank pretty fast; rather than how the solitary fish was initially where it just stayed in spots for a long while which I presumed it was eating. Is this normal as it has become more social?

 

The fish in your tank are overstocked and not compatible for aggression or temperature. Id suggest starting a new thread to help get more answers.

 

I'm in the same boat as you Rikard I bought a hillstream loach when I was very new to fish keeping, and since I was new I didn't do research on him (I didn't even know it was a hillstream loach until recently). Now I need to try to make my tank more suitable for him, and if I can't I will have to sell him or give him away (he is to old, they pet store would never take him back).

 

I don't know where you got him, but if it was a family owned business you may be able to at least get some store credit or something if you take him back in there. That's what they gave me for the fish I couldn't return to the chain stores.

I actually still have mine. I want to get another tank for him & a couple other fish I've got that would probably do better in a temperate tank, but it hasn't happened yet. To be honest, he seems to be doing fine in my tank. I added an airstone & a couple live plants to make sure he gets enough oxygen, & my tank is understocked anyway since getting rid of the serpaes & pleco. I tried to feed him algae wafers & sinking food, but he hasn't been interested. I know he's eating though, as I've seen him go to the bathroom & he seems healthy.

I found this really in-depth article about hillstream loaches & how you could design a tank for them.

If you've had yours for a while, have you noticed it's pretty nocturnal? Mine kind of hangs out under a flat rock or on the undersade of an arch shaped fake rock aquarium decoration I've got. During the evening/night he roams all over the glass, on the "rock" wall I put in the tank to make levels, or even on wide bodied silk plant "leaves", whether the light is off or on. He barely moves during the day & scoots all over the place at night. I like it when he glides around the water occasionally, when he hits the airstone bubbles it's pretty funny.

 

I have a 33 long that I have somewhere between 1 and 6 of them. I know I put six in it but I rarely see them all together so its hard to get an accurate count anymore.

The tank I have is setup as a cool water tank with about a 200gph power head in the tank and it filled with large river stones as the main substrate. I keep danios in that tank for the most part and they love the current and are always out playing in it.

The tank was setup with the hillstreams in mind and the danios are just the guests in the tank for some thing fun to watch. I like the looks of the tank and am still working on it to get it right and stock a bunch more of them as I know they would like a larger group still.

That article on loaches.com is a great read on the hill stream family.