Are Hillstream Loaches Nocturnal

Hey guys I just had a quick question. Are Hillstream Loaches Nocturnal

 

I don’t believe they are nocturnal.

 

They are active during the day. Wheter they are also active at night, I cannot tell.

 

Ok sounds good. I only have 1 right now and am planning on getting more and the one just kinda hides all day and comes out the moment the lights turn off. So its good to know that it well lax up once some friends get brought in

 

Ok sounds good. I only have 1 right now and am planning on getting more and the one just kinda hides all day and comes out the moment the lights turn off. So its good to know that it well lax up once some friends get brought in

Yeah, it's just a bit anxious being alone in a new place. When I got mine, even though they were in a group, they were shy for a while, some for days, a couple even for weeks. But now they are always out in the open. Even when they're not active, chilling, napping or whatever, they just sit on stones or glass, perfectly visible. They even stopped running away from my hands when I do maintenance; when I'm cleaning the glass, sometimes I need to poke one sitting there so that it moves and I don't injure it with a glass scraper .

 

Yeah, it's just a bit anxious being alone in a new place. When I got mine, even though they were in a group, they were shy for a while, some for days, a couple even for weeks. But now they are always out in the open. Even when they're not active, chilling, napping or whatever, they just sit on stones or glass, perfectly visible.

Ok that's really good to hear! I'm glad that their gonna be active during today and can't wait to pick them up.

 

The more the merrier with loaches!
No the hillstream loaches are not nocturnal, but need time to adjust to tank life. he used to have 200 besties in a fast-moving stream, now he doesn't know whats going on. Adding more will help, but you may still need to be patiant.

 

The more the merrier with loaches!
No the hillstream loaches are not nocturnal, but need time to adjust to tank life. he used to have 200 besties in a fast-moving stream, now he doesn't know whats going on. Adding more will help, but you may still need to be patiant.

Ok sounds good. Thats very reassuring to hear and hope to get about 2 more soon

 

Ok sounds good. Thats very reassuring to hear and hope to get about 2 more soon

They should be in a school of 6 or more.

 

So Im back on this thread for a little update
So I ended up getting three more and its going great....with those three.of One of the three is a little more timid but i still pretty active. Another one is super active all the time. And another one is baiscally a straight up Corydora thats disguised as a hillstream loach (no seriously this guy will eat algae, corydoras food and he'll hangout with the Corydoras all the time).

Those three I great, cool looking fish that are so fun to watch. Although the one i was trying to get, to open up is still having some issues doing so. He still only comes out at night. Its been about two months since ive gotten him. The day I gotten him though I noticed that we was just a skiddish little guys in general

So for now Ill have to wait. Im thinking about getting two more hillstream loaches though. Also at night sometimes the four of them hangout with each other in one area lol

 

Sorry the one fish is still shy, but they really neeed to be in a larger school. 6 is bare bottom minimum. I would get as many more as the tank can handle. They are a more exotic species and bare minim may not cut it.

 

Did that last hillstream loach every start coming out, I'm asking because I have a hillstream loach that only hides behind the filter all day.

 

Mine love behind the filter (loads of food there), on the glass in front of the filter output (feels like a stream I guess) and on the wood and coconut. They hide every time they see me coming over. At feeding its comical because they try to sneak up on the food whilst hiding behind the plants and take detours so they‘re not directly exposed to me or there‘s some decor or plant between me and them. They see me approach and fly off (they really look like they flying haha) at lightning speed to hide somewhere; if they feel hidden (e.g. they‘re on the coconut and feel camouflaged) then they might hang out motionless whilst waiting for me to leave and only resume feeding after I‘ve stepped away. On the other end of the spectrum, whilst I‘m cleaning they tend to stay put and I have to push them out of the way to clean sometimes. I now have them since five months they‘ve relaxed a bit so now I can come within about 1m without them hiding away. Hopefully soon they‘ll be able to stay put no matter how close I am. I only have three, and it looks like one of them is a different breed than the other two as it‘s three times as large as when I got it now (about 4cm long tip to tip) whilst the other two only grew about 1cm since I got them. Luckily the other two are one male and one female and miracle, they’ve been breeding! So I‘ll soon have a bigger group.