[Mangala]

I just had to share, as I just found this fish at a fish store I visited for the first time last weekend... cutest. fish. ever. hands down, is the hillstream loach. If they made stuffed animals that looked like that, they'd sell like hotcakes. I was watchin it move around and dig in the gravel and eat stuff... and all I could think was, "awwwww!" sooo... of course now I'm researching best care for it, as if it will live in my asian community tank, I'm gonna get one.

Here's a pic from the internet:

I'm sure other people have cutest fish favs. go ahead and share!

 

[epicfish]

Heck yea! I bought a few and put them in my tank, but I guess the dissolved oxygen wasn't high enough to keep them alive.

Do you remember how much they were at the LFS you went to? Pricey little guys.

 

[James From Cali]

I have to say the cutest fish are young Mosquitofish I just got them today and love them already. But that, I think, is a Hillstrem Loach. Very cool.

 

[Mangala]

Heck yea! I bought a few and put them in my tank, but I guess the dissolved oxygen wasn't high enough to keep them alive.

Do you remember how much they were at the LFS you went to? Pricey little guys.

Epic, I neglected to memorize their price. But I DO recall that nothing in that tank was more than 14.95. I believe that might have been their price, but I'm unsure. It was not enough to dissuade me from wanting just... one... adorable little thing. :biggrin:

Basically, since my asian community tank has a pretty high water flow, and has an over-sized airstone in it already (it's not currently ON, but it's IN there...) really I think I could have a hillstream in there (if I turn the airstone thingie on...) Probably he would want more rocks.

 

[epicfish]

Have many flat rocks with lots of water flow and you should be good. Unless done right, I don't think they'd do well in my planted tanks since I'm trying to minimize surface agitation; therefore, no massive flow in my tank. =/

Maybe I can strategically position some powerheads to have flow downwards in the tank....we'll see!

 

[mr.sandman]

I remember I used to have one of these. It is so cool to watch them swim around. They prefer lower temperature and to be in a group. Mine cost $11.99

 

[Mangala]

hmmm... I may have to think a bit before I go get one/several, then. I would have to re-do the asian community tank (not willing to add them to my angel tank... that would be for pleco-types) to include more rocks and such. Currently it's mostly sand, driftwood and wisteria/watersprite/ludwigia... hmmm... :-D It's a project!

 

[Cydric]

Do it! It's an awesome looking fish! I love the color and design pattern! :thumbsup:

 

[tha_beeg]

Heck yea! I bought a few and put them in my tank, but I guess the dissolved oxygen wasn't high enough to keep them alive.

Do you remember how much they were at the LFS you went to? Pricey little guys.

hillstream loaches are coldwater fish if i remember right so that could have had something to do with it

 

[mrbelvedere]

Check out whitepine's thread on these guys. They really like dissolved O2 (as much as you can get). Some say they don't really care one way or the other about flow but if it's more naturalizing, whatever :icon_smil .

Makes me want a hillstream type tank. Ridiculous flow, lots of rocks, airstones, etc. Maybe a chiller.

 

[Shadow]

Would they eat shrimp? I could add some to my shrimp tank XD

 

[Mangala]

info I read said they were omnivores, but prefer very much green algae. Like, it suggested getting stones and putting them in a tank outside to collect algae for them to graze on. it also suggests stones and swift running water (if you want to breed them, specifically) and that plants are not necessary as they don't actually encounter them in the wild very often. They like cooler temps and lots of bubbles... Not exactly the best fit for the planted aquaria, but I can imagine a couple ways to set up a tank like that which would probably allow me to have my plants AND the most adorable fish ever found. It will require more pilfering of slate from the park... though... maybe I should just go find a rock quarry... It would be much easier.

 

[BlueRam]

It will require more pilfering of slate from the park... though... maybe I should just go find a rock quarry... It would be much easier.

Take a field trip behind U Village. There is a stone shop near Ti cycles where you can get stone cheap and legal.

 

[Lupin]

Oh, hillies are indeed the cutest.:hihi: My top on list anyway.:biggrin: I have 11 so far.:smile:

Here they go.

Mangala, I take it the pic is a Sewellia lineolata.:tongue: Mine are Beaufortia kweichowensis. I have already requested my friend to find newer batches of Homaloptera species. He had them last year but I wasn't interested back then.:icon_lol: Did I regret it? Oh yes, naturally I do.:icon_wink :icon_lol:

They are quite tolerant of warm temperatures. The only problem is that the warmer the water, the lower the oxygen level hence it is always better to place them in a cooler waters with a tremendous amount of oxygen via use of powerheads, not just one pump.

Shadow: They don't eat shrimps but if you're thinking of placing them in a planted tank, well, no is the answer unless you are prepared to get rid of the CO2 system.

 

[epicfish]

How big are yours, Bluebell?

 

[epicfish]

Oh, I think Wasserpest has them in his planted tank...I think it's Wasserpest.

 

[Lupin]

Not GDominy? I had seen a thread that he had planned a river tank ages ago.

Hmmm...Might be worth travelling the past threads then.:biggrin: I think I'll do it right now.:smile:

Edit: I tried searching on Gareth and Wasserpest's threads but no results or I might have missed that.

 

[mistergreen]

here's mine
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/98/370185442_31af411407.jpg

they don't get bigger than 1.5-2"

 

[Hypancistrus]

Just ordered 8 myself.

This fish comes from fast moving river rapids and it's not unusual to see them climbing up waterfalls, so they really need high dissolved oxygen at all times, and that means an airstone at night at the very least. If your DO goes down during the night, you won't find them gasping at the surface in the morning, you'll find them dead!

 

[Hypancistrus]

Also, remember that there are hundreds of species of these fish, and many vendors don't sell what they say they are selling. I recently ordered some from aquariumfish.net and even though they described them as Beaufortia, what they actually shipped me was definitely not Beaufortia, but closer to Hemimyzon.