Went out to Fins N Things today and couldnt resist coming away with something! Was tempted to take a few mountain minnows and tetras but Ive plenty in my tank at the moment,will need to set up the 2nd one before I get another trip out there to "Stock up". Anyhow in the end I decided to get a Hong Kong Pleco. Lovely little guy that sticks to the glass and shimmies around the place! Nice fish and Ive plenty Oxygen getting into the tank so he should thrive,prob should of gotten 2 or 3 but Ill try one initially. Interesting little fella,likes the current on the filter which Im guessing traces back to the fact this fish is a hillstream loaches. Anyone got experience of these? Darragh you like your pleco's,ever come across these guys ?

Gavin

I do like plecs and for some unknown reason I never ended up keeping one of these little guys, as you correctly state they are not a "pleco" at all, but an Asian hillstream loach. They come with a variety of common names, but the most likely species you have is Beaufortia kweichowensis.

They look very similar to the Vietnam Hillstream Loach, Sewellia lineolata, which I have kept.

All the hillstream loaches require very high oxygen levels and prefer cooler water. The B kweichowensis appears to be hardier than S lineolata, reflected by the high price of the latter. They usually ship them one to a bag due to high oxygen requirements and that adds greatly to their cost.

I eventually lost all my S lineolata as I could not keep the water cool enough for them in the fish room. I have another hillstream loach, much smaller but with a name to make up for that Gastromyzon ctenocephalus! They have survived well. There is a photo here www.irishfishkeepers.com/cms/component/o...w/catid,27/id,30973/

As you will not be able to lower your temp due to other tank occupants I suggest you provide as much water agitation as possible, maybe with a filter return pointing at the glass or a flat stone where he can hang out and pretend he is at home


Daragh

Hi Gavin,

lovely fish and a pleasure to watch i could spend hours in front of my friends tank watching them.

i don't have any myself because my current cold set up just abouts suites white cloud Mt's minnows.

as Daragh stated the most important thing is movement and temp. one of the main reason for losses i have heard is they will try to be so much in moving water that they managed to get in to the impeller housing.


this my friend has added an up lift pipe with an air stone the bottom has a sponge which allow water to move free through it and the loches can happily move around it with out being damaged plus the extra water movement and surface agitation

Mickey

Thanks Mickey & Darragh,
I turned the temp down last night alright to about 25c, presently its about 26c, but I hope to knock it down another degree,I have the internal filter facing the glass which provides plenty of movement and indeed he hangs out there abit too! Along with my Wood / Singapore shrimp who hang on the underside of the glass overhang,they filter away all day there sometimes! He's an interesting addition alright, I was never gone on plecs,unfortunately alot of the ones I saw when I first started keeping tropicals consisted of tank with one or two dead fish and indeed the plecs were like vultures on them! lol.
Still I guess I need to sample them and indeed he may keep my glass clean also! Of course its not technically pleco either so will be interesting to see how it goes. He's fine this morning anyhow so will do a water change on Monday as Im off to watch Cork beat Kerry for the second time this year now! Nice long spin ahead for me,leave at 7:45am and get home around 11pm! Something tells me though that Kerry may nip it! Come on the Rebels!
Gavin

How is your hong Kong Pleco doing now?

There is a feature on them and other loaches in Septembers PFK. I don't agree with the temps stated for the Vietnamese Hillstream Loach, neither would a coupl eof other keepers I have spoken to, but apart from that, good photos and some info.

Daragh

Hi Darragh
Its going good so far. My temp is still at about 25c / 26c, It doesnt seem to be a problem for it but then again I run my temp higher than most I guess. The hong kong pleco disappears for alot of the time but every now and then you get to see it around the glass,up and down etc...
Also it goes hiding under one of my rocks in the tank! Its tail is a very nice colour,hard to get a pic of it but Ill see what I can do when I see it out next.
Gavin

Good to hear he is doing well.

Yeah he keeping well, Im considering getting a few for my other tank in a few weeks time,will probably wait for a few months though to get the tank fully established first as I think these fish like to live on algae and better for the tank to be established first. Ill probably just get one or two the next day put them into my existing tank and I can transfer them over after that seeing as they are difficult to get hold of in many fish shops. Also Darragh do you happen to know at what age a guppy and what age mollies can begin breeding? Im going to have to get rid of my mollies to the LFS soon I think as well as separate the female guppy from the male (Who happens to be the father but doubt that matter in the world of fishes!).
Gavin

Mickey Wallace would have more accurate info, from what I konw I think guppies can breed from about 8 weeks and mollies a little old, maybe 10-12 weeks. There are not many female guppies that know the father!

Got another 2 hong kong plecos today!Have them in the other tank until the new one is cycled. Also got some plants (Some real and some fake).Also have some rocks to go through also and clean and hopefully the tanks interior will be done at that point. The colour of the wall in the background is a light type baby blue so probably wont need a background particularly as Im running a normal light as well as a neon blue.
Gavin