Beaufortia leveretti

So I have fallen in love! I adore these little guys! They are unbearably cute! I was told in the shop that these were "algae eaters for goldfish tanks" but I have read enough that I doubted such a thing existed. I won't be adding them to the goldfish tank, but now that my goldies have their "big" new tank, I have two mature tanks, 90l and 50l, to choose from. (I have been using ammonia to keep them going, and now that the glass hasn't been cleaned in a week there is a good spread of algae developing.)

Should I use the 90l or the 50l to do a species only hill stream setup for some Beaufortia leveretti? My understanding is that they are happy at the same temperature, pH, and water hardness as goldfish, but they require a high water flow, is this correct? Am I better to use a power head or a filter? What rate filter/power head should I get for each tank? How many could live happily in the 50l, or in the 100l? And am I safe to gather some rocks from a wall for the tank? They'd probably be limestone rocks.

Tell me anything you think I need to know- I am a noob fish keeper, so you can safely assume I know nothing! Thanks!

One thing to remember about any Hillstream loach is that there is no such thing as too much flow for them. They like their water clean, oxygen rich and faaast!

If the stones are limestone they will make your water harder and more alkaline, so maybe consider using granite or basalt.

As for numbers, they are quite territorial; not vicious but they like their own space. I'd use the larger tank and maybe put four or so in it. Maybe White Cloud Mountain Minnows would be good tank mates.

I'm setting up a Hillstream tank in the next few weeks so I'm interested to hear how you get on

Oh brilliant- I have company!

I am going to stick to the hillstream loaches alone for a while at least though, maybe down the line I'll grt some minnows too. Thanks for the heads up re limestone. It will be harder for me to find other rocks here.

schnappsmom wrote:

Oh brilliant- I have company!

I am going to stick to the hillstream loaches alone for a while at least though, maybe down the line I'll grt some minnows too. Thanks for the heads up re limestone. It will be harder for me to find other rocks here.

Hard to find rocks in Sligo? Never heard that before!

LOLZ- wouldn't know where to go looking for a rock in Sligo. Am in Galway at the moment, and that is limestone country!

As said above.....pleanty of good rapid water movement, and if you can make sure the powerheads have an air venturi the exploit the full power.

As for liking the same conditions as goldfish.....no, that is not true. The conditions required by goldfish is very much different to the ideal conditions for the Beaufortia.

Also, plenty of regular good quality water changes are needed.

ian

Cannot find anything on breeding, looks like very few have managed to so far.

H.

most of the hillstream loaches come from china and as said they like fast flowing cool clean water. I think the key to keeping them well is based on the water being cool which they require to absorb oxygen into the blood. the temperature is seemingly vital as at high temps they don't survive for very long. (something to do with haemoglobin and O2, I read a scientific paper on them a while ago, but Ian could probably explain it better.)
When I kept some of these species they did best with medium hard water, so the limestone would probably be ok (and encourage better algae growth) as it leechs quite slowly and as you do water changes this would dilute any excessive hardness.

Thank you all!

Have all my links/bookmarks saved on my laptop so will have to sharpen up my research when I get back home. I can't find anything I was reading last week now that I'm using the iPad.

On the ID of this group of fish, what appears in the fish shops could be anything and given almostr any random choice of name.

Many of the group are quite recent discoveries as well. The group was also revised last year.

So....when looking specificially at B.leveretti.....you could be looking at a different species altogher.

ian

igmillichip wrote:

On the ID of this group of fish, what appears in the fish shops could be anything and given almostr any random choice of name.

Many of the group are quite recent discoveries as well. The group was also revised last year.

So....when looking specificially at B.leveretti.....you could be looking at a different species altogher.

ian

they always seem to fall under the lazy grouping of "borneo suckers" or "Chinese sucking loach" or something like that. they're fascinating fish and deserve more attention

LemonJelly wrote:

igmillichip wrote:

On the ID of this group of fish, what appears in the fish shops could be anything and given almostr any random choice of name.

Many of the group are quite recent discoveries as well. The group was also revised last year.

So....when looking specificially at B.leveretti.....you could be looking at a different species altogher.

ian

they always seem to fall under the lazy grouping of "borneo suckers" or "Chinese sucking loach" or something like that. they're fascinating fish and deserve more attention

They are certainly interesting fish with interesting behaviour.....so, yep, deserve more attention.

ian

igmillichip wrote:

On the ID of this group of fish, what appears in the fish shops could be anything and given almostr any random choice of name.

Many of the group are quite recent discoveries as well. The group was also revised last year.

So....when looking specificially at B.leveretti.....you could be looking at a different species altogher.

ian

I got the shop to check the Latin name on their order as the tank in the shop was labeled "Butterfly Loaches", but I am aware that the latin name i was given may not mean much either.

I'll get to sit down and do some more reading tomorrow. Long term, it's not feasible if I need to do too much messing with the water to alter pH etc to keep them healthy and happy, even though I think they are beyond fantastic little fish!

Mr. Millichip and Mr. Jelly will be called on for advice!

Typically when I'm looking for something I was reading last week, I cannot find it again! I cannot locate the facts/figures that made me think that I could meet the needs of these fish- tbh I'm wondering now if I was dreaming!

So based on the readings from my tank, can I meet the requirements? pH is 7.5, measured using neutrafin liquid test.

I tested water hardness last January when I set up the tank, but I have no liquid tests on hand for water hardness any more. The best I could do today was pick up a pack of tetra 6 in 1 strips. According to these my KH is between 3 and 6, closer to 6 than 3 I think. GH is between 8 and 16, closer to 8 than 16 I think. (Grrrrr! I hate strips!). Do those readings make sense? Or do I just need to get a proper liquid test to give a true picture?

All help appreciated- thanks!

the ph is fine and the hardness readings are not that important unless extreme, so the water should be ok.
it is possible to over research things sometimes, when the key to keeping most fish alive is to give them clean well filtered water and suitable food.
in the shop the fish will not be in the optimum water so when they arrive to your tank you can gradually tweak things to their advantage rather than plunging them into completely different conditions.

As Derek pointed out, the parameters aren't too complicated for Beaufortia or indeed any other Hillstream loaches. In my (limited) experience what kills more HS loaches off than anything else is too little oxygen and poor water quality. You really can't give them too much flow. Remember, these guys come from rivers that flow at a metre a second... or more!

Setting up the DIY filter on my HS tank at the moment

u d man!

I am looking at this 720l/h power head- www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003D0WBPG/r...&smid=A1LE0LTQCDO2F4

Too much in 90l? Too little? Or should go with two smaller ones? What do you think?

One of the hill stream loach tanks we used have in the bedroom was 2 foot and powered by two 750 gallon per hour pumps with air venruri on full.....boy was it noisy and looked like a foam bath.

On the loaches themselves, the transfer process from tank to tank is big potential a killer. Best introduced by trickle methods.
Place the loaches into a square sided container in the water from the shop, add good aeration, and trickle syphon water from their new tank into them before introducing them.

ian

The filter I'm making will be 2000lph, probably a bit less. I'm hoping to use either a 3000lph or 5000lph power head in addition. As for whether 720lph is too much for them? No, it won't be. I think for the most part the only thing that might limit how fast the flow gets is if you plan on keeping other fish with them... but the loaches will love it

I was wondering if there was a point at which I would have too much flow, but I am beginning to think that is not at all possible to have too much flow!

Huge thanks for the heads up re transfer from tank to tank- with all the reading I have done I did not encounter that advice at all.

I have copy of the revision from last year of this group of fish.....199 pages if you wanted to use it for ID purposes.

This is a scientific paper and not a fish-keeping publication.

If wanted, I'll send you the link to my google drive account.

ian

Lovely fish, and one of the most interesting to watch as they have little quarrels regularly about what stone they are fighting over etc! Ive about 3 or 4 in my tank for a few years now and Ive managed to do so in warm enough temperatures luckily,however certainly they prefer well oxgenated, cooler temperatures and alot of flow. Give them a lot of rounded stones so they can avail of the flow of the rocks also. They will happily consume algae tablets also however if you are looking to grow on algae, you can place a rock outside in some water in a jar for a while and get some algae growing on it, pop it into the tank then and they will get a nice dinner out of it. You will have great fun watching these guys having their regular little chases around the tank. Dont worry too much about the hardness and the PH as the lads say,and Id also not overly worry about massive flow rates, mine have done just fine with limited flow but once you get a decent flow of water they will be fine, they dont need a massive powerhead swirling water around them at all, but a decent flow will keep them happy.

Gavin

Thanks Gavin. Out of curiosity do you have any other fish in with them?

igmillichip wrote:

I have copy of the revision from last year of this group of fish.....199 pages if you wanted to use it for ID purposes.

This is a scientific paper and not a fish-keeping publication.

If wanted, I'll send you the link to my google drive account.

ian

Thanks for the bedtime reading Ian!

schnappsmom wrote:

Thanks Gavin. Out of curiosity do you have any other fish in with them?

I do indeed, Ive lots of other type of fish in their with them ranging from various tetras,bristlenoses,ottos,amongst others. Never had any issue with them and Ive them over 4 or 5 years now I would say. There are so many different types of hillstream loaches out there all sold under various different names,however the caring of them tends to be similar across the board generally.

Gavin

schnappsmom wrote:

Thanks Gavin. Out of curiosity do you have any other fish in with them?

If you want some tankmates for them but don't want to go down the minnow/danio/tetra route, you could consider keeping freshwater gobies with them. They're small, like the same kind of conditions and have bags of personality.

Thanks Gavin.

Mr. Jelly, I don't think I have ever seen freshwater gobies, I am away to research.

schnappsmom wrote:

Thanks Gavin.

Mr. Jelly, I don't think I have ever seen freshwater gobies, I am away to research.

Rhinogobius species in particular

hows your gold fishes doing....

LemonJelly wrote:

schnappsmom wrote:

Thanks Gavin.

Mr. Jelly, I don't think I have ever seen freshwater gobies, I am away to research.

Rhinogobius species in particular

Thanks for pointing out these little guys.

They are cute, and I think they could fit very well with the hillstream loaches. I will work on one thing at a time for now though. I'll keep the 50l going, and it can be on standby to take some gobies if I decide to go down that road next year.