Their colouration is spectacular with their dark stripes and red tails, though one has become significantly darker than the other. They are now adults, and have reached a size of about 2.5" each. For the first while, these two fish were very social with eachother and could be seen playing and resting together. As the food was floating down, they would jump into the mid water column and do loop-de-loops to catch it. None of the food reached the bottom of the tank. They ate ravenously at first, and "caught" their food in a lively and entertaining way. This became especially apparent when I dropped food in the tank, and was then able to identify them as Schistura Mahnerti. By the following day, after placing them in QT, they had coloured up so much I scarcely recognized them, displaying many dark stripes and a red tail. Being a loach enthusiast, I recognized them as something different, but was not able to ID them right away. Photo Credit : Photos copyright JJPhoto.About a year ago, I purchased two pale little loaches that came in as contaminants in a shipment of other fish. Gender : It is very difficult to determine gender by external differences. Diatoms in the tank as well as algae wafers as a treat are good algae foods, but for the meaty foods, mysis shrimp and bloodworms are good foods. Tank Mates : Mostly just coldwater fish that are able to tolerate a strong current in the tank.įish Disease : Freshwater Fish Disease - Diagnose, Symptoms and Treatmentĭiet / Fish Food : Herbivore, but this Loach will accept meaty foods. Temperament / Behavior : Peaceful, won't harm anything in the tank, except for the brown diatoms.īreeding : Very difficult in the home aquarium. Origin / Habitat : Various areas of China Parameters : pH : 7 - 8, Temperature : 68 - 75☏ (20 - 24☌), Water Hardness : Medium to hard water conditions Other Common Names : Chinese Butterfly Loach, Hong-Kong Pleco, Butterfly Loach, Chinese Sucker Scientific Name : Beaufortia kweichowensis, Beaufortia leverreti kweichowensis These fish sometimes like to be in groups of 3 or more and will feel more comfortable in a small group. They can also be pretty expensive depending on the store and the color variant that you get. There are different color varieties of this little fish, but the most common is one with spots and is also known as the spotted loach at some stores. The most similar species to these fish are the other Beaufortia species but are similar to the other small algae eaters. If these fish are well cared for, and have the proper tank set up, they can live for 8-10 years and get to 3" at most. They should be fed good quality algae wafers, mysis shrimp, or blood worms. The tank should be pH neutral to slightly alkaline for them to thrive as well as medium hard water with a temperature set at 68-75☏ (20-24☌). The tank the Hillstream Loach should be put in should be well established since they eat algae and a new tank doesn't seem to have any algae in it right away. If the tank gets too hot for the loach, they will die because their body can't seem to cope with the warmer temperatures, plus the warmer the water, the less oxygen in it. They are usually best suited for pond tanks or ponds in general since they require cold water, unlike most fish, which prefer it.
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