TeeJay Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 Hey fellow nerms. I'm going to be getting a new hillstream loach in less than 2 weeks. I have done all the general research but was looking for more personal experiences with them. Any extra info that could be helpful would be great. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theplatymaster Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/hillstream-loaches?_pos=1&_sid=90cfaddf3&_ss=r though you have probably seen this article before. im following, considering this is a fish im interested in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 I would be sure to paint/cover the back glass. Especially with a HoB this is the most high flow area and they usually feel really comfortable around the water movement. I also highly recommend trying to have a rock or flat surface to target feed them. They will handle the algae and be on glass. If you get ones that are a bit more outgoing and on the substrate and if you ever do need to feed meds or anything, then it might be useful to train them in that method to get food off of that section. I used to use the top of a ceramic cave. Last thing I'll say is that whatever amount of air and filtration you have going on, consider adding one more airstone just for their tank. They won't mind it at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miska Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 Take lots of photos! I love love love them but am not ready to own one yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted March 19 Author Share Posted March 19 On 3/19/2023 at 12:45 PM, nabokovfan87 said: I would be sure to paint/cover the back glass. Especially with a HoB this is the most high flow area and they usually feel really comfortable around the water movement. I also highly recommend trying to have a rock or flat surface to target feed them. They will handle the algae and be on glass. If you get ones that are a bit more outgoing and on the substrate and if you ever do need to feed meds or anything, then it might be useful to train them in that method to get food off of that section. I used to use the top of a ceramic cave. Last thing I'll say is that whatever amount of air and filtration you have going on, consider adding one more airstone just for their tank. They won't mind it at all. Well I'm running the fluvial 207 on that tank. With a med co op sponge filter. I still have a round disk air stone I can always add to the setup. It has 2 slate rock caves that I can place it's food on to "train" it to where I'll place wafers and things idk why it keeps displaying the pic upsidedown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 (edited) I have borneo sucker. More or less the same I assume so I can share my own experience. Really hardy. Can tolerate really high temps, my tanks reach up to 32Cs during summer, no issues. I try to oxygenate water more in general for them. Needs to be added to an established tank as they enjoy eating biofilm a lot. I added mine I guess 2 months after I set my tank. They do eat algae but in my experience, barely noticable. I personally don't think they are good algae eaters by any means. It was shy for the first weeks but now, it attacks the food first. It enjoys eating everything from my experience. Anything I feed my cories and pleco, and food that falls down to the floor. I have not observed them showing interest to snello, veggies or nori sheet I offer to my snails. But love frozen food and fish food otherwise. It has it's fav place in the tank and goes there whenever It wants to chill, but otherwise, not shy at all. Active during the day as well, spending most of its time on glass and rocks. I don't see mine on big leaf plants and driftwood much really. They can be a lil territorial to their own kind. I only have one myself, but in my lfs, I see especially males chasing each other from time to time. Not agressively tho. Just make them leave their space. I had that tank with clear on all sides, now it has a black background. No behavior difference really. So I personaly don't think you need to cover a side as a must. It is up to you. Oh and they change color a lot based on the floor/rock they are on. You can see better colors on darker substrates/rocks, or else, they make themselves much brighter. Edited March 19 by Lennie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 On 3/19/2023 at 10:00 AM, TeeJay said: It has 2 slate rock caves that I can place it's food on to "train" it to where I'll place wafers and things sounds perfect! On 3/19/2023 at 10:04 AM, Lennie said: I have borneo sucker. More or less the same I assume so I can share my own experience. Yeah, these are the ones I had as well. Beautiful species! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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