Loaches Online Forum

Hanna and I decided to go to an LFS today, just to check out what they had in stock. There we found a hillstream that we didn't know anything about. It had beautiful blue markings on the dorsal and caudal fins, and since hillstreams are uncommon where we live, we decided to take it home. We have, with the help of the pictorial species index, identified it as a Gastromyzon Ctenocephalus. We couldn't get a clean shot of his fins, but we'll try to get it later.




They're thumbnails, so just click to see in fullsize. The reason we photographed him on my finger is because he didn't want to leave! I had to gently force him in the tank, even if my finger was in the water!

Nice find Jonas, I love gastromyzons! Is it in the same tank with the sewellia? I, and others , have had trouble keeping them together. The sewellia can be aggressive and not allow the smaller gastros to feed. There are also members here, I believe, who have had no problems with the combination? Just a heads up, you might keep an eye on the gastro for signs of malnutrition.

hi jonas
nice chap. I'm sure you'll manage to make some pictures.
did you like the feeling?
cheers charles

Thanks! We didn't have any problems when we left the tank (they're at my gf's house, and we're at my place now), but we'll definately follow-up on it. They seemed to like different parts of the tank, the sewellia is mostly on the roots, and the gastro (named Predator to complete the Alien vs Predator theme) is mostly on the background.

He tickled my finger a lot! Felt like someone sucked on my finger.

Thought I'd just update you on the situation. Alien and Predator seems to get along well. They sat right next to each other on the glass, but they didn't show any aggression. But as I said earlier, they often swim in different parts of the tank.

Hanna took a better pic of Predator today that I feel like sharing. He seems to do pretty well in the tank, and he still haven't been fighting with Alien. He rarely show off his beautiful blue tail though, and when he does it's impossible to photograph.

Forced Hanna to take some more Predator-pics

Very nice! Looks like a very healthy fish.

Thanks! We haven't seen him eat anything apart from the algae on the glass though, so we've basically stopped cleaning the glass. Any pointers on feeding him?

Really lovely fish. Thanks for sharing.

It sometimes takes Gastromyzons some time to acclimate to prepared foods.
I would try algae wafers and other pelleted foods as well as frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp.

Thanks!

Jim Powers wrote:It sometimes takes Gastromyzons some time to acclimate to prepared foods.
I would try algae wafers and other pelleted foods as well as frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp.

We've tried crumbling up some Sera Vipachips, but so far only Alien (Sewellia) have been eating it, not Predator. We feed brine a couple of times per week, but haven't seen him eat that either. We also feed black mosquito larvae, but with the same results. I'd love to try bloodworms, but we have Angelfish in the same tank, and they're apparently sensitive to something in them. Makes their intestines go bonkers.

Just be patient. It may take some time.
I have had Sewellia and Pseudogastrymyzon cheni start eating prepared foods after a day or two, but with Gastros it often takes weeks or even months. I had one Gastro that I never saw eat anything for something like a year or more. It was apparently finding food around the tank or getting enough to graze, but I just never saw it eat prepared foods. Finally, it started eating bloodworms and has been feeding well ever since.

Okay, thanks. We'll just have to hang in there! Are there any veggies that especially Gastros like? Have only tried cucumber and lettuce, but to no avail.

beautiful fish and tell Hanna the pictures are great
I would have thought angelfish and Hillstreams would need different tank conditions. Mainly water temperature and current.
Carol