Loaches Online Forum

My hillies DON'T like the high current area of the tank! It's well airated and has a Fluval 4+ blasting right onto some slate and everything, they just refuse to go there unless I attach cucumber or something to the slate.

They are actually shoaling with my corys! doh! Are they just hungry and scouting the rest of the tank and I just THINK they're shoaling? I'm a bit lost. I have been trying very hard to grow algae on a few rocks and am having very little luck, so have been feeding algae wafers and cucumber, as well as some other blanched veggies, which they all dig in to.

Am I doing something wrong or just freaking out for no real reason? Squishy and Spot have me on edge for freakish fish behaviour.

Will wonders never cease?:roll: Some of my hillies have refused to even stay in the area where currents are very strong. Some do eat algae although not as enthusiastic compared to other foods. Ah well...They are indeed a bunch of oddballs.

Which species of Hillstream loaches are we talking about? Not all are 3rd lane hoggers in the fast lane. Some just like and need to feel the oxygenated waters and flow-rate around them.

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/ga ... nocephalus

Blue wrote:Will wonders never cease?:roll: Some of my hillies have refused to even stay in the area where currents are very strong. Some do eat algae although not as enthusiastic compared to other foods. Ah well...They are indeed a bunch of oddballs.

They are striving to drive me insane! lol

Graeme Robson wrote:Which species of Hillstream loaches are we talking about? Not all are 3rd lane hoggers in the fast lane. Some just like and need to feel the oxygenated waters and flow-rate around them.

On this thread: http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php ... c&start=15

I was told they were these: http://www.loaches.com/species-index/ga ... nocephalus

they look just like them and invoke the same "OMGCUTEIWANNACUDDLEIT" reflex that made me buy them lol!

So, should I like, get them some more hillies to shoal with or are mine just freaks? lol

For Gastromyzon ctenocephalus this isn't unusual. I think that maybe you're working on misconceptions here. In a low current and low oxygen level tank which these fish are often kept in many dealer's they will hog any areas that have some flow.

If your aquarium is set up in a way that gives them the high oxygen level they need, the current itself is a secondary consideration to them. They are enabled to be active all over the tank because they can breath adequately.

The fish in the shop that seldom move from any current will be transformed into very lively fish that are all over the place in a properly set up aquarium for their needs. Sounds like you got it right to me.

They're not a shoaling fish. In fact they can be quite territorial with one another. They will feed in the same areas, but at other times one will assert its dominance in defence of a chosen area. This kind of behaviour is just one more cute thing they do which will probably make you want to cuddle them more!

Martin.

lol aww. Happy fishy is a good thing. They have a 4 outlet pump and half of my six outlet to themselves, so they're probaby very happy chappies. Maybe they are chasing my corys instead of shoaling? lol. They've been good and not really gone after after anyone, at least not to the point that they have let on to the corys that they're being chased and not hung out with