Blue Tail Hillstream

[Liberty]

Hi everyone,

I'm new around here so please bear with me!!! lol

I heard about Hillstreams a couple of months ago and just had to get some!!! One of my mates got a couple too from a different shop. Mine were clearly two different species which didn't bother me but one of my mates loaches had a blue tail!!! Personal research on the net is frustrating because even under the same loach name you get different colours. We live in the country so have to buy items unseen and have them shipped in and I want to be sure I am ordering what I actually want. On the net I have seen gastomyzon ctenocephalis with a blue tail, but also some without. Are all of those meant to have the blue tail?? It's really confusing!!! Hence I have joined you guys in the hope of getting an education!! Many thanks.

Liberty.

[Jim Powers]

Welcome to Loaches Online.
I would suggest you go to the species index on this site and look the Gastromyzon species to determine what fish you have. The gastromyzons tend to have blue and sometimes red on the tails. All the ctenocephalus I have seen have blue tails. The similar G. scitulus has less blue on its tail. The also spotted G. stellatus has just a hint of blue on its tail as well as smaller spots. Check all these out in the species index and see what you think.
Also, you need to read this article.
http://www.loaches.com/articles/hillstr ... -fast-lane
This should help you figure out what kind of conditions these fish need.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. There are many hillstream keepers who frequent this board.