Borneo Pleco? I don't think so ..

[dev]

I found four of these little fellows in a local fish place earlier today, marked as "Borneo Pleco". So far I've concluded that this must be a messed up name for Gastromyzon borneensis. I decided they would be better off in one of my tanks than be treated as a common ancistrus in the shop, and so I bought them.

However, I thought Gastromyzon sp. had wider straight mouths, this one is narrower and bended. Could it be some sort of Beaufortia sp?

[Emma Turner]

Perhaps Beaufortia kweichowensis?

http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/be ... ensis.html

Emma

[dev]

Thank you Emma, they sure do look very much like B. kweichowensis.

While I prepare for my first river tank I will have to keep these in my south american/asian community tank. It's not perfect but at least it is soft water with high levels of O2 and CO2.

The tank is 125 litres (33 galleons) with a 1000 l/h (265 g/h) powerhead generating at least some currents.

pH: 7.0
GH: 3 german degrees
KH: 6 german degrees
CO2: 20 ppm
O2: 8 ppm / >95% saturation
Temp: 25 degrees celcius (77 fahrenheit)

Will this do at all?
Anthing else I can do to make them more comfortable in their temporary home?

[Gary Herring]

Must be some sort of Beaufortia species. I initially thought perhaps not Kweichowensis though, cos the black markings are a bit more 'patterned' and random than the spots you see on most BK's? Mouth is a bit different, too. Lovely looking fish though.

Also, I don't think you'll find the CO2 will stay at that level for long. If you oxygenate the water to a level acceptable for hillstreams, you'll inevitabily lose a hell of a lot of CO2 in the process.

[dev]

Must be some sort of Beaufortia species. I initially thought perhaps not Kweichowensis though, cos the black markings are a bit more 'patterned' and random than the spots you see on most BK's? Mouth is a bit different, too. Lovely looking fish though.

Also, I don't think you'll find the CO2 will stay at that level for long. If you oxygenate the water to a level acceptable for hillstreams, you'll inevitabily lose a hell of a lot of CO2 in the process.

They sure are lovely

The O2 saturation is already 100% during the day (or close). Will the hillstreams still benefit from aeration under these conditions? Can aearation even get you beyond this level?

I'm already running the airpump on timed intervals during the night to compensate for photosynthesis and keep the CO2, O2 and pH levels more stable. I suppose I could run it 24/7 but as you say, it will be hard (or at least expensive) to keep the CO2 up this way.

update> They seem to be settling inn well already. Two of them are happily foraging the tank, eating of the background and the roots. They did not show this behaviour in the shop tank, and were barely interested when the shopkeeper gave them an algea pellet. One is still just sitting on the glass, like they all did in the shop, and the last one is hiding out of view.

Here is a better belly picture of the one sitting on the glass (the other picture was from the transport bag).

[Jim Powers]

Intersting looking fish. It definately looks like a beaufortia from below, but from above, its blunt snout looks a bit gastro-like.

[mikev]

Beaufortia Ridens? (Dashes instead of dots)

[Martin Thoene]

Here's my B. kweichowensis for comparison.









You have to remember a tank full of these can have quite different markings. I've seen some variation in head shape too. You have to be careful jumping to conclusions from one photo. If this fish is grazing, it will tend to pull its mouth inward. I would like to see a picture resting on a rock to compare.

Martin.

[Jim Powers]

Good point, Martin.

[dev]

Thanks everyone for all the help on identification. From what I can see, they do very much look like the various pictures of B. kweichowensis. Well, except for the red nostrels.

These are really facinating fish, I've hardly been able to take my eyes off that tank all since they arrived.

I don't have any rocks in this tank, other than the rocky background. The pictures of them resting on the gravel is a close as I can get I think, but I'll see if I can take some more shots after the lights come back on. Perhaps one will decide to sit on a root or plant.

Does anyone have opinions on the technical issues above? Such as aeration, CO2 and O2 levels? Is there something like a suggestied ppm or saturation requirement for O2?

[Jim Powers]

It would be a good idea to provide your fish with some flat stones if you can. They like to rest on such stones, particularly in the current flow.

[Pickerel]

Hi Dev,

Yes, i think your fish is of Beaufortia sort, too.

Technical datas are ok to keep gastromyzon, except for temp wich is a little bit too high.
Ideally, temp should not exceed 24°C to make him comfortable.
One or two big rocks should be suitable,too.

Cordialement,
Dom

[Gary Herring]

With regards to the O2 / CO2 issues, I assume you have a fully planted tank? If so, its never going to be ideal for hillstreams and you'll have to compromise to a certain extent untill you can set up your new tank. You'll never create a really high dissolved oxygen content whilst at the same time maintaining good levels of CO2. In fact although it should'nt do them any harm, any additional CO2 is'nt really disirable for hillstreams, if only becouse they would never encounter it in nature.

Its important to remember these fishes natural habitats when creating an aquarium environment for them. The mountain rivers and streams in which they live are literally white-water in places and can reach speeds of 1 metre per second (there are some good pictures to illustrate this in Martin's article). It is for this reason that they have evolved with such extreme physical adaptions, ie their 'sucker-bellys', which enable them to cling to and graze over rocks in such waters. So basically, the suggested oxygen level for hillstreams is as high as you can possibily get it! You should have high flow, surface agitation and ideally, some sort of airation too. Martin's article does also go on to explain exactly why these fish cannot tolerate low O2 levels, ie their haemoglobin has a low affinity for oxygen. I'm not saying your tank does have low O2 levels, I'm just trying to give you a picture of the ideal environment for hillstreams to thrive. Also, I'm not sure how accurate your O2 test kit would actually be. I've used a Tetra one in the past, and found it to be pretty useless.

[Martin Thoene]

I found this today. Looks like some interesting reading, plus goes on to cover pH, etc.

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/plant ... eamdo.html

Here's a paper with values for various rivers in the Crocker Range Park in Sabah, Malaysia.

Oxygen is expressed in Mg/L and there's just about every water parameter there to give us a good idea of the natural conditions for these fish.

Searching on other areas would probably bring up similar studies, so you could approximate the conditions in aquaria.

What suprised me with some of the data in this document is the high pH in the Interior Districts.

Martin.

[Gary Herring]

Excellant find, Martin. I love stuff like that.