Homaloptera zollingeri (?) question

[Porink]

I've recently bought 2 of this fish (Homaloptera zollingeri?):



I put them in a 120cm x 40cm x 40cm tank (planted) together with 15 Garra rufas, 11 Corydoras, 2 Borneo suckers, 3 Congo tetras, 2 dwarf gouramis, 3 cherry barbs, 2 Schubert's Barbs, 2 L010a Red Lizard plecos, 1 brittlenose pleco, 1 L177 Gold Nugget pleco, 2 common hatchets, 1 platy swordtail, and 3 Yoyo loaches. The tank is highly oxygenated.

Any advice on how to keep the Homaloptera zollingeris? Will they be compatible with their tankmates? I feed the tank twice a day, once with pellets and once with live bloodworm. Will the be sufficient for the zollingeris? I was hoping that they would be scavenging around the tank, but as I watch them, they just stay in the corner doing nothing.

Thanks for the answers.

[Jim Powers]

I am not sure what species that is from the pictures. Do you have any others?
I do know one thing for sure, it is not zollingeri.
Zollingeri tend to be much darker and have a distinctive black lower lobe to the tail fin.
Most of the homaloptera type loaches feed primarily on things like bloodworms and brine shrimp and sometimes pelleted foods.
Check out the species index on this site and see if you can figure out what fish you have.

[Porink]

Here's another picture of it. Sorry if it's quite blurry, I took it with a camera phone.



It looks a lot like a zollingeri to me...

[Jim Powers]

It might be better for you to look through the homaloptera species listed in the species index on this site.
http://www.loaches.com/species-index

[Porink]

I've tried your suggestion searching from the species index and I think you're right - this is not a zollingeri.

I think it looks more like a Homaloptera smithii..

Here's a new picture I've just taken:



What do you think?

[Martin Thoene]

Yes, that's a smithii.

These fish are hunters. They will stalk worms and other small live food items in a way that truly earns them their "Lizard fish" common name. I've never seen them show interst in pellet or flake food.

Live Bloodworm will be a good food, but it would be better to try other live foods too so as to ring the changes.

Martin.