a few rookie questions

[The Skinny Chef]

when referring to the Gastromyzon borneensis,Beaufortia kweichowensis,Sewellia lineolata and such, is there a nickname that refers to that body type? or is that just lovingly called sucker loach?


when stocking this style of fish, do the same stocking rules apply as for other fish? do you stock more so based on the amount of rocks in the tank and surface area of high flow?


do most people run an air stone 24/7, or is that longer than is necessary?

last one, do other people keep filter feeding shrimp with theirs? it seems like they would go well with each other than the bottom of the temps for the filter feeders are on the high end of the loach temps. are there any other issues?

[Diana]

HIllstream Loach is a good term, though there are other Loaches that come from similar environment that are not quite to streamlined.
I do not like the term Sucker, or Pleco. These fish do not suck, they rasp. They are not a Loricariad, so not a Pleco.

I would tend to under stock them. Some are more aggressive than others, but the males can get quite pushy with each other. Add other fish that like these sorts of conditions. I happen to like the fresh water Gobies and similar fish, such as Darter Tetras (a very Goby-like Tetra). White Cloud Mountain Minnows are a natural with Hillstream Loaches.

I have not used air bubblers for a long time. I like the Hillstream set up that I learned about here at Loaches. I do that sort of concept with canister filters, power heads and almost any other sort of pump.

The only filter feeding shrimp that I kept was in a tank with a lot of flow, but not my Hillstream tank. As long as there was an option for the fish or shrimp to get out of the flow if they want, I am sure you could keep a wide range of livestock in a Hillstream tank. Obviously the temperature and water chemistry are important.
Double check the temperature requirements for the many species of Hillstream Loaches. Some come from slightly warmer water, and might be a better match for the shrimp that you are looking at.

[The Skinny Chef]

i had only seen hillstream associated with Sewellia lineolata, and kind of assumed that it only referred to Sewellia lineolata. but it can mean all of the loaches that rasp?

i have been keeping mine (as i said in my other post) with rummy noses, who seem to avoid the high at almost all costs. Unless there has been negative experience with this i was planning on continuing it.

when you say what you have learned here, do you mean the river tank manifold? because i don't understand how that would oxygenate water. i also saw something about a H202 diffuser or something like that, but i can not find a article on building one. do you know where i could find that? but for temporary purposes a air pump will serve to do a sufficient job?

[The Skinny Chef]

still looking for advice here.

[Direwolf82]

Check your dream tank post, I put up a way to superoxygenate my tank that may be usefull to you.hope it helps. I keep my hillstreams with tetras angels killi and other loaches (about twelve other loaches) and everybody seems happy and content with the company of eachother. My experience has showed its all about the setup and individual fish, go with what has been working for you and them. I was told rather sternly that angeles and the killi would attack the hillstreams but that has not been the case at all.