Borneo Hillstream Loach

[Josiahandsye]

Hello, I believe my Hillstream loach is carrying eggs. She puffed up like a body builder while her anal area swelled up to where it's visible. She was heavily breathing twitching every few minutes. This was all over a 12 hour period. I just got back home and she's slim now but I can see the change in pigment still where she stretched. Where did her eggs go? If these eggs go in a mature filter will they be broken down or can they spawn from in there?

[gulogulo]

So, I am no expert on hillstreams but to help those who will come along later and give you some response I'll get things started.

First some more information from you would be helpful. Which species (or at least genus) are your hillstreams? If they are truly from Borneo it is likely they are Gastromyzon species but there are other possibilities. Gastros have been rarely, if ever, successfully bred in the aquarium. However other hillstreams, particularly Sewellia species, have been so it is possible. How many Hillstreams do you have in the tank, are both sexes present, and are they all the same species? Providing this information, or if you are new to hillstreams providing pictures (Pictures are always useful) would be valuable in helping you determine what the chances of successful spawnings are.

If you have both sexes present it is possible that if your female laid eggs they could have been fertilized by a male and may hatch. From reports of other hillstream spawnings if the eggs hatch that the fry will not be eaten by the parents although no guarantees. It is uncertain if the adults will eat the eggs. But this may all be species dependent and not knowing which species you have could change any of my predictions.

Keep us posted and welcome to the forum!

[Josiahandsye]

Yes I have answers to all of this including water parameters. The only issue I'm having is how to post an image?

[Josiahandsye]

Water parameter have been consistent for 4 months now. Tank temp 78-80 degrees. 78 most of the time. Hillstream Loaches only.
Nitrate Always 10ppm
Nitrite Always 0
Hardness 120
Chlorine 0
Alkalinity 90 Never changes
PH 7 Never changes
Ammonia 0
I check every week sometimes twice.
I am going to start at the beginning I bought a baby Hillstream loach a year ago and it died due to lack of oxygen, bad flow and chemicals not being diluted. I soon realized after doing research that I had to change my set up. I went from a 5 gallon to a 20 gallon. I bought an Aqua clear 110 and two other hang on back filters whisper 40i. I added a bubble wall with a rock bed at the base causing a suction effect. I’ve place the filters at angles to create a rolling effect with the water. Total turnover is 1072 Gallons per hour with a special reserve battery just in case the power goes out. Over the last few months I’ve been buying them from all over the world. I had 5 different species and 22 loaches. Majority of the tank are young about ½ inch to an inch. The last two that I brought home two weeks ago brought a bacterial infection that wiped out 8 of the population in 5 days. I cleaned the tank when I discovered the 5 dead in a matter of 24 hours because I had just checked all sides. I clean my tank once a week removing everything and cleaning every inch of the substrate so Algae wafers don’t hide mold everywhere; also, I was overstocked. I removed the carbon filter and did a 40% water change. I felt it was necessary to boost oxygen in the water for the upcoming treatment. Last time I tried treatment with a Hillstream she died. Since they are hillstreams with pores and no scales I changed the treatment directions. Half dosage. I didn’t know whether this was Bacterial or Fungal so I decided to treat for both with Pimafix and Melafix. Online said it was safe to use both together. I made a special bag above the tank with a dripper. I dropped the temp of my tank from 80 to 77.5 to also create more oxygen so they can sill breathe with the medicine if that would even be an issue. Just playing it safe. I have one Hillstream loach that I've read needs at least 78 degrees. Administering 9ml (3ml pimafix, 6ml melafix) the first day and 7ml (2ml pimafix, 5ml melafix) the remaining 5 days. Even though I was almost sure it was bacterial I still added a little pimafix for broad spectrum treatment. The dripper took about 10 hours to drop the medicine into the flow from the filter to dilute so I did not burn my fish. First day of treatment one death that morning and one that afternoon. I can see the blood veins inside getting darker. It’s like a red spot spreading. Watching blood come out of their anal area. They eventually fill with blood and start having seizures. It took 4 hours till death since visible signs of infection with the 3 I observed. 2nd day was one more death but I could see the rest of the fish were responding well to the medicine and didn’t look as lethargic. Next 4 days continued treatment without any deaths. On day five loaches are establishing a new order of dominance on the rocks which tells me the sickness is gone. Before they all quarantined themselves to certain spots of the tank, wouldn’t touch each other and they stayed there for days many without eating. Day 7 did a 30% water change and added prime, fluval and Aloe stress relief because it helps with the coat of biofilm. On day 9 I noticed a female by the filter breathing heavily. I watch her throughout the day. Day 10 and Day 11 she was swelling up like a body builder, twitching, and her anal area was about the size of her eye. She is a very light unattractive gray color. I am positive she's a girl also. There was 4 different species of boys protecting her almost. Huddled around her for days prior. One is a male Borneo almost full grown and he was being very protective of her. He even has his big whiskers on his mouth. On day 11 when she went back to normal size. He disappeared and wasn't on the filter with her until 2 days later which is unusual because they are connected at the hip normally. I saw him hiding in the back of the tank by the feeding cave. I feed 1/10 of a cube of brine shrimp every evening. I add 1/5 of an algae tablet per night also.

I have 3 Sewellia one girl and 2 boys. 2 black striped loaches which are a boy and girl 6 months old super rare. 3 loaches with blue and orange on the tale, cream color with spots on the side and horizontal stripes on the very top. 1 reticulated hillstream loach female (the male died in the infection), 2 female Borneo and 2 male, one baby about 4 months old smaller than a dime unknown spots and silver glow. In the sickness I lost 2 boy sewellia, 1 retic hillstream loach and 5 Borneo (4 boys 1 girl lost)
I am currently in the process of setting up a 40-gallon breeder but I want my design to be perfect.

[Jim Powers]

I may have missed this in your post, but what species is the female you are talking about?
Some species of hillstreams scatter their eggs (sewellia), and others bury them. I think the few reports of gastromyzon breeding indicate they either bury or hide eggs in a crevice or cave. This may explain why you can't find the eggs.

[Josiahandsye]

She is a Borneo. I could post pictures but I don't know how.