Hi Nancy. Yes, they ate NLS pellets almost immediately after I put them in the tank. I fed them yesterday again and the way they eat is more like ottos or pleco would munch on a pellet rather than sifting and expelling the food through their gills like the other hillstreams do. I am quite relieved to be honest as eating fish food means healthier fish long term. They also appear less skittish. Size wise at the moment they're the same as the Gastros but twice as narrow and I have not seen any of them yet chase a Gastro, but the other way around. This could change of course once they settle but for now they don't quite act like the other hillstreams. They also seem a bit more comfortable moving in open space by swimming rather than hopping from stone to stone.Those are quite handsome, whatever yours turn out to be. Are they eating well?
Also, the white patch seems to have disappeared. That loach had it when in the shop as well but I think it was probably a stress patch of some sort for it to go away that fast. The owner said he had got about 10-12 of them and that 2 of them died upon delivery but the rest did ok and he sold most except for what was left. I got the last 3. He's normally honest about the health of the fish he sells, although he didn't stop me from knowingly purchasing a sick clown loach last year , which was my choice of course...