Hillstream loaches & plecos.

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FishyLady
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Location: Hay on Wye, Hereford

Hillstream loaches & plecos.

Post by FishyLady » Sat Sep 22, 2018 2:35 pm

Are these the same except for size? Would they live together OK? seen a small bristlenose pleco which I have taken to.
Better the chaos of creativity than the tidiness of idleness.

Bas Pels
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Re: Hillstream loaches & plecos.

Post by Bas Pels » Sun Sep 23, 2018 3:34 am

I would not try it.


Firstly, the fishes come from different areas. Especially many L numbers like hot temperatures, loaches rather avoid.


But more importanly, an Ancistrus (from Paraguay, that is ideal is 23 C) will eat a whole algae cover, with all the little animals in it, and might even scrape a bit of the wood underneath. You hillsteam loach might not eat the algae, but it will most certainly eat the little animals among them.

Which, in a tank with Ancistrus, will have been eaten by this Ancistrus.


Competition might be good, but you better avoid unfair competition in your tank

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FishyLady
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Location: Hay on Wye, Hereford

Re: Hillstream loaches & plecos.

Post by FishyLady » Sun Sep 23, 2018 3:08 pm

So the pleco would be dominant towards the hillstream loaches? Not sure what you mean by all the little animals .
Better the chaos of creativity than the tidiness of idleness.

Bas Pels
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Joined: Sat Nov 30, 2013 9:08 am

Re: Hillstream loaches & plecos.

Post by Bas Pels » Mon Sep 24, 2018 2:34 am

All kinds of creatures live in algae. Loricarids - generally - eat the algae, and everything in it.

Loaches quite often don´t eat the algae, but the small creatures. These can be bacteria, small legged animals - lots iof variety

NancyD
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Re: Hillstream loaches & plecos.

Post by NancyD » Mon Sep 24, 2018 10:18 pm

Any time you have fish twice the size of others there can be problems. Especially if they like similar foods. A 4+ inch fish eats more than twice as much as a 2 inch fish.

I keep both my BN pleco & hillstream loaches in unheated tanks here in warm-ish California... but not together.
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