Hi,

I'm hoping someone can help me, I bought two butterfly Plecs at the weekend to keep in a tank with two red oranda goldfish, The fish shop said they wouldn't grow large and would be fine with the goldfish.

I have been looking for information on them but am having trouble, do they also get called something else?

They are dark in colour with lighter spots, they don't look like the pictire of the common plec on this site (phew!). They are only about 1" long at the moment.

Basically, i want to double check that they are ok with my goldfish and will stay that way and also what is best to feed them on, the bigger goldfish eats the algae sinking pellet/wafer food the fish shop sold me! I don't want them to go hungry as they don't seem interested at feeding time - do they just need more time to settle?

Thanks for any help anyone can give,

Rachel

Hi Rachel,Welcome. There are a few different species called Butterfly pleco's.You can probably find all the information that you need atPlanet Catfish

Thanks, I think i've found a pic of a hill stream loach that looks a lot like them, I was beginning to worry i'd get home and find they'd attacked my poor goldfish not soo worried now and can get back to being happy with my

I'll have a proper look at that site and see if i can find out more. These are really sweet little guys but i wouldn't do anything to hurt my goldfish, esp as they were a birthday present from my fiance (at the time, we are now married )

I think i'd best put cucumber on the shopping list, i feel really guilty for not giving my goldfish a varied diet now! This site has so much information on it, i really wish i'd found it earlier.

Rachel

I have 5 Hong Kong Plecos. Site unseen but by my description, another of my lfs tells me that they are butterfly plecos. They are flat and almost similar to a flounder. Very gentle with my goldfish. They look similar to a Hillstream Loach but flatter.

Does that sound like what you have?

They're also called Borneo Suckers, although I've been told that a hillstream loach isn't the proper name for them. apparently they're a different fish altogether, although they look almost exactly alike.

Unfortunatly Haley and Comet have died, someone on another thread posted a picture that looked like them and said they were quite delicate, so i think the stress of catching them in the store and bringing them home might have caused it. I got them saturday so would thet be about right? i was so upset last night.

They weren't flat fish, they were almost exactly the same shape as a comet in the sky when they weren't spread out and when they stuck to the glass they spread their fins out like wings. Dark upper with very small yellowy brown dots and a light tummy. I'm so sad they've gone

I am sorry that you lost Haley and Comet

They sound like hillstream loaches to me, but that is JMO. I have three of them currently in my 38 gallon goldfish tank.

They need cool temps in the upper 60's, low '70's f., very good water condition with lots of aeration. The aeration is particularly important. Also, they feed almost exclusively on algae, so they don't do well in a scrubbed clean of algae or newly set up tank. I have mine in a tank that has been running for many years, and I have allowed the algae to build up on the sides and back of the tank. They will eat vegetables and algae discs, but I think it would take a while for them to catch on to this. Mine have never gone near the zucchini or algae discs that I put in my tank for the clown plec.

They are very delicate, and you are right, they were probably stressed by the move. Also, you don't know what kind of treatment they had before you got them.

Here is a pic of my hillstream loach

This is a tummy picture He's stuck on the front glass.

They were that shape, but a dark brown colour with tiny yellow/cream dots all over as a pattern. Must have been closely related tho and the shape/face etc are exactly the same. Such a sweet fish Haley just about got enough confidence up to come out and stick on the end glass like that in the couple of days i had her.

Great photos btw

Mine actually look darker when you just look at them in the tank. The photos were taken with a flash, which makes their markings seem more prominent.

I have seen some hillstream loaches with slightly difference patterns. As you said, they must be variations.

Mine took a week or so to really become settled into the tank. The first week, I never saw them, and had to hope they were alive. Now they are visible all of the time, flying around the tank vacuuming the rocks and glass.

I am so sorry that yours didn't make it

They are peaceful tankmates for goldies. They love water current and hides under rocks or driftwood. I loved my butterfy plecos.

there are many butterfly plecs out there but one you've found was formerly known as peckoltia pulcher-or the pretty plec, which is very sensitive to poor water quality. I'm so sorry to hear about your fish

The pictures that I posted earlier in this thread are of my Gastromyzon cheni, commonly called a hillstream loach, hong kong pleco, borneo sucker, etc. There are a number of Gastromyzons with different colourings.

This is a picture of my peckoltia which shares the tank with the hillstream loaches I have heard them referred to as "clown plecs". Like the Gastromyzon, there are numerous variations in colour, also their colouration changes as they age.

BTW, my peckoltia is 15 years old

Really cool pics touchofsky!!! Makes me want to see the rest of the tank! I have two clown plec's myself,but have always shyed away from the Butterfly's.Seemed like everything I read about them made them sound so tempermental,that it actually sppoed me off of getting a couple....I love Pleco's,etc!!!!

Devs,
I know what you mean. I was afraid to buy the hillstream loaches, too, but then one day I just took the plunge. The tank that they are in has a lot of smooth rocks on the bottom. I tried to make it look like a river bed. I also have a pile of bogwood for the peckoltia. This tank has a venturi device on the filter which provides a lot of oxygenation, which I think the hillstream loaches like. The hillstream loaches don't seem to eat other food besides algae, so you need a tank with a good coating of algae on one of the walls. I do put zucchini in for the peckoltia, but I haven't seen the hillstream loaches touch it.

The loaches really are fascinating little guys and they are not shy like the peckoltia.

I will take a picture of the tank, but unless tomorrow is very cloudy it will have to be tomorrow evening, since the room that the tank is in has a lot of windows and it is impossible to get a picture without too much glare on a sunny day

I've had my hong kongs since October and have addapted well to 2 tanks. They don't do so well on the algea. They prefer the ProGold I feed my goldies.

I also have 2 clown plecos that touchofsky pictured. They seem a bit shy, but after a month seem to finally be comming around to do their job of cleaning up the algea

hi im chris, im really sorry that your hillstream loaches died. i purchased two on sunday its tuesday today and i hope i can keep mine healthy im really worried though as now that they are in the tank my three fantails and bkack moor are showing signs of ick. its not to bad just two spots each and i have started to salt the water. 1 teaspoon per gallon every 12 hours ive just put in the 2nd dose and had an awfull thought. can the hillstream loaches be in the tank with the salt? please help if anybody knows.

I keep a small group of these loachs as they are a fish that like company of their own kind.They also prefer a slightly acidic pH.So with keeping goldies you need around a pH of 6.8 which with me being in a soft water area is normal pH for my tanks.They also like fast flowing water.They are omnivorous fish and prefer a diet that consists of brine shrimp,bloodworm and daphnia and they enjoy eating whatever your goldies have.

Heres a link for you with information on their care

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/Hill...streamLoach.php

how big do they get... i have three for about since june... 4 months.... i havent notice any growth, they eat all the time....