Hillstream loaches... what is your ultimate species???

lately I've been buying Hllstreams, & making the changes needed to one of my tanks to raise several varieties... I ran across this one, in stock, at a good seller, but at $150.00 a piece it's pretty much out of my price range... might be worth it, if they could be bred... I'm on a notification list from another seller, but at 1/3 the price, a pair still goes for $100.00 if anyone has kept these, I'd like to know more...


Neon Hillstream (Gastromyzon lepidogaster)

I did e-mail Dan's about his fish, he said they are large, & said they are behind on pictures, but sent me one I'll pass along here...

I'm also interested in a couple varieties of lizard Hillstreams, a couple are bigger, & look like smallish salamanders...



So... what do you think is the ultimate Hillstream???

before I read about the neon's, the saddled Hillstream was the previous top of my list...


I currently just have a small group of black spotted ones, and a small group of Reticulated, but waiting patiently for something more interesting, since my current ones are thriving

The hillstream loaches look like a beautiful fish. I always wanted to have a native stickleback tank. We have a number of nearby water systems with stickleback species that have evolved from the threespine sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus. Unfortunately they are hard to feed, some are listed endangered, and they are illegal to keep here, so I won't be setting up a tank soon.

It's hard to beat the reticulated, in my limited experience. The only strike against them is they're fairly common. That doesn't bother me a bit. I'd love to try the lizards, and that saddle looks amazing. But I'll stick with my lineolata for now. The neons don't look different enough to justify the price tag, IMO.

Then of course there are panda garra, which aren't officially a hillstream loach but fill a similar niche.

yep, my pandas are a favorite too, and have been flourishing in that tank, I got them 6-8 weeks ago, and they have gone from 3/4 of an inch, to 2.5 inches in that time, and they are one of Mrs. favorites