Coldwater Plec

[mollymad]

Hi, I am not usually a reader of the coldwater section as I mainly have tropical fish. However whilst searching round some lfs I came across some magnificant coldwater plecs and just had to come on here and tell you all about them and ask if anyone had some proper info on them. Thanks.

 

[J4MES]

If it looks like this then its a hillstream loach NOT a pleco
http/www.loaches.com/species-index/photo...g/image_preview

Heres some more info
http/www.loaches.com/species-index/beauf...tream%20loaches

J4MES

 

[GoldLenny]

Right the Hillstream Loach is also known as the Butterfly Pleco and is a coldwater fish as is it's cousin, the Weather Loach aka DoJo Loach... and I'm sure others.

Many other types of plecos and suckermouth catfish can do well in water temps down to the low 70's to mid-70's(F). A BN Pleco (bristlenose) is often used in goldfish tanks since they do not grow very big and are generally peaceful. Like all pleco's they are mostly nocturnal so you need to drop some algae wafers into the tank at night for them to eat and also feed them fresh veggies, driftwood, etc.. The do not survive on algae alone.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

A lot of pleco's are or can be kept in sub tropical temp waters (19-23 degree's), but none are truely coldwater (18 degrees or colder) as far as i am aware. I keep a large common pleco with my goldfish in their tank at sub tropical temps as common pleco's actually do very well in the cooler tropical temps (unlike sailfin pleco's which are true tropical pleco's).
With the hillstream loach thing, they don't do that well with goldfish as they are very specific about the type of habitat/environment they need and goldfish often easily mess up the extra clean water quality the loaches need to thrive in.