horse faced loach

[Matchu]

I posted this in the beginner section, but then saw this and thought it might be a better place

Hey I just got back from the fish shop, I bought 5 cardinal tetras and 2 rams, they were marked as balloon, but Im pretty sure they are Bolivian.

Anywho while I was there getting my rams, there was a weird looking loach in the same tank, so I bought it, I've looked on the fish index and it says its a horsefaced loach, it also says it needs a sand substrate, at the LFS they just had small pebbles, as have I.

Will it damage itself on these?

Also it could possibly be a long nosed loach?

I'll try and get a pic up later, but apparently its very hard to distinguish.

It seems to be going absolutely mad! Is this normal?

 

[Lateral Line]

The Horse Faced Loach, Acantopsis choirorhynchus, is quite a common loach. Interesting fish, a fish that really likes burrowing into the sand, (and uprooting your plants!!!). Often seen as just a small sliver of face poking out of the substrate. In conditions to it's liking, (when it doesn't perceive any threat), it can spend substantial times out in the open. In either case, it spends a lot of time nose down in the sand sucking it up, picking out the goodies and passing the processed material out through the gill slits.

The Long Nosed Loach, Acantopsis octoactinotos, is from the same genus, and is not seen as often. Physically, it is very similar, but does not have the same obvious "kink" in the nose, that Horse Faces show. I've never kept the Long Nosed, but my mate Andy had them for years. They also bury in the sand, but wer less inclined so to do then my Horse Faces. He told me that when he had both, the Long Noses would be out in plain site whilst the Horse Faces were hiding under the sand.

Both species are naturally from fine sediment substrates, and will benefit from a soft fine sandy floor. Their feeding mode is best suited to this environment. I'd expect the Long Nosed to do somewhat better then the Horse Face in a gravel situation.