pleco id?

[Knuc dog]

hey everyone i have a bit of a problem with my pleco's. i don't really know what kind of pleco they are. I don't have a digital camera so i can't leave pictures on the site for identification. but what i can tell you is that they are smaller and i was told when i bought them that they would stay that way. they are a light brown and are fairly circular at the head and narrow down in the tail. I don't know if that will be enough for you to help me. oh one more thing i was told that they were rainbow pleco's but i couldn't find any pictures of them. I'll be grateful for any help.

 

[smithrc]

what sort of size are they? do they have any markings?

have a look through www.planetcatfish.com they list most plecs by their L-number and have piccy of a large number of them

 

[Knuc dog]

hey i found out what kind they were. They are called butterfly pleco's and as to your concern about the tank size don't worry because i will be moving them to a 40 gal. in late august, so they will not be too large and living in the ten gallon

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Butterly Plec as in L052/L168 or as in Hillstream Loach? If the latter these are coldwater fish and require very fast flowing, clean, cool water.

 

[Knuc dog]

Butterly Plec as in L052/L168 or as in Hillstream Loach? If the latter these are coldwater fish and require very fast flowing, clean, cool water.

they are the hill stream loach, but the pet store had them in a tropical tank and they seemed to be doing fine. should i be worried?

 

[Cheese Specialist]

It's common for them to be kept in tropical tanks but that does not make it right, as I am sure you can understand.

Can you provide the other things they need? Is the water fast flowing, at least in someareas? Could you add a sizeable bubble wall?

Whar tempature is your tank at now?

 

[Knuc dog]

there is good water flow and they are always hanging out near it so that makes sense and the temp i usually keep my tank at is 76 - 78 celcius

 

[Cheese Specialist]

there is good water flow and they are always hanging out near it so that makes sense and the temp i usually keep my tank at is 76 - 78 celcius

I presume you meant F?

That's obviously too warm for them (70-72 is more suitable) and the fact the they are sticking to the flow shows that they crave it or they need more oxygen.

Can you add a pump and stone/wall?

 

[Knuc dog]

hahah yeah i did mean ferenheit. that temp in celcius might be just a little to warm. i am going to add an air pump soon but i am jsut waiting till i set up my bigger tank ( about a month) and with the temperature i can't keep it much lower because they are in a community tank....
they seem totally healthy are you sure its that big of a problem for them?

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Well, they are coldwater fish so being kept at the wrong tempature is going to cause problems for them. Just as keeping a fish that likes very warm water, like clown loaches, at cold temps would cause them problems. There are some borderline fish that can be ok in the middle range but the hillstream loach is not one of them.

 

[Teelie]

If you can get a small powerhead, that'll do it too for the current. It doesn't need to be powerful enough to blast fish around but good enough to give a decent push in the water. If you can return it though, you should do that if you can't keep the temperature in the low 70's or upper 60's.

 

[kharizmarae]

How long will a Hillstream Loach stay alive in a community tank that cannot be turned down to coldwater, and how crucial is the super water flow?? I have mine in a community tank with two emerald corys, a whiptail and a banjo catfish, a common pleco, a botia striata, 2 cherry barbs and 2 bumble bee catfish. It's got a filter that came from a 55, and it's a 20 gallon tank. How big will the Hillstream Loach get? I've had him for almost a week and he seems to be doing just fine.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

How long will a Hillstream Loach stay alive in a community tank that cannot be turned down to coldwater, and how crucial is the super water flow?? I have mine in a community tank with two emerald corys, a whiptail and a banjo catfish, a common pleco, a botia striata, 2 cherry barbs and 2 bumble bee catfish. It's got a filter that came from a 55, and it's a 20 gallon tank. How big will the Hillstream Loach get? I've had him for almost a week and he seems to be doing just fine.

Well, I don't fancy your hillstream loach's chance of a long life in that tank, it's pretty crowded and they need very clean, highly oxygenated water.

Do you have an air stone in it? What is the temapture. They get to about 3", although I'd recommend you take it back. It is unfair on the fish to keep it in those condtions, much lie it would to be keeping a clown loach in a coldwater tank.

A week is not very long to determine the long term effects of unsuitable condtions.