Butterfly Loach

[mattm025]

I know having plecos and oto's in the tank with discus isn't smart because they could suck on the discus but, has anyone tried butterfly loaches, also known as the hillstream loach? I was thinking of getting a few of these because I've never heard of them sucking on to discus.

[mattm025]

anyone?

[Don_Lee]

Hi Matt,

Well, I will give it a go, lol. The hillstream loach is a nice looking fish, what are your goals in keeping it? I know that they need a strong water flow and plenty of oxygen, I have never heard of them bothering discus, they are quite small. They wont do much for algae, but they are great to look at. I have never had much luck with keeping them myself, but if you have a good setup and do your research I would think you would do well.

HTH,

Don

[elgecko]

Hillstream loaches are cold water fish that like water movement. They would not be happy at all in a discus tank.

[roclement]

I have Ottos in my tanks and have no problem with my Discus, I did quarentine them for a long time, and borught theyr water temperature up slowly before adding them to my Discus tanks.

Rodrigo

[Don_Lee]

After some more research, looks like they would do best max of 75 degrees. Would not consider that coldwater tho..........


Don

[Howie_W]

I know having plecos and oto's in the tank with discus isn't smart because they could suck on the discus but, has anyone tried butterfly loaches, also known as the hillstream loach? I was thinking of getting a few of these because I've never heard of them sucking on to discus.

Hi Matt,

Main question; What is your goal? Are you looking for help maintaining algae? Otocinclus are part of the plecostmus family, and can indeed be kept with Discus, provided their needs are fully met. Sucker mouth species, and also loaches do best in larger size planted environments. Loaches are bottom feeders, and great for substrate maintenance, but not for algae growth.


Howie

[mattm025]

These butterfly loaches aren't like other loaches though. They do eat algae and was hoping to get a few to get some help. I know it does better in lower temps but, I was hoping to experiment with them.

[Howie_W]

These butterfly loaches aren't like other loaches though. They do eat algae and was hoping to get a few to get some help. I know it does better in lower temps but, I was hoping to experiment with them.

You are correct in that they are not like other loaches. In actually they are not loaches at all, other than that they have been grouped with them by name. These fish come from fast moving streams in water conditions much colder than what Discus are use to...65F and below would not be unusual for them. They also require much higher O2 levels to survive.

These fish are usually wild caught, and like a number of species will have gone through transport help by the time you finally see them in your lfs. Placing them in your Discus tank will probably not be the best for them. Keep in mind that many of the species we keep...especially from the loricariidae family (plecos)...we keep at temperatures that are much higher than is normal for them. Some tolerate higher temps better than others. Bottom line is that I wouldn't recommend placing them in with Discus.

HTH


Howie