Chinese Hi Fin Sucker

[Darth Scohin]

I'd like to know/see some good MFK info on these suckers they interest me quite a bit and have a few Questions:

1) How long would a 55gal/125gal last a school of these fish and how many?
2) What would be recommended tankmates, Goldfish, Cloud Minnows Hillstream Loach?
3) What's the best filtration set for these blokes?
4) Could you winter these critters over like Goldies/Koi?

Finally, What is the End-Game Pond size for them and timescale for grow-outs?

Thank you for any feedback

 

[gangster]

bump......what can they tolerate for winter temp? Max size?

 

[ShadowBass]

I think they're pretty temperate. I've read that they don't tolerate temps that drop below about 35-40 for long very well. There aren't many people that keep these fish in captivity successfully though (especially in the U.S.) so info is hard to come by.

A 125g tank would probably last a school of them many years. They are slow growers, but they do eventually get to a few feet long, so they can't stay there forever.

I wouldn't suggest goldfish MAINLY because goldfish put off a ton of waste and hi fin like clean water. Also the goldfish will scarf up food much faster because juvie hi fin are very slow non-aggressive feeders.

Hillstream loaches i assume would be ok as tankmates because both species prefer cooler water with a lot of movement. Not sure about white clouds. They may eat them once they grow large enough, but I've never seen them pay attention to small fish and they seem to like some dither fish around, so perhaps not.

I dunno about overwintering them like koi, I haven't heard of that being successfully done (I've heard of them dying when people try to do this)so I'd be hesitant to try. If the pond freezes I do not know if they'd live.

End pond size would be about the same as a fullgrown koi since they get around the same size, but hi-fin grow MUCH slower.