Pleco Sucker

[L~C~G]

I hope some one here is able to help me.

I bought a little creature this weekend that was sold to me as a pleco sucker, which is doesnt seem to be.

I have not been able to get a pic of him because he hides most of the time and when he does move is like a blur. I have never seen such a fast fish in my life.

It is about 1.5" long and looks like a tiny sting ray. I looks like two disks joined together in the middle. His mouth is underneath hi body just like a stingray too. he is a dark color with brown and black blotches.

The tail is like a pleco`s.

I will try to get pics as soon as possible but does any on have any ideas what it is?

 

[L~C~G]

I found out what it is thanks. Chinese Hillstream Loach

 

[Lupin]

Yes, and the little guy will prefer cool fast flowing waters. Ideal temperature is 68-78 degrees. Anything higher will prove detrimental to its health in the long run. A specialist river setup is best for this fish. Only a 20g long is the minimum tank size that will be able to pull this off successfully. Anything shorter and smaller will create whirlpool effect and your fish won't be happy with it at all nor will the powerheads last long with the fast wearing off of its motors.

 

[L~C~G]

Thank you. I was thinking about putting about 6 of them in a 30 gal tank that I have got spare.

The idiot at the pet shop told me they will be fine with my malawis which they obvioulsy wont, The poor little guy is getting chased all over. Im going to try and catch him today and put him in the 30 gal.

How much current can do they really like. I would really like to make something special for them. It will take me a day or two to get the current right but i just need to get him out of the malawi tank for now.

 

[Lupin]

They live in very fast flowing waters but you need to make sure in a 30g tank, the flow is adequate enough and not too excessive to the point they get slammed to the glass. Try a range of 1600 lph at least. Using a few round rocks and even slates will help cut the currents a bit. They'll still find a way to swim along the currents so don't worry about failing the one way directional flow which is best avoided anyway as the rotational flow will wear the motors very quickly.

I tried Martin Thoene's filter system in loaches.com involving the one way directional flow (wherein the flow goes back to a tube connected to the powerhead input flow) and noticed a flaw in his plan (which he also caught later on). I lost 3 powerheads within 6 months.

 

[L~C~G]

I have got a 3000l/h pump that is looking for a use right now, will try it in the tank without him in first to see how it goes. Im sure with two elbows and an a meter or two of piping it will slow it down to about 2000l/h.