This guy cleans my plants

[Lupin]

Do you know if they eat hair algae?

No, they don't. Only diatoms and green algae. Green algae is very easy to supply. Get a handful of white rocks and put them in the bucket of water. Add a pinch of fishfood into the bucket and place the bucket under direct sunlight. I will guarantee you plenty of green algae supply in a few days. Alternately use the rocks so you won't run out of algae.

Sadly he doesn't.

Because they actually don't eat hair algae.

Typically they are a cold water species. They are also known as Hillstream loaches.

Yes, I agree.

 

[chonhzilla]

Research further before you get some. These are not your typical bristlenose plecos. They hardly will survive temperature soaring above 76 degrees Fahrenheit and insufficient supply of oxygen. Sorry but I would suggest a river system when keeping these fish. They originate from fast flowing rivers and as such, they should be kept in an environment similar to where they came from. Click www.loaches.com and proceed to the article section where you will see more information on how best to keep them alive for a long time.

All hillies eat algae in the wild along with aufwuches which harbor in the algae. This does not make them necessarily herbivores. I have a few of these myself in a river setup composing of 4 species of hillies. Chonhzilla, I believe I've seen your pics in another forum I think. That is a Gastromyzon zebrinus. You get plenty of different species in shipments of hillstream loaches. A few others you might encounter are Gastromyzon stellatus and Gastromyzon scitulus.

Very true. Even though I have a planted tank my tank stays at a cool 71 degrees. Yes its got plenty of movement in the water. In the 29g hes got 350 per hour to play with. Beautiful little guys. PLenty of hiding spots and grazing areas. Sadly this was only the first and last time I have seen any of these little guys at my LFS. He cleans the plants off pretty good and eats freeze dried blood worms.