My Hillstreams usually leave eachother alone but I have a tiny rock at the back of my tank that 2 of my panda garra fought over for nearly 3 months straight. There was nothing special about that rock and it was, by far, the least sheltered place in the tank but for some reason it became The Place To Be. One panda would loaf on it for a while and another would come along and, bit by bit, encroach on the reining panda's territory, pushing its buttons. The panada that owned the rock would launch off of the rock and bodyslam into the other and they'd beat the crap out of eachother for a few minutes then swim off like nothing happened. Sometimes a hillstream would land on top of whichever panada owned the rock. The panda would chase it away but it would come back and sit on the panda's head. They never stayed on the rock; they just wanted to pester the panda garra.
The drama! Very interesting to see - thanks for sharing this. Looking forward to a video about hillstream loach life. I don't have any room for them in my tanks but I really love seeing them. I've considered resetting my 20 long for them, but have not done it yet. With only 7 non nano tanks, there is limited fishy real estate in my house.
Beautiful fish, we have 8 ourselves and one baby - Great characters and pretty easy to keep as long as you have algae and drop in an algae wafer to provide enough food.
Epic battle of two kings, one defends his small kingdom from aggressive jealous second king ! Finally he wins ! Aggressor escape and winner can now graze peacefully on algae fields in his small stony kingdom 👏🎆
POR Ah ah ah!! Mais um grande vídeo meu amigo! Obrigado pela partilha e cá aguardamos ansiosamente o próximo. Um abraço! ENG Ah ah ah!! Another great video my friend! Thank you for sharing and we look forward to the next one. A hug!
This was a dramatic and mesmerizing watch Dave, and your choice in music brilliantly underscored the story being played out. These fish are gorgeous. Do they have specific requirements that make one rock preferable to the others? Once again, you have immersed me in a whole different world. Many thanks, your quality is unrivalled.✨🖤🇨🇦
Hello Lady Of The North. . . These fish have territories they like to call their own. And, at the edge of each territory there are specific stones that mark the outer edge. They like smooth piles of rocks with little hiding spaces in between the rocks. They're adapted to living in fast moving streams and their body design helps keep them from being swept away by the rapid current.
@@TheDave333 Hello dear man, thanks for the reply. I really like the appearance of these guys, and as far as I could see, their conflicts are more a test of stamina than any real attempt to harm each other. It was like a formal dance until one drops, I loved it
This is my second video I’m watching from you. My first video was the German Rams. That was so fascinating to watch. I always wanted to keep Hillstream Loaches, but I’m looking for a certain kind to keep. I’m more into aquatic plants than fish. I love most Tetras and South American fish, but I have many different kinds of fish. I regret not seeing Dr. Axelrod in a conference or show. The funny thing is he lived a couple of miles away from me. I would like to see you at a fish show. I now live in Central Florida in case you ever make this way. Thank you for sharing.
Hello, and thanks for watching my videos. I grew up reading Dr. Axelrod's books, long before the internet! These loaches arre highly recommended. Very iinteresting fish. 💗
Thanksgiving is put on hold to watch this video. I have a breeding colony for 4 or 5 years in a 40b and I never tire of watching these critters. Where do they lay their eggs? Undersides of rocks? I have a big mound of large rocks piled on top of each other so they can disappear underneath. Also some wood in the tank. Heater is set at 65F, so the temp rises in the summer. Can’t wait for your video on them! Happy Thanksgiving!
I have a breeding colony in a 40 breeder as well. I've been wondering about their breeding for a long time. There are several reports online that say they spawn midwater and just release the eggs to the current. That does not seem right to me at all (for several reasons). I've never seen them spawn, so I can't say for sure. Both the males and the females defend specific territories, and I think they spawn inside the rock piles and protect their eggs. They don't have that many eggs at one time. The spawns seem to be like a couple dozen babies at once. So, I don't think they lay enough eggs at once to just scatter them to the current. It's just to risky.
@@TheDave333 The most little critters I would see at one time was 8; but with so many hiding places and their camouflage, I am sure I did not see all of them. I too started with six adults. Egg scatterers doesn’t seem right; why so much fighting over a rock just for food? I feed mine Omega One shrimp pellets, New Life Spectrum algae tablets and Bug Bites pleco pellets along with whatever else the White Cloud minnows or American Flagfish eat. Oh! Also French cut green beans (canned) once or twice a week.
Mine won't eat green beans, maybe I'll try the canned stuff. They won't touch Repashy either. Eventually, I'd like to set up a pair in a small tank with a small rock pile that would be easy to see and monitor for eggs. . . I saw what I thought was a a big cyclops on the glass the other day, so I grabbed my magnifying lens for a closer inspection and to my surprise it was a super tiny hillstream fry. It couldn't have been more than a few hours old! I went to get the camera, and when I came back it was gone.
I have 3 hillstream loaches, they’re always fighting each other and everyday, when I feed my fish (only bottom fish), the hillstream loaches will fight any other fish that want to eat.
They can be very feisty at feeding time, but they're harmless. Feeding time is the only time I've seen them bully other fish. I love them, they're like little aliens. 😊❤😊
@@TheDave333 no sorry I can’t help and none of my hobbyist friends are keeping them. Kaity’s Cichlids is a young Aussy woman with a RU-vid channel. One of the stores she goes into has a purpose built hillie tank that has some breeding activity going on. Maybe she could give you some information or the email address of the shop?
They get a daily feeding of Tetra Tropical Granules. I also give them blanched spinach and kale. Small frozen bloodworms on occasion. If I see really small babies in the tank I feed them microworms. There's also a lot of naturally occurring algae on the rocks.
There is some variation in their color. The yellowish loach is the dominant male, so that might be part of the reason. Usually, the dominant fish in a group has brighter colors.
I respectfully disagree. . . While I'm a peaceful Taoist at heart, there are circumstances where violence or aggression is needed. Just ask the hungry Orca hunting seals or the hungry lion stalking its prey. While I don't care for violence, in some circumstances, aggression is necessary for life. The human world and human affairs are a very different story. . .
That's the cutest fish fight I've ever seen - but I get it, it's a good rock! Your collection must be insane. Curious to know how many tanks you have now! Update about my betta...finally heard back from the breeder I got it from. They said it could be because my water is too salty - so I have to investigate that first! ANNND that I should perform fish surgery to scrape it all off. Let's hope I don't accidentally use too much clove oil...rethinking my whole life now.
Hello again. I've never used clove oil to just anaesthetize a fish before, but I have used it to permanently "put them to sleep." It's a smell that always makes me a little sad, because I associate it with sick fish. Be sure the surface that you place the fish on is wet and that your hands are wet when you touch the fish. Consider buying some sort of hands-free way to magnify your vision. The least expensive way would be to buy a pair of "reader glasses" with a 3x magnification. This will help you see what you're doing a lot better. You seem like a great fish mom. . . 👍 I have 22 tanks with water in them at the moment, and several that I'd like to fill, but I just don't have the space.
@@TheDave333 oh wow!! Thank you so much for the advice for my future in fish surgery. I'm totally going to nerd out and do my best for a clean and safe surgery. And thank you...I love being a fish mama! 22 tanks and more...wow. Your place is a full-on aquarium. I have so many more questions now hahaha. Someone needs to interview you!
Well, there are three basic choices. It's definitely not a sedimentary rock, and it doesn't seem to be metamorphic like marble, so I'm going to say that it's an igneous rock. That's the best that I can do without going back to see my geology professor.
I would agree, and there's probably a scarcity of calm refugia from the swift current as well. And your position in relation to the current and your ability to hold that position becomes super important in terms of energy expenditure. Which of course is related to food intake. Energy in vs. energy out.
I’ve also noticed them to be quite territorial to other species for example my Rio Paraguay Ancistrus is quite aggressive towards my black paradise fish if they both decide to go for the algae wafer, I’ve also noticed one of my other Ancistrus I owned a few years ago exhibit the same behavior and get into it intensely with one of my Florida flagfish every time I threw in a algae wafer
@@souljahaden6184 Ah, so very likely due to scarcity of food. Since the flow is so strong, actual solid food are rare to find, and so the fish are forced to fight tor their own food (which are usually grazing spots filled with algae and biofilm) and evolved aggressive behaviour when they sense the slightest bit of competition. The only rheophiles I know of that don't have high aggression are rehophilic silver dollars (Myleus setiger, Mylesinus paucisquamatus, etc.), I've seen them in aquariums and they don't seem to act any more different than other species of silver dollars. I've also found no reports on them being more aggressive other than the usual Serrasalmid nipping.
Their fins look like that normally. They're not used for fighting. The fins are built to handle strong currents and keep the fish from being swept away by the current.
Hey! Ive been keeping my first hillstream Loaches for about 2 months. For now, unfortunately I only keep 2, a male and a female, cause that was all I could afford at the moment. However, around 2 weeks ago, I started to notice that the female is extremely aggressive/territorial. She inhabits an area of roughly two thirds of my heavily palnted 20g. Everytime the male crosses the female's line of sight, she chases him off to a corner. They both look healthy and well fed for now, but I'm afraid of any complications in the future. I came looking for your help, given your clear expertise with this fishes. Thank you so much for your attention!
Hello and thanks for watching the video! Hillstream loaches can be a bit territorial, but they never do each other any harm. They're probably still young and working out who is the boss. They won't hurt each other and as long as they're both eating it should be no problem. They are a little expensive, so I understand why you only got two of them. If they are male and a female hopefully when they grow up they'll start a family. . .
When I drop in an algae wafer my hillstream loach will be highly aggressive in defending it from other fish. It can be surrounded by five other fish trying to get the food and the loach will cover it up like a fumbled football, and chase contenders off repeatedly.
Looking forward to the full video! I dunno though, it looked to me like those tiny teeth might have done a little damage to the front edges of their opponent’s pectoral fins. That seemed to be the main focal point for each combatant, and there seemed to be some discoloration (a pinkish tint) where maybe the skin was being scraped and irritated. Sure that’ll heal right up, though!
Hi, and thanks for watching the video! Loaches don't have any teeth in their jaws, but have tiny teeth at the back of the throat called pharyngeal teeth. . . So, they can really bite each other = no injuries. And those pinkish-colored spots that you see at the leading edges of the pectoral fins are perfectly normal and only occur on male hillstream loaches. They're not injuries, but just one of a couple sexually dimorphic characters. 😊
@@TheDave333 Thanks for the information! I always enjoy the production value and information in your videos, as well as the fish and other animals you keep. Your channel is awesome!
Yes, absolutely. They can climb up the glass no problem, but I'm not sure they could get around the rim at the top, but I'm not willing to risk it. Rimless tanks, they'd be out in no time at all.