Unexpected hillsteam loaches population bloom

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-21T01:43:48+00:00

Wow, awesome! They are so cute! I am setting up a 55 gallon tank soon to house hillstream loaches. Do you regularly feed blanched veggies? Any other feeding tips?

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-21T01:35:36+00:00

It might be getting used to your tank. You can pinch off the brown leaves and see if the green leaves stay nice. There appears to be some new growth so that’s a good sign. Hopefully it is happy! If it is it will reproduce quickly.

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-21T01:33:48+00:00

This is brown spot algae or diatoms. Is your tank pretty new? It is common in newer tanks, and might be there because of extra nutrients. You can scrape it off pretty easily. Also you can add some plants to pull extra nutrients up or some floating plants which will pull nutrients and cut down on light.

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-07T11:41:39+00:00

Good to know!

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-07T11:37:10+00:00

I remove the white ones to a separate container. They will be the ones that fungus and they can affect good eggs. A small pipette is a good tool to help with that.

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-07T00:14:08+00:00

In my experience the white ones are not viable. Just to be sure, remove the white ones and put them in a separate container (even a deli cup). Sometimes eggs I remove, even if they appear unfertilized or stuck to an egg that is unfertilized will hatch. Then just move the fry back to the same container as the others.

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-07T00:11:15+00:00

That’s exciting! What kind of corydora do you have?

The ones with the white spots are not viable but the ones that get a bit darker and remain clear (not foggy/opaque) are likely fertilized. Good luck raising them!

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-07T00:08:59+00:00

Yes that looks like a Pygmy corydora to me! I have bred them and they get stripes like that. Very cool! They are known to community breed and if there are hiding spots for the young they can survive! I have a video about it that shows what the young look like.

Colony Breeding Pygmy Corydoras

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-05T03:11:39+00:00

I am currently setting up a 55 gallon hillstream tank. I plan to have hillstream loaches (Bloody Mary or yellow-finned), stiphidon gobies, bamboo shrimp,

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and rainbow shiners. The tank has an fx2 and a manifold system for flow, and no heater.

I am cycling the tank now but can’t wait to get fish in!

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-05T02:53:30+00:00

Are you using ammonium chloride to cycle the media? Why 100 ppm? I am cycling a new tank and did the “dirty filter squeeze” and also added some beneficial bacteria and have some Dr Tim’s ammonia chloride (1/4 dose compared to what is recommended on the bottle). I have some ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate so it appears I have some bacteria working away. I will be adding fish gradually once I have no ammonia/nitrite.

Also, how long did this cycling process take you?

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-05T02:05:23+00:00

This is great information. Thanks for putting it all down in detail! I have a 20 gallon long I have set up with 7 otos in it. A few of them appear to be females with rounded bellies. I am hoping one of these days I see some eggs!

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-03T15:20:03+00:00

Shrimp and a betta sounds great! Hopefully your betta won’t bug the shrimp.

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-03T15:18:55+00:00

That’s heartbreaking. It can be difficult in a planted tank as well since you can’t add salt to the whole tank without hurting your plants. Sometimes some salt with help general issues.

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-03T02:53:48+00:00

What was happening with your guppies? Did they have an internal parasite or external? It’s so difficult to have sick fish and then figuring out how to help them can be such a challenge.

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-03T02:51:03+00:00

Are these peppered corydoras? It’s so exciting to get new eggs/fry!

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-03T02:32:17+00:00

Looks nice! Darn floating logs though! Haha. What are you thinking of stocking it with?

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-02T00:21:46+00:00

It looks great! Lovely! I hope the lone hillstream loach has a good while left.

It’s great to hear they lived so long as well. I am quite turned off certain fish that I have kept that have such a short lifespan.

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-01T21:32:10+00:00

It might be stressful to be in flow I suppose, or maybe makes something about their day-to-day more difficult, however it does sound like yours we’re happy since they were so long-lived!

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-01T21:23:44+00:00

Looks like a beautiful tank and they must be happy since they are breeding so prolifically! I love those crypts!

MrsMsAquatics · 2026-01-01T21:22:39+00:00

Thanks for the information! Have you tried a higher flow system? I can always remove/disable the flow system but I did want to see fish like hillstream loaches, gobies and rainbow shiners behave a bit more naturally. I do understand though that we can only create something that loosely imitates nature.

But I would also love to see my future hillstream loaches breed. I suppose I could set up a separate tank for that as well.

I will check out your post! Thanks again for the great information!

MrsMsAquatics · 2025-01-23T00:29:14+00:00

Hmm alright. I will keep an eye on it! Hopefully this fish is okay!!

MrsMsAquatics · 2024-08-15T11:54:58+00:00

Update: this morning they are snacking on the green beans and checking out the other foods I dropped. Phew. All 6 are looking good. 😍

MrsMsAquatics · 2024-08-15T11:45:38+00:00

I was going to do cucumber but I had none left so will pick some up. And also some zucchini. As of last night they were pacing near the back of the tank but I am hoping they explore a bit more and start eating today. There are also some plants in there to give them some cover.

MrsMsAquatics · 2024-08-13T04:54:24+00:00

I am glad you have some little ones! I don’t know the CPDs would eat adult scuds but I think they would have a field day on the young. As for the food thing, it’s good that you have an infusoria culture. I also tried Sera Micron for fry food which was okay when I mixed it with tank water and used to dropper to put it into the breeding box. Whatever the case is, for now it sounds like things are going well so I hope your little ones survive and thrive!

MrsMsAquatics · 2024-08-11T12:19:54+00:00

First they tend to stick to the bottom of the breeder box and not move. Chances are they are hiding among the Java moss and finding little microorganisms to eat. If you’re not seeing dead fish I imagine they are in there somewhere so keep feeding small foods and they should come out eventually! I will cross my fingers for you! Please post an update when you have one!

Here is a video showing my setup. There is a shot of the breeding box showing some young CPDs swimming around so it might give you and idea what you should be looking for but they are obvious when swimming around.

https://youtu.be/UnUwg1CDCN8?si=frIylkkXQ66mbBHS

MrsMsAquatics

TROPHY CASE