HE IS UGLY , BUT UNIQUE

Lets be straight everyone hates hard work or some of us do, that includes maintaining an aquarium Cleaning it is a lot of work but what if someone does it for, someone from inside sounds fun right now that where upstream loach comes in or commonly called cleaning fish, interesting isn’t it!!!! Almost every aquarist had kept and bread them so let's look at what they have to say about these interesting creatures

ORIGIN

Hillstream  loaches are special creatures that are found in fast-moving streams in Asia, these animals have unique streamline body which allows them to glide through fast-moving streams without using much of the effort,  there are around 99 species of them all around. We often confuse them with catfish but there are really not alike, These fish have a suction like a cup which help them to  stick on the rocks to reduce the impact on then from the fast-flowing water rushing above them, They have a lifespan of 7-10 years.

FEATURES

Every fish is unique in their own way, well here are some of the features of Hillstream loach

*Presence of barbels around the mouth, 3-6 pairs

*Having very few to no scales, Most of them have smooth bodies

*They are torpedo-shape

*On the lower edges of their fins are minute spines that aid them with resisting the drag of fast-flowing water

*Flattened undersides that almost make them resemble snakes. Those with highly flatted underside are believed to have previously inhabited stream with faster running water as opposed yo those with less flattened undersides

*Have slightly large fins used to wing themselves into rocks crevices

*Have sucker type kind of mouth

*Have got modified pelvic and pectoral fins to a powerful suction like cup Which allows them to cling onto rocks, crawl and even eat on surfaces that are prone to high speed water.
                 here's a video of loach fish cleaning the aquarium

  REQUIRMENTS

To keep Hillstream loaches happy you don’t need to have a fancy or a complicated fish tank, Since these fish live in a very harsh environment it becomes really hard for then to live in a clam, or still environment so I recommend you to use powerful pump either to keep them active and well worked out. Recommend you to keep the water PH between 7-8, And they get along with almost any fish so one has nothing to worry about the tank partner, but they are omnivorous they feed on both plants and flesh so if they  sense any other fish smaller than them, there might be chances of getting eaten by them, and also keep in mind that these are freshwater fish and water temperature a major  thing to take note of and the nitrates also can prove to be a challenge to them.

FEEDING

As I mentioned earlier these fish are omnivorous, they eat almost anything that hits the bottom of the tank  even dead fish, they can even be feed with normal fish food but they  prefer to feed on algae in between rocks and once on the glass, they even feed on small shrimps as a part of the food chain