hi, i hope i am posting this in the right spot. i will also be posting it in loach section to see if i get any answers there also. i went into a local petco and saw what they were selling as "freshwater flounders". well i looked at it and saw that it reminded me of a hilltop loach. the only difference was that it was a solid dark brown/black in color. could any one help me out here? i want to get him for my tank and i go back upstate sunday for college. i saw they had 2 and one was gone (died or sold i don't know). they have it in a freshwater, tropical tank (i don't know if that helps... they probably have it in the wrong environment also).

here is a site i found of the hillstream loach (remember he looks like this but is dark brown/black in color)

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile91.html

looks exactly like this but dark brown/black

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/Hill...streamLoach.php

and here is a pic of a freshwater flounder (he looks nothing like this- but just putting to show difference in appearance and the horrible mislabeling)

http://www.aquariumfish.net/images_01/flounder.jpg

i know that it isn't a freshwater flounder, but could it be a color variation of the hillstream loach? if not, then what is it? pics and/or info would help on what this fish is and needs to live in an aquarium.

thanks for your help!!!



This post has been edited by Nevergone815: Mar 8 2006, 03:41 AM

hillstream loaches get around 2" long and appreciate fast moving cool water with a high oxygen content. I'd say 72 to 76 should be good for the little guy. You should also invest in a large round river stone and place this under the filter outlet/ powerhead. He'll graze on the algae that should grow on this rock. check that temp range... i'm not 100% on that one. They are great fish btw...just make sure you keep them in the right environment.

update:

i got one of them... he was like the one in the pics... the other one is black in color and if he isn't sold than i will be getting that one also. turns out that the person that was talking about it misinformed people. they do have them labeled as butterfly loaches on the underneath of the lid. thje person doing the fish today was knoeledgable (i know a shocker!) but this just proves that not all employees are incompetent. he was $5.99 US. it seems like a decent price but i am not sure about this. can someone help me with this and tell me if that is a bit much to pay at a petco?