Borneo Suckers.

[Cossie1111]

I saw a few of these little catfish in the lfs when I was buying my shrimp, and now have some questions.

I have a 60L, gravel substrate, driftwood, silk plants, 11 harlequins, 2 corydoras, 5 cherry shrimp.

Can I put some borneo suckers in?

Also:
Group size? Pairs?
Diet?


P.S - I do not want to hear about the fact that I have only 2 corys, on a gravel subtrate, I know this, and have addressed comments on this in other threads.
If you are planning to post about my corys being in a pair, on gravel, dont post. Keep this on topic

Thanks

 

[onidrase]

Borneo suckers don't need to be kept in groups, however, they are sub tropical, and need a cooler temperature than the rest of your tank. not to mention I don't think your tank is large enough for one.

 

[Cossie1111]

my tank is 23-24

This is too warm?

 

[onidrase]

That's at the top of their range. I'd say it's too high. But you could give it a shot, if your tank is big enough. Not a lot of people keep them, so I don't know a whole lot about them other than people don't tend to keep them because of their temperature preference. I also believe they appreciate (and may not do well without) a source of fast flowing water.

Take a peep around google, or wait around for somebody with more experience, and draw some conclusions from there.

P.S. Taking my own peeps around google points these guys actually do prefer groups of 3 or more, which leads me further to say your tank is too small.

 

[Baccus]

I have 8 (or 9) Borneo suckers in my roughly 213L tank, we have been having a shocking heatwave at the moment and my tanks have got up and over 35 degrees daily (and my heater has been turned off since November), but the Borneo's that I have don't seem to have suffered any ill effects. Still active and feeding well, I am not condoning deliberately keeping them permantly at higher temps than they naturally like, merely that they can handle the higher temp if all the other parameters are good - especially oxygen content in their tank. My tank has lots of water movement but not what I would call any really strong currents in any particular direction, not that my Borneo's tend to head for currents any way. Also my Borneo's do enjoy cleaning my large leafed Amazon Swords. Mine are living with a mix of corydoras and cherry shrimp and even the cherry shrimp are safe from the Borneo's.
60L might be on the small side for a group of Borneo suckers, I would call them loosely socail fish, they don't generally go out of their way to be antisocial to others of their own kind or even other fish, but they also aren't always buddy buddy in each others scales either. They will also station out prefered rocks and hidey holes in their chosen territory, but are not overly aggressive about defending the territory from each other or my cory's or shrimp.
If you really have your heart set on some Borneo Suckers (and that is a HUGE banner to label fish under) I would make sure you can deliver the high oxygen they demand, a suitable tank temp with some variation and the correct food. Also try to correctly identify exactly which "Borneo Sucker" the shop is offering and find out that types requirements as much as possible. Not easy as there really is not that much known about some of them. Personally I think these guys are little champion fish, but may not be the eaiest of fish to keep.

 

[Cossie1111]

Thank you baccus!
I have a jebo 835 which is turned down halfway (its max is 1000L an a hour) and a large airstone in the tank atm. I also have a spare small airstone I could use.

Does this sound alright?

Could I ask how large yours are?

If they are a reasonable size I MAY get a pair.
Would they eat algae wafers + the occasional blood worm?

 

[Baccus]

In my group I have at least 3 types and they are all roughly around 3-5cm, I have pictures of some of mine down in the Cyprinids, Charachins and Atherinids heres a link http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/374822-borneo-sucker-fish/page__p__3159450__hl__%2Bborneo+%2Bsuckers__fromsearch__1#entry3159450

Mine do get interested in blood worms, and happily eat good quality tropical flakes, they are also partial to sinking shrimp pellets and catfish pellets but they don't seem overly fond of the different algea eater tablets that I have tried them on. Probably because they aren't really algea eaters but more so eaters of the other micro organisms that tend to live in algea populations.
In winter I try to keep their tank around 22 degrees but at times it can get down colder for a day or two. I was worried about the little fellas not doing well in our recent heat but as I said before they have sailed through without a problem.

What I would do if you add an airstone put it at the opposite end to the filter.

I have found a couple of good web sites that are pretty good in the photo and id department of these very varied fish.

 

[Cossie1111]

Thanks for your help baccus, I will add an airstone to the stillest part of my tank, and in a few weeks I will buy a pair of the same type (or try to).

Your pics are great! They are a great fish!

 

[Baccus]

No worries, I think they get over looked a lot. Keep an eye out for them "winking" at you almost as cute as when cory's do it.

 

[soybean]

Is it these you've found? http/t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTRFqkPkx53JyXYA15qnRxDfgPZv5yWlvhLf3UCxCb8HbEp3WleOg

If so these are Hillstream Loaches and really not suitable for your setup. They prefer temps around 19/20, REALLY fast current by way of power heads creating current across the bottom of the tank like a fast flowing river, smooth stones and pebbles to cling to... In short they are a temperate river fish, not a tropical community fish.

I used to keep two in a twenty gallon with a few white clouds, unheated, with one filter at the top of one side of the tank on a midway setting, and another at the bottom on its side on the other side of the tank on full blast. This created something of a circular current and they enjoyed swimming against it and clinging to a stone in its stream. I only kept two instead of the four I intended to get because the two I had didn't really get along for some reason, though generally they do.

I type all this because I have seen them sold as all sorts, including Borneo suckers, and labelled as suitable for everything from tropical to goldfish tanks, and they are suitable for neither. They really deserve a temperate setup.

 

[Baccus]

Is it these you've found? http/t3.gstatic.co...CxCb8HbEp3WleOg

If so these are Hillstream Loaches and really not suitable for your setup. They prefer temps around 19/20, REALLY fast current by way of power heads creating current across the bottom of the tank like a fast flowing river, smooth stones and pebbles to cling to... In short they are a temperate river fish, not a tropical community fish.

I used to keep two in a twenty gallon with a few white clouds, unheated, with one filter at the top of one side of the tank on a midway setting, and another at the bottom on its side on the other side of the tank on full blast. This created something of a circular current and they enjoyed swimming against it and clinging to a stone in its stream. I only kept two instead of the four I intended to get because the two I had didn't really get along for some reason, though generally they do.

I type all this because I have seen them sold as all sorts, including Borneo suckers, and labelled as suitable for everything from tropical to goldfish tanks, and they are suitable for neither. They really deserve a temperate setup.

The type pictured in your link I have only seen once in Australia, most shops that do stock Borneo Suckers (and it's not many, well not where I am any way) stock only the types that are pictured in my above post with a link to a much older post of of mine.