the disadvantages of loving hillstream's

[Magnum Man]

1st... there are a lot of them... the most common seems to be the reticulated ( Sewellia lineolata ) but I have owned at least 15 other varieties...

2nd... many varieties are not well documented, or researched and I feel there is much to learn, even about even the most common... I have one fish, ( a lizard type ), yes, there are a few "types" I usually refer to them as "sting ray" and "lizard", that is twice the size that they are supposed to get to... so, it's a good thing, most seem to get along with each other...

3rd... by nature of design, you may just see their light colored and plainer bellies... I have 6 right now, that are stuck to the front glass, and they typically look very similar from the bottom, it's difficult to tell a red tail, from a blue tail, or a reticulated from their underside... the fish that inspired this thread is an uncommon red tail, that has a bright red tail, I got to witness the other day, when it was on some scape... but that fish spends the bulk of it's time on the front glass, and from there, you can't see the red, and it looks just like any of the other "sting ray" shaped hillstream's...

reticulated from top, and bottom...

 

[GaryE]

Hillstreams are a relatively recent introduction to the hobby. I can remember the first time I saw them at a rare fish importer's, before they hit the regular hobby.

 

[Aquatopia]

Hillstreams are a relatively recent introduction to the hobby. I can remember the first time I saw them at a rare fish importer's, before they hit the regular hobby.

How recent are you talking there Gary? I saw them commonly in the LFS even back in the late 1970's-early 1980's. I had one in a community tank myself when I was 9-10 so about 1978-79. There were no rare fish importers back then, as far as I know. Anyone who was into keeping fish bought them from an LFS.

 

[Magnum Man]

red tail, and blue tail, and you can't hardly tell them apart from their favorite perch on the front glass

these are supplier pictures, as it's rare for me to catch them with their "flags" out... the red tail I saw the other day, had much more red on the tail, than the fish in this picture...

Dan's has the blue tails in stock right now...

 

[Magnum Man]

I think this is both a red and a blue from the front glass this morning

 

[GaryE]

Interesting. I first saw Sewellia in the early 00s.

There are a number of fish I saw in UK shops that I never, or rarely have seen here. It probably goes the other way. You may have been well ahead of the curve there, with Asian fish. The ways of importation are mysterious indeed.

 

[Magnum Man]

I would suspect Europe gets Asian fish more easily / often, and Americas get the Amazon basin fish, easier / more often than they are available in Europe... if nothing else, because of logistics...

 

[GaryE]

Europe is paradise for my beloved African fish - so many species that we simply don't get here because of logistics. The European guys I'm traveling to Africa with this Spring have a 6 hour flight. It's going to take me the better part of 24 hours, with all the connections.

 

[Magnum Man]

so to continue...

4th... there is a large size variance between species... the smallest "sting ray" type I have only goes a little over 1 inch, while the gold rings ( Sewellia albisuera ) I have go just over 4 inches...

 

[fishorama]

Cute hillies! I only have sewellia lineolata now. They breed sometimes & a couple survive with no effort on my part. Mine seem smaller than wild 1s but they grow very slowly. Your 1 on the glass looks female, males have more squared off pectoral fins.

I had a different species of gastromyzon (ctenocephalus) with blue tails & dorsals. I had 3, 2 looked the same on the glass, 1 was different. I was hopeful they'd breed but no fry if they did.

There are many species it's hard for a rank amateur like me to tell.

I think it was in the early 1980s we saw some kind(s?) of hillstreams at a really good lfs. We didn't know anything about them & thought they were mislabeled plecos not loaches, lol.