# hillstream loach jump?



## Jalopy (Aug 11, 2013)

I just bought 2 of these and found one dried up today outside the tank. Do these typically jump? We had guests over yesterday that kept walking right past the tank. All of my fish are kinda skittish now. I found 1 dead cherry shrimp too. All the other fish and shrimp seem to be ok. Ammonia is about 0.25 on account of the shrimp I suspect because both ammonia and nitrate were 0 yesterday.


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## monkey4life (Oct 31, 2013)

Couple questions-
1. Do you have any current in the tank? Hillstream loaches need lots of flow and oxygenation to survive/thrive in an aquarium enviroment. 
2. Do your fish have a place to hide/get out of sight? They need that when they sense us (predators), are near the tank.

Could also be that they were so stressed the new enviroment coupled with guests freaked them out and they hopped. 

Edit- just read your 60P thread. presuming that is what they are in. I didnt see any river rock in there (or it's hiding well). the loaches need that to suck on and sit in the current.


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## Jalopy (Aug 11, 2013)

Yeah, no river rocks. I got them at a really crappy discount pet supply store. Figured, it was dying there or at least it has a chance with me. I'll find some river rock when I get home. I've got a lot of current and water movement so I'm not too worried. Also there are ferns and wood to hide behind. It'll get better when the plants fill in. 

One thing I forgot was maybe that it jumped when we had the big earthquake on Sunday.


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## IDR (Apr 12, 2014)

Loaches in general are notorious tank jumpers. I'm sorry for your loss. I usually suggest for anyone wanting loaches to either mesh-top their tank (if it's open top), or to get a glass cannopy.

Sounds like your guy just got spooked though.


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

I'd looked into getting those fish a little while ago but the extra work for feeding/care and needing extra flow (added powerhead) had me choose a different route. 
I talked about it with pt member Aquatic Delight, as they have several of these fish and have kept them a few years in lidless tanks.. though they have more hiding spots in there (their tank journal). They were very helpful with tips and care info.. if I had choose to get some I would have felt confident about keeping them. They're kinda like otos (delicate) but with a bit more specialized needs.
From what they told me, I feel that you really need to properly prep before getting these fish: have plenty of algae covered river rocks in tank + preferably a bucket of river rocks in water out in sunlight (windowsill or outside) to rotate out so as to keep a continuous food source available to the fish.


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