Green Borneo sucker

Care at a glance

Overview

This is the heavyweight of the Borneo suckers, a peaceful giant that grows far larger than its palm-sized cousins and needs proportionate space and grazing surface. Keep a small group of five or so over generous rockwork, and give them a mature tank so there is always biofilm to work; supplement with algae wafers, fine sinking pellets, and slightly meatier sinking foods than the little species require. It is calm and slow to spook, holding station on the front glass and rock faces in the current. Suitable tankmates are other peaceful fish that enjoy strong flow and will not nip. A long tank of around 110 liters or more matches its size and appetite.

In the wild

Gastromyzon lepidogaster comes from cool, fast mountain torrents in northern Borneo, in the Malaysian state of Sabah. Being large, it needs a roomy river tank with boulder terrain, strong flow, and oxygen kept high through heavy surface movement, at 20 to 25 C. Use big, smooth, algae-covered stones over sand and gravel, and keep the pH mildly acidic to neutral, 6.5 to 7.5.

Good to know

Described by Tyson Roberts in 1982, this is one of the largest members of the hillstream loach family Gastromyzontidae, reaching around 12 centimeters, roughly double the size of a typical Borneo sucker. The name lepidogaster means scale-belly, for the small scales that partly cover its underside where most of its kin are bare. It has not been bred in the aquarium as far as records show.

Did you know

Most Borneo suckers would sit comfortably on a bottle cap; this one spans an adult's palm, making it the family's giant while keeping the same limpet-tight grip on rock.

Tank mates

Green Borneo sucker is a peaceful, social species that keeps to the bottom. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.

• Peacock-tail garra

  Garra poecilura

  Freshwater

  3.5 in (9 cm)29 gal (110 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)

• 

  Chinese flower loach

  Traccatichthys pulcher

  Freshwater

  4.7 in (12 cm)29 gal (110 L)61–75°F (16–24°C)

• 

  Pool barb

  Puntius sophore

  Freshwater

  3.9 in (10 cm)29 gal (110 L)68–81°F (20–27°C)
• Tunga garra

  Garra bicornuta

  Freshwater

  4.7 in (12 cm)29 gal (110 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)
• Indian copper catfish

  Glyptothorax telchitta

  Freshwater

  5.9 in (15 cm)29 gal (110 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)

• 

  Maharaja barb

  Puntius sahyadriensis

  Freshwater

  3.5 in (9 cm)29 gal (110 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)

Check the full mix in the stocking calculator

Common questions

Related species

• Smooth-belly Borneo sucker

  Gastromyzon psiloetron

  Freshwater

  3.9 in (10 cm)25 gal (95 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)
• Ornate-tail Borneo sucker

  Gastromyzon ornaticauda

  Freshwater

  3.3 in (8.4 cm)24 gal (90 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Zebra Borneo sucker

  Gastromyzon zebrinus

  Freshwater

  2.9 in (7.3 cm)24 gal (90 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)
• Spotted hillstream loach

  Gastromyzon punctulatus

  Freshwater

  2.6 in (6.5 cm)20 gal (75 L)68–75°F (20–24°C)
• Yellowfin Borneo sucker

  Gastromyzon viriosus

  Freshwater

  2.6 in (6.5 cm)20 gal (75 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Starry Borneo sucker

  Gastromyzon stellatus

  Freshwater

  2.4 in (6.2 cm)20 gal (75 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)