Ping's hillstream loach

Beaufortia pingi

Also known as Ping's butterfly loach

FreshwaterFish

Ping's hillstream loach (Beaufortia pingi) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 61–75°F (16–24°C)
pH: 6.5–7.5
Adult size: 3.5 in (8.9 cm)
Minimum tank: 24 gal (90 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Difficult
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Southwest China
Family: Gastromyzontidae

Overview

The species that gives the whole group its name, kept like any butterfly loach: cool, fast water, oversized flow, and grazing stone. Keep a group of five or six over a broad rocky floor, and expect peaceful behaviour broken only by males shimmying over prime grazing rocks. It rasps biofilm and algae through the day, so mature the tank first, then supplement with fine sinking foods, gel foods, and small frozen items. Give it calm, cool-water tankmates that will not mind the current. A tank of around 90 liters, long and open, lets a group graze and hold loose territories.

In the wild

Beaufortia pingi lives in cool, fast streams of southwest China, clear water running over stone with a real seasonal chill. Keep it unheated or lightly cooled at 16 to 24 C, with strong current and oxygen held high by brisk surface movement. Use broad, smooth stones for grazing, a fine gravel base, and a pH of 6.5 to 7.5.

Good to know

This butterfly loach in the family Gastromyzontidae reaches about 8.9 centimeters. Fang described it in 1930, and the name honors the Chinese zoologist Chih Ping; the genus Beaufortia commemorates the Dutch ichthyologist Lieven de Beaufort. In 2024 a revision of the pingi species group split two new species out from under its name. There is no record of it spawning in captivity.

Did you know

For more than ninety years this single name quietly covered several look-alike fish; only the 2024 revision of its species group finally separated them into distinct species.

Tank mates

Ping's hillstream loach is a mostly peaceful, social species that keeps to the bottom. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.