Sucker-belly loach

Pseudogastromyzon myersi

Also known as Myers' hillstream loach, Red fin sucker loach

FreshwaterFish

Sucker-belly loach (Pseudogastromyzon myersi) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 64–75°F (18–24°C)
pH: 6.5–7.5
Adult size: 2.4 in (6 cm)
Minimum tank: 20 gal (75 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Medium
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Guangdong Province and Hong Kong, China
Family: Gastromyzontidae

Overview

One of the more forgiving hillstream loaches and a good first choice for the group, provided the tank is cool and fast. Keep a sociable group of five or six over smooth grazing stone; it is mostly peaceful, though males display almost constantly and shove one another off favoured rocks. It grazes biofilm and takes all manner of fine sinking foods, crushed wafers, and small frozen items. Give it calm, cool-water companions rather than tropical community fish. A tank of around 75 liters with strong flow and a rocky, well-lit floor suits a group, and many keepers find eggs turning up once the water runs cold and clean.

In the wild

Pseudogastromyzon myersi lives in cool hill streams of Guangdong and neighbouring Hong Kong in southern China, clear fast water over stone. Keep it unheated or lightly cooled at 18 to 24 C, with strong flow and plenty of surface movement for oxygen. Provide smooth grazing stones, a sand and fine gravel base, and a pH of 6.5 to 7.5.

Good to know

This butterfly loach in the family Gastromyzontidae reaches about 6 centimeters and is among the most aquarium-proven of the Chinese hillstreams. Herre described it in 1932 and named it for the American ichthyologist George S. Myers. Males dig and guard shallow pits beside their grazing stones, and the species spawns fairly readily in cool, well-run river tanks.

Did you know

Some of its home streams run through Hong Kong's country parks, where the fish grazes the rocks of hillside brooks that hikers pass on their way to picnic and barbecue sites.

Tank mates

Sucker-belly loach is a mostly peaceful, social species that keeps to the bottom. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.