Tweedie's hillstream loach

Homalopteroides tweediei

Also known as Tweedie's lizard loach

FreshwaterFish

Tweedie's hillstream loach (Homalopteroides tweediei) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 70–79°F (21–26°C)
pH: 6.0–7.5
Adult size: 1.6 in (4 cm)
Minimum tank: 14 gal (54 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Forest streams of the Malay Peninsula and Borneo
Family: Balitoridae

Overview

A small, mild-mannered loach for a mature tank with gentle rather than fierce flow. Keep a few together; they are social and peaceful, and spend their time hopping between perches on wood and leaf litter on the bottom rather than pinned to boulders. They graze biofilm and take small foods, so provide fine sinking pellets and micro frozen items along with well-grown surfaces. They mix easily with other calm fish that tolerate clean, oxygenated water. A settled tank of about 54 liters houses a small group.

In the wild

Tweedie's hillstream loach lives in gentle forest streams of the Malay Peninsula and Borneo, in moderate current among living and fallen vegetation rather than in raging rapids. It still wants clean, oxygenated water, so aim for steady flow, 21 to 26 degrees Celsius, and pH around 6.0 to 7.5, with sand, leaf litter, and wood on the bottom. Even in calmer water, oxygen and cleanliness matter.

Good to know

Homalopteroides tweediei is one of the smaller members of the river-loach family Balitoridae, reaching only about 4 centimeters, described by Herre in 1940. It honors Michael Tweedie, a curator at the Raffles Museum in Singapore who helped collect it. Unlike the strongest-clinging loaches, it lives in quieter forest creeks, and it is not known to have been bred in aquariums.

Did you know

Many loaches in this family use a broad sucker-like underside to hold station in whitewater. This one barely clings at all, living instead in the quiet stretches where the current has already eased off.

Tank mates

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