Homaloptera Tweedy
Homaloptera Tweedie, scientific name Homalopteroides tweediei, belongs to the family Balitoridae (river loaches). The fish is named after naturalist Michael Tweedy (1907–1993), assistant curator of the Raffles Museum in Singapore, who made a significant contribution to the description of new species of fish in the Malay Peninsula.
Contents
Habitat
Comes from Southeast Asia. The extensive habitat covers the mainland territories of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, as well as the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. It inhabits mainly the upper reaches of rivers, preferring shallow areas with moderate or strong currents and rocky substrates.
Brief information:
- The volume of the aquarium – from 40 liters.
- Temperature – 20-25°C
- Value pH — 6.0–7.5
- Water hardness – soft to medium hard (2-12 dGH)
- Substrate type — stony
- Lighting – moderate or bright
- Brackish water – no
- Water movement – moderate or strong
- The size of the fish is about 4 cm.
- Food – any sinking food
- Temperament – peaceful
- Keeping in a group of 5-6 fish
Description
Outwardly, it resembles its close relative Homalopter Smith, but grows somewhat smaller. Adult individuals reach a length of about 4 cm. The fish has an elongated body shape. Large paired fins are shifted closer to the abdomen and oriented horizontally. With their help, it is tightly pressed against the surface of stones or snags, successfully resisting the flow. The coloration is gray with a combination of four irregularly shaped dark spots. Sexual dimorphism is weakly expressed, there are no obvious visible differences between male and female.
Food
They are carnivorous species, in nature they feed on small crustaceans, insect larvae and other invertebrates. In the home aquarium, it is essential to feed high-protein food from dry, frozen and live food of suitable size.
Maintenance and care, arrangement of the aquarium
The optimal size of the aquarium for a group of 5-6 fish starts from 40 liters. The determining condition for the successful maintenance of Homalopter Tweedy is clean running water rich in dissolved oxygen. Equally important is the presence of a sufficiently strong current, simulating a mountain stream. A productive internal filter is able to solve some of the problems of water purification and become a source of its movement. It is worth remembering that in order to maintain biological balance, a number of mandatory aquarium maintenance procedures cannot be neglected, such as weekly replacement of part of the water with fresh water and regular removal of organic waste.
The design should be selected taking into account the turbulent external environment. Any light elements are likely to be carried away by the current. A good choice would be rocky soil with a heap of boulders, driftwood of variable size, artificial or live unpretentious plants.
Behavior and Compatibility
Peaceful calm fish, prefers to be in the company of relatives. Compatible with many other non-aggressive species of comparable size that can live in similar environments.
Breeding / breeding
At the time of writing, the authors did not find reliable information about the successful breeding of this species in home aquaria.
Fish diseases
Health problems arise only in case of injuries or when kept in unsuitable conditions, which depresses the immune system and, as a result, provokes the occurrence of any disease. In the event of the appearance of the first symptoms, first of all, it is necessary to check the water for the excess of certain indicators or the presence of dangerous concentrations of toxic substances (nitrites, nitrates, ammonium, etc.). If deviations are found, bring all values back to normal and only then proceed with treatment. Read more about symptoms and treatments in the Aquarium Fish Diseases section.
