Here is the species index page from loaches.com:
http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/beaufortia_kweichowensis.html
Mia Woodman's page on them:
http://www.petresources.net/fish/cyprinid/bea_kwe.html
Bob's page:
http://www.bobd.lunarpages.com/loaches/breeding.html
DIET:
Now about what I have personally learned keeping these guys:
It is best to have LOTS of algae to keep them happy. Their preferred food is the microscopic organisms that live IN the algae, so get plenty of smooth rocks and grow algae on them. You kinda' have to throw caution to the wind here and focus on algae production instead of algae eradication. Scary, I know. With high enough light and a little bit of excess nutrients you can get rocks covered in a couple months. If you already have the loaches now, but no algae, they will eat lots of regular foods given the opportunity. I feed mine frozen bloodworms and frozen brine shrimp. They'll also eat sinking algae wafers. I stick the algae wafers to the rock they hang out on so it won't float away int he current, and they go right to it. They DO NOT compete well for food with other fish, as they're very shy. I give them the frozen foods with a turkey baster. I just put the tip of the baster on the rock right in front of them and gently squeeze some food to the tip and they come for it. It's a slow process, but it keeps them happy, so it's worth it. They also eat soft green blanched vegetables like spinach and kale.
Water Preference:
They do PREFER cooler water, and I have no heater in the tank they're in, so it goes down to 68 in the winter, but does get up to 78 in the summer. Slow changes are ok for most fish, and a seasonal fluctuation of 10 degrees is not too much for them to handle. Since they are from fast moving streams, they are used to a high oxygen environment, so a powerhead with a venturi is ideal for them, as it will keep oxygen levels high in the water. You CANNOT have too much water flow for these guys, as they will spend their time in the area with the swiftest current given the chance. If you go with a planted tank, then you run into contradictory objectives, as aeration from a venturi is generally bad for plants as it drives off the CO2. I do not think they care so much about hardness, unless you are into breeding them. They do not like pH below 6.5 and CO2 levels above 120ppm. Fortunately these are extreme values you are likely not to encounter. I always like to experience the extremes at least once just to see how far I can go
so that you don't have to.
Temperment:
My first loaches of this kind were
this type, and now I have
this type. Both have the same general requirements though. Both kinds are very peaceful and also not bothered by any other fish. I have them in with RTS, amano shrimp, ghost shrimp, SAE, CAE, otos, minnows, glass catfish, and a few
zipper loaches. They are an amazingly interesting fish to have, especially when they slide around on the glass walls of the tank so that you can see their hearts beating. Do not clean all the glass walls in your tank as they will constantly forage on the algae that grows there. Don't overclean the tank.
TankMates:
I think they would get along with the pleco, but I do think the pleco would eat up all the algae beds that these guys need and enjoy. I had my hillstream loaches for about 6 months when I decided to put my "candystripe" pleco in with them. I guess the pleco is actually a clown pleco. He was really smalla t the time, only an inch and a half long, but he decimated the algae covered rocks that the loaches fed off of. Within a week the tank was too clean, so I moved the pleco out to another tank which has remained spotless ever since his addition.
