Borneo Gastromyzon

Hypergastromyzon humilis Photo by Brent Tibbatts

Origin

Borneo sucker is an Indonesian original ornamental fish. This fish comes from the island of Borneo. Borneo sucker is often found in fast-flowing tributaries, with environmental conditions: pH 6.5, temperature 20 ¬ 24 ° C, and hardness (GH) 5.

In the Kapuas River, Kapuas Hulu, this fish is often found at the upper stream of the stream, especially at the dry season.

Borneo Sucker has adapted to live in heavy water. By its evolution to live in such an environment, Borneo sucker forms a kind of "sucking device" on its stomach and fins. Thus, these fish can attach themselves safely to rocks without being washed away by the water stream.

At first glance, this fish looks like suckermouth catfish (Hypostomus sp.) juvenil. In fact, Borneo Sucker is not a catfish as well as suckermouth catfish, but is included in the Balitoridae family.

The average size of Borneo Sucker is 5 cm, rarely found that is longer than 6 cm. Some reports say that this fish can reach a length of 10 cm. Borneo Sucker is classified as very active, therefore, if you find this fish silent (especially at the time of purchase), then it could be that the fish is not in good codition".

Habitat

In it natural habitat, Borneo suckers eat algae (moss) that grow in rocks as their feed. Therefore, often these fish are not suitable to be maintained in new aquariums. In order to maintain it well and sustainably, you should prepare an aquarium with mossy rocks. Borneo Suckor to some extent accept other types of feed. There is an assumption that these fish tend to be carnivorous, because it is thought that this fish also consume small insect larvae, and crustaceans. Therefore, Borneo Sucker can receive feed in the form of pellets / flakes, shrimp pellets, live fish food or frozen fish food, especially bloodworms and artemia. However, for long-term maintenance or breeding purposes, feeding with moss is strongly recommended.

Considering that Borneo Sucker is a fish that comes from fast-flowing rivers, the aquarium setup with artificial currents is highly recommended. This artificial current can be created by modifying the output of the head pump in such a way that it will produce an adequate current.

Sex

Sex determination in Borneo sucker is relatively difficult. Generally, the size of male fish is slightly larger than the  female fish. Male muzzle tends to be more "square" compared to a more "rounded" female snout. In male fish, there are 2 "nose" protrusions on each side of the snout. This bulge will appear clearer during marriage. The male color is brighter. Towards the mating period, male fish actively making its nests by digging gravel or sand. by using the tail.

Breeding

Spawning Borneo Sucker can be said to be easy and difficult. Some hobbyists report finding Borneo suckers in their aquariums. This happened, especially for hobbyists who setup the aquarium like the original habitat conditions of the fish. Thus one of the requirements to be able to breed Borneo sucker is to prepare the Aquarium in such a way that the water parameters and conditions are similar to the conditions in the real natural habitat.

Borneo sucker belongs to the "egg layer" class. During the marriage the female will put her eggs in a nest that has been prepared by the male. Then the egg will be fertilized by the male. In order for this spawning ritual to take place properly, the spawning aquarium needs to be prepared for the male to prepare the nest. This material is a fine gravel (average 0.5 cm in size). It's good to have a gravel size available with a dominance of 0.5 cm in diameter gravel. The provision of living water plants will greatly help this spawning process. At least the substrate of the plant and its ecosystem will help in growing microorganisms to feed later. Fertilized eggs will usually hatch within one week.

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