Family: Balitoridae
Sewellia albisuera — a Balitoridae from Vietnam, calm but assertive around its chosen perch. Reaches 4.8–7 cm; singly or in a loose group on open rockwork. 18–26 °C.
Sewellia albisuera, a member of the family Balitoridae, comes from Vietnam, where it inhabits fast-flowing mountain streams, clinging to rocks. Calm but assertive around its chosen perch and grazes rock surfaces; feed spirulina-rich foods, it grows to 4.8–7 cm and adapts well to a properly set-up aquarium in the 18–26 °C range. Other Sewellia species in our database include Sewellia lineolata, Sewellia breviventralis.
Intermediate difficulty. Calm but assertive around its chosen perch; singly or in a loose group on open rockwork.
Hold 18–26 °C and keep it stable — 18–26 °C typical for the genus. Cool, highly oxygenated water.
Full size is 4.8–7 cm. Minimum tank: 59 L, with open swimming space along its bottom-dwelling habits.
Grazes rock surfaces; feed spirulina-rich foods. Feed two small meals a day rather than one large one.
Calm but assertive around its chosen perch. Recommended tankmates: Hillstream loaches of similar size — Graze side by side on open stone. Avoid Warm-water community fish — Need different temperatures.
Native to Vietnam, where it lives in fast-flowing mountain streams, clinging to rocks. Very strong, highly oxygenated current; Requires very high dissolved oxygen.
In the aquarium: spawning unknown in home aquaria. Difficult to distinguish.