This study used artificially bred Brachymystax tsinlingensis Li (1966) larvae [body weight: (0.06± 0.02) g, body length: (1.85±0.11) cm] as experimental subjects to explore the swimming ability and behavioral characteristics of B. tsinlingensis larvae and scientifically solve the problems of water velocity environment selection, during processes such as seedling cultivation and artificial release. The induced velocity, critical swimming speed, and burst swimming speed were measured using the increasing velocity method at (11.4±0.17) ℃, and the sustained swimming ability and durable swimming ability were measured using the fixed velocity method. The results showed that the induced velocity, critical swimming speed, and burst swimming speed were (0.03±0.01) m/s, (0.14±0.03) m/s, and (0.22±0.03) m/s, respectively. Relative induced velocity, relative critical swimming speed and relative burst swimming speed were (1.62±0.29) BL/s, (7.55±1.61) BL/s, and (11.48±1.79) BL/s, respectively. The maximum sustained swimming speed and the maximum durable swimming speed were 0.13 m/s and 0.25 m/s, respectively. This was similar to the mean critical swimming speed and mean burst swimming speed. Continuous and endurance experiments showed that the swimming duration of B. tsinlingensis larvae was negatively correlated with flow rate (lgT=−24.48X+7.09, R² =0.79, P＜0.01), tail beat frequency was positively and linearly correlated with flow rate (TFB=0.70U+5.54, R² =0.89, P＜0.01), and stride length was linearly and positively correlated with flow rate (SL=0.09U+0.11, R² =0.99, P＜0.01). Therefore, artificial breeding and release were performed at a flow rate of 0.04–0.14 m/s. The results of this study contribute to improving the survival rate of artificial cultivation and release effectiveness of B. tsinlingensis and provide a reference for the selection of resource conservation and utilization environments.