Yoyo loach help!

[FroFro]

I've recently acquired a yoyo loach from a fellow a newbie aquariest at work. She decided, after I told her howmmuch I enjoy my fish tank, to get a small five gallon tank of her own and fill it with a betta, corydora, and one yoyo loach. She didn't tell me until two weeks after she set up the aquarium that her loach "killed her corydora" and made her betta sick. After giving a full out lecture and writing down instructions on how to maintain her tank I took it upon myself to adopt her fish from her. The poor fella was extremely pale and had red streaks down the sides of his body. I've yet to medicate him but am currently keeping him in isolation with a small filter (with media from my main tank) and heater. The streaks seem to have gone away but he remains paler than photos I've seen and has found a spot between the wall and the filter to rest in. I've been performing 25% partial water changes daily since I've had him, I'd do larger but the loach begins to swim spastically from one wall to the other when I uncover him, so big disturbances are a no-go until I see some further improvement from him.

I've looked into taking him to a pet store (excluding petsmart/petco/etc) in my area, but the one I usually buy my fish from have fallen out of favor with me. Its a small local fish store that has a great set up because ALL their tanks have their own filtration and heating systems, they don't share water and therefore prevent contamination to otherwise healthy fish. They also "quarantine" new stock for a week before putting them up for sale which I really like. There is a worker there us regulars call the Fish Lady, because she takes care of the entire department and is very informed on the hobby.Anyway, the owner decided to try and sell young oscars, which is fine and dandy if you have the right set up. I'm thinking he had more than he could house in the cichlid tanks so he had the bright idea of putting the extra in tanks with dojo loaches, cordyora, and small tetras. After seeing literal chunks bitten off the dojo loaches, I've decided to not shop there until they fix their oscar problem, as no change was made when I informed the owner of the issue.

To make a long story short, I won't willingly put this poor fish in a situation where he'll be eaten in chunks, or put into a tank system guaranteed to get him sick and then die.

I know I can't keep him in quarantine for long as its only five gallons and not suitable for long term living. I have a spare ten gallon I haven't set up that could be a home for him, but I am unsure of their tank size requirements, I also read up that they need to be in groups of 3-6 or larger. If a ten gallon is suitable (probably isnt though) I am willing to make this tank exclusively for him and other dojos if need be. I'm not sure what to do to rehome him as the only other responsible person I know in the hobby is my Uncle, and he has an oscar tank with full grown oscars. Suggestions and advice are very much needed and appreciated, thanks.

 

[NickAu]

You need a 4 foot tank for these guys and as with all loaches the more the merrier. IMO 6 is the absolute minimum.

 

[Byron]

You are doing what you can, but it is something of a losing battle, not at all your fault.

You will need to have the fish healthy before you can move it anywhere or give it to whomever (store), and clean water may be the best thing.

Once that is accomplished, it should be introduced to a suitable tank with others of the species, and here you hit another possible problem. Fish denied what they "expect" for so long may turn anti-everything. At that point keeping it in a tank alone, or euthanasia, can be the only options. It may manage as the only loach in a community tank, hard to say. I don't know if this would be more cruel than euthanizing it now or not.

The life forced upon this loach up to your rescue probably caused problems that are irreversible, making it impossible to provide what the fish should have been given all along. Impossible to say, but this is common.