Now I've Done It: Yoyo Loach Question

[Jamie D.]

Hi all - long time, no post (though I read nearly every day - so much great information and pictures!). Forgive my long-winded post here...probably TMI, but better more than less, eh?

Recently a friend who is closing out her tanks gave me a 3 year old angelfish and an 8-10 yr old yoyo loach (pics below). I put them in my 55 gallon, which is now quite heavily stocked between those, my two dwarf plecos (a leopard frog and a clown who are both annoyed with the loach addition, as he's been crashing in their respective caves/tree in the few days he's been here), 6ish cherry Barbs and a passel of tetras (8-10 Pristellas, 2 lemons, and 6 Von Rios). I also have two Sterbai cories from a failed attempt to get a school (the store had 3, so I bought them, thinking I could get more, but they rarely get them in, and then I lost one in a heater incident last week, so now I just have the poor two, who are buddies, at least).

Needless to say, I've been "over" my 20 gal. platy tank for awhile (seriously, what was I thinking with all the babies?!), I just need to rehome the little buggers, except one who is a very pretty cross between a hi-fin varietus and a blue metallic. My plan is to offload the platies, and then move the Von Rios to the 20 gal. (I think those are the only tetras I have small enough for that tank), and maybe the clown pleco if I can catch him without tearing my entire tank apart (unlikely, but you never know). That will take some pressure off and give me a bit of room to play with.

From what I've read about Yoyo loaches, they're much happier in a group of three or more (I have 6 khulis in the 20, and they're so fun to watch playing together at night). I was wondering if after I get the tetras and possibly the clown pleco moved, if it would be worth trying to introduce two more yoyo loaches as friends for Max (my older but still frisky after dark guy). Or would it be better to leave him as a single, since he's been alone so long?

Yes, I know Angel's are better in pairs or groups too, but I do not have the stamina for the drama and potential fighting of trying to find a buddy for Copernicus (the new angel). Nor do I have the desire to get a larger tank, just because I hate the thought of having to move my current tank to put in a new one and then moving everything and everyone over...ugh. It is a possibility, if necessary, but I'd rather not.

Anyways, if you've read this far, thank you, and if you have experience with yoyos and have thoughts on whether I should work towards getting Max a few buddies or not, I'd be happy to hear them! Max is rather largish, if that makes a difference, at around 5-5.5 inches, I'd say (without a tape measure in hand).

 

[Colin_T]

Get 4 or 5 more and see how they go.
You can put some plastic pipe/ tubing in the tank for the loaches to live in during the day. Get 2-3 inch diameter tube that is 2 foot long and bury it under the gravel leaving the ends open. The loaches can go in one end and come out the other.

 

[Jamie D.]

I don't know that there's room in there for five more, if they all get as big as him. Love the tubing idea! Thanks!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have only lept 3 species of loach. Clowns, sidthimunkis and yoyos. I ket a decent school of the sids for close to 20 years before a tank crash wiped them and everything else in the tank except for a few amano shrimp. I have since replaced the sids. My oldest clown is close to 12 inches and, with me over 20 years.

I had a group of 4 yoyos and they went into my 45 gal, along with my prized DD black angels and other fish. The yoyos began to harass the angels. A yoyo would swim along side an angel and "attack" it near the gill plate. I am not sure if the yoyo wanted to get at the angels slime coat or had a more nefarious goal. But after a few weeks of this I realized I had to let the yoyos go. I found somebody willing to take them and I shipped them out.

I think yoyos are a pretty neat fish but their behaviour with the angels was unacceptablem so the yoyos had to go.

I can not say why the yoyos behaved as they did nor if this is something common. But I thought it was worth reporting here jik.

I had caves in the tank for the BN plecos in it. I never saw the yoyos have issues with the BN. But plecos are pretty well armored and can hold thir own and better against any yoyo harassment unlike the angels.

 

[Jamie D.]

Thanks TwoTankAmin. I have read about other instances of that as well, and from what I'm getting here and other places, it sounds like yoyos are happiest in groups, but also kind of like my dogs -braver and more likely to cause trouble when in a "pack".

Max has been with this angel for three years, so I think they're okay as long as Max is a "loner", but I obviously need to decide whether to find one or the other a better home for the long term, or get another largish tank so Max can have his pack and Copernicus can live unhassled. I do have the option of a free 75 gallon if I can convince myself it's worth the time and space.

My husband would be less than pleased with that option, but we'll see.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

My clowns and sids are some of my favorite fish. I liked the yo yos, but I loved the DD black angels, so my decision was easy.

If you want to move the lone yoyo into a 75 then you can get more for sure. You just need to be a bit careful about their tankmates. Here is what Seriouslyfish says about yo yos.

Behaviour and CompatibilityTop ↑​

Not especially aggressive but much smaller fishes may be intimidated by its size and sometimes very active behaviour. Slow-moving, long-finned species such as ornamental bettas, guppies and many cichlids should also be avoided as trailing fins can be nipped.

More suitable tankmates include peaceful, open water-dwelling cyprinids, while in larger tanks members of Barilius, Luciosoma, Balantiocheilos and Barbonymus become options.

In terms of other bottom-dwellers they will do well alongside most other Botia and in very large tanks, Chromobotia macracanthus.

Some cobitid and nemacheilid loaches are also possibilities as are members of Epalzeorhynchos, Crossocheilus and Garra and many catfishes.

As always, thorough research prior to selecting a community of fishes is the best way to avoid problems.

Botia spp. are gregarious, form complex social hierarchies and should be maintained in groups of at least 5 or 6 specimens, preferably 10 or more.

When kept singly they can become withdrawn or aggressive towards similarly-shaped fishes, and if only a pair or trio are purchased the dominant individual may stress the other(s) to the extent that they stop feeding.

B. almorhae group members tend to form less tightly-knit aggregations than some congeners but should still be kept in numbers since they require regular contact with conspecifics, a fact exemplied by a number of behavioural rituals which have been recorded consistently in aquaria (see ‘Notes’).

from https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/botia-almorhae/

 

[anewbie]

If i understand correctly your yoyo has been by itself for a very long time and is quite old. Given the small size of your aquarium I would NOT get more yoyo - if he was a 'new' young loach then yes they should be kept in groups - the larger the better (i consider 6 bare mininium but 20 is always a lot better). They can develop bad behavior if solo but your guy has always been solo so any bad habits he has are not about to change.

I personally have 5 yoyo WITH 13 clown loaches and ~15 zebra loaches (some loaches will happily group with cross species but it depends on the species) - and yes my large yoyo are happy to 'play' with my clown loaches as they fit in the middle size wise with the largest clown nearly twice the size and the smallest clown 2/3 the size.

What i have seen over the year is a solo loach can get bored and try to make friends with other fishes to play with that don't understand play but like i said at 8 to 10 years old yours is not going to learn new patterns over night so either he is or isn't well behaved.

As for angels it is possible to keep two but a solo angel is just as happy alone; however more than 2 in a 55 is asking for some corpses.


Personally i wouldn't mind some more clowns as they seem to enjoy the 600 but some reason they prefer to surf on the short end (4ft) next to my desk when i'm here and when not then they do the long end (10 ft). The catch is that if i look at them they scatter.