Yo-yo loach not eating or swimming- only laying on side, very skinny

[Abbizx]

Hi I’ve had this yo-yo loach for around 10 months but hes never grown any bigger for some reason but he used to be very chunky and healthy looking just small but this week he’s just not been eating anything or swimming around or using his nose and going in between the pebbles to get things he’s just been laying on his side hiding which is extremely unusual for him as he’s always active and swimming around and eating like a pig but he’s been doing nothing and I’m not sure what to do about it, I have a breeder box I was considering putting him in and feeding him in there so then I can make sure he eats but I’m not sure he’d be happy in there, all my other fish are healthy and eating it’s only him I’m just not sure what to do, please help
I’ve attached some pictures of him

 

[connorlindeman]

Welcome to the forum

What are your water parameters?

Don't put him in the breeder. It will just make him more stressed out.

 

[connorlindeman]

Also, what are the tank mates? Have you noticed any bullying?

 

[Abbizx]

Also, what are the tank mates? Have you noticed any bullying?

Hi, parameter’s are:
Ammonia= 0 mg/L
pH= 8.0 or 8.5 (it was hard to tell) mg/L
Nitrate= 5 mg/L
Nitrite= 0.1 mg/L

Tank mates are 3 angel fish 1 large and 2 small) , 6 cherry barbs, 1 male swordtail, and 2 I think rosy tetras, there’s no bulling in the tank I used to have more loaches but they never got along well so I kept one and rehomed the others and he seems to be fine on his own

 

[Colin_T]

Have you cleaned the filter recently?

maybe deworm the fish. see section 3 of following link for deworming fish.

once fish stop eating and lay on their side, it's usually too late to do anything

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Byron]

There is another serious issue here, involving the one lone loach. These fish must have a group, five or more, as they are very social. It is not at all outside the realm of possibility that being alone has weakened and stressed this loach. And that in turn means a reaction, sometimes aggression, sometimes the opposite which could be the issue here. That makes it easier for other isues to take hold. A recent study found that a fish under stress from not having sufficient fish of its own species in with it also develops a latency to feed, which would explain the thinness of the loach.

 

[Abbizx]

There is another serious issue here, involving the one lone loach. These fish must have a group, five or more, as they are very social. It is not at all outside the realm of possibility that being alone has weakened and stressed this loach. And that in turn means a reaction, sometimes aggression, sometimes the opposite which could be the issue here. That makes it easier for other isues to take hold. A recent study found that a fish under stress from not having sufficient fish of its own species in with it also develops a latency to feed, which would explain the thinness of the loach.

I see where you’re coming from but when I did have more he never got along with them which is why he’s in his own now and has been for ages and he’s been fine it’s only this week he’s been like this unfortunately

 

[Abbizx]

Have you cleaned the filter recently?

maybe deworm the fish. see section 3 of following link for deworming fish.

once fish stop eating and lay on their side, it's usually too late to do anything

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

Yes I cleaned the filter just a few days ago and okay thank you I’ll look into deworming him

 

[Byron]

I see where you’re coming from but when I did have more he never got along with them which is why he’s in his own now and has been for ages and he’s been fine it’s only this week he’s been like this unfortunately

Being alone is very stressful and almost inevitable to lead to what is now the situation. These fish must have a group of five or more, period. I can assure you he is not fine. You cannot force a fish into an adverse situation without detriment to the poor fish. It is frankly cruel.

As for what occurred previously with the "group," how many were they then? If the group was three or even four, it is not going to work, or not likely to unless one is very lucky. And, the interaction you observed then may have been normal; I don't know your experience level, but when I see fish interacting I can always tell if it is "normal" or something to deal with. I had a group of five Botia kubotai in my 90g tank, and the two largest were frequently sparring with each other to establish which was the "alpha." They were carry out this interaction for a couple hours many days. A friend once saw it and mentioned to me that two fish were fighting...but it was their normal interaction involving "greying out" and circling one another head-to-tail. I had this group of loaches for years.

 

[Abbizx]

Being alone is very stressful and almost inevitable to lead to what is now the situation. These fish must have a group of five or more, period. I can assure you he is not fine. You cannot force a fish into an adverse situation without detriment to the poor fish. It is frankly cruel.

As for what occurred previously with the "group," how many were they then? If the group was three or even four, it is not going to work, or not likely to unless one is very lucky. And, the interaction you observed then may have been normal; I don't know your experience level, but when I see fish interacting I can always tell if it is "normal" or something to deal with. I had a group of five Botia kubotai in my 90g tank, and the two largest were frequently sparring with each other to establish which was the "alpha." They were carry out this interaction for a couple hours many days. A friend once saw it and mentioned to me that two fish were fighting...but it was their normal interaction involving "greying out" and circling one another head-to-tail. I had this group of loaches for years.

He was in a group of 5 and for the first week I had them they got along pretty well, there was a few moments of chasing around between a few of them but other than that they were fine but after a month or 2 he would just hide away from the others and never come out of hiding so I barely saw him but he was still eating as he didn’t look skinny when I did see him but he was always away from the others so I think they were just picking on him, when he would hide he was fully white which I think is stress?? I’m not sure but I felt bad for him an placed him in my other tank and he would come out and eat and join the other fishes there but I didn’t want him living in that tank as it was beginning to get overcrowded as I had mollies which were breeding So I decided to rehome the other and place him back in his original tank and he seemed fine, he would come out at feeding and eat, go around the tank eating things in between the rocks and eat my pest snails and he would hang around with my angel fish, I’d love to get more yo-yo loaches as they are amazing fish to own but I’m worried if the past repeating itself and ones that are for sale in LFS are all so small my large angel could probably eat them

 

[Byron]

He was in a group of 5 and for the first week I had them they got along pretty well, there was a few moments of chasing around between a few of them but other than that they were fine but after a month or 2 he would just hide away from the others and never come out of hiding so I barely saw him but he was still eating as he didn’t look skinny when I did see him but he was always away from the others so I think they were just picking on him, when he would hide he was fully white which I think is stress?? I’m not sure but I felt bad for him an placed him in my other tank and he would come out and eat and join the other fishes there but I didn’t want him living in that tank as it was beginning to get overcrowded as I had mollies which were breeding So I decided to rehome the other and place him back in his original tank and he seemed fine, he would come out at feeding and eat, go around the tank eating things in between the rocks and eat my pest snails and he would hang around with my angel fish, I’d love to get more yo-yo loaches as they are amazing fish to own but I’m worried if the past repeating itself and ones that are for sale in LFS are all so small my large angel could probably eat them

OK, some comments on this. You would probably have been OK to leave the original five. As I say, this is normal behaviour, it is programmed into the genetics of the species. If he had lots of cover, he might have been fine, or not, we cannot say as individual fish can vary somewhat from the norm for the species, but this is nature operating the way it is designed to operate. Loaches need lots of cover; chunks of bogwood with crevices, tunnels and such are ideal, or artificial replicas of such decor. I used to enjoy watching my group play tag, one fish would be chasing another and the first would disappear into one of the tunnels, then poke out his nose, waiting for the chaser to find him...endless enjoyment.

Loaches are not particularly good tankmates for angelfish, as the activity of the loaches can stress the angelfish. But sometimes it can work. I don't know if I should recommend more loaches or not; adding more might cause the one loach to become really aggressive, or the opposite. But at the same time, being alone is certainly not good, and will likely cause something.

 

[Abbizx]

OK, some comments on this. You would probably have been OK to leave the original five. As I say, this is normal behaviour, it is programmed into the genetics of the species. If he had lots of cover, he might have been fine, or not, we cannot say as individual fish can vary somewhat from the norm for the species, but this is nature operating the way it is designed to operate. Loaches need lots of cover; chunks of bogwood with crevices, tunnels and such are ideal, or artificial replicas of such decor. I used to enjoy watching my group play tag, one fish would be chasing another and the first would disappear into one of the tunnels, then poke out his nose, waiting for the chaser to find him...endless enjoyment.

Loaches are not particularly good tankmates for angelfish, as the activity of the loaches can stress the angelfish. But sometimes it can work. I don't know if I should recommend more loaches or not; adding more might cause the one loach to become really aggressive, or the opposite. But at the same time, being alone is certainly not good, and will likely cause something.

Your loaches sound like great fun to watch I’ll find some decor that had lots of holes and stuff so the loach will have more places to hide, I only separated him as he was just hiding all the time and was completely white from I believe to be stress. And I never knew that about angelfish and loaches, I had my angelfish when I had all 5 loaches and they all got along fine, the angels never bothered them and they never bothered the angels, the one loach I do have now loved swimming around with the angels.
What do you recommend I do for my loach? Ofc I want him to be happy so if I need to get more loaches I will, but in his current state do you think it would stress him out if I got more?

 

[Byron]

Your loaches sound like great fun to watch I’ll find some decor that had lots of holes and stuff so the loach will have more places to hide, I only separated him as he was just hiding all the time and was completely white from I believe to be stress. And I never knew that about angelfish and loaches, I had my angelfish when I had all 5 loaches and they all got along fine, the angels never bothered them and they never bothered the angels, the one loach I do have now loved swimming around with the angels.
What do you recommend I do for my loach? Ofc I want him to be happy so if I need to get more loaches I will, but in his current state do you think it would stress him out if I got more?

To answer your last question on what to do, I guess if this were me I would acquire a group of five loaches, and hope for the best. If the lone loach could be kept in another tank until the five new ones are acquired, adding the six together at the same time might help; sometimes this does, as all of them are now adjusting to a new environment and it might work.

The issue with the angelfish and loaches may need explaining. This is much more than mere physical interaction. Fish release pheromones (read by others in the species) and allomones (read by other species) continually. This is a primary method of communication, along with visual and hearing. One of the reasons we do substantial water changes is to remove these chemical substances, as no filtration can, only water changes. You and I have no idea as to what may have been occurring between these fish; allomones can be as stressful for the targeted fish as physical aggression. This is one aspect of your lone loach problem, he is not communicating with others and he needs to do so in order to be healthy. During the Covid crisis there have been warnings about the mental detrimental effects of isolating children; it is just the same for any animal that "expects" and "needs" interaction--including the loaches, and frankly all other fish too.

 

[Abbizx]

To answer your last question on what to do, I guess if this were me I would acquire a group of five loaches, and hope for the best. If the lone loach could be kept in another tank until the five new ones are acquired, adding the six together at the same time might help; sometimes this does, as all of them are now adjusting to a new environment and it might work.

The issue with the angelfish and loaches may need explaining. This is much more than mere physical interaction. Fish release pheromones (read by others in the species) and allomones (read by other species) continually. This is a primary method of communication, along with visual and hearing. One of the reasons we do substantial water changes is to remove these chemical substances, as no filtration can, only water changes. You and I have no idea as to what may have been occurring between these fish; allomones can be as stressful for the targeted fish as physical aggression. This is one aspect of your lone loach problem, he is not communicating with others and he needs to do so in order to be healthy. During the Covid crisis there have been warnings about the mental detrimental effects of isolating children; it is just the same for any animal that "expects" and "needs" interaction--including the loaches, and frankly all other fish too.

Alright thank you for helping I’ll contact LFS to see if they have any in stock, in the meantime I’ll get more things for the loaches to be able to hide in

 

[Fishfinder1973]

Yoyo loaches need somewhere to sleep during light hours (if they choose to do so)They are also good at playing dead,lying on their sides,at least mines do.I had a single yoyo loach for a while and all it did was swim back and forth along the front glass.I added another two yoyos and they are all doing well,and growing.The lesson here is that although they look like they are having a go at each other,they are actually interacting.
You need to get that wee one some company,if it’s not too late