Yoyo Loaches

[Scvpirates]

if i have a yoyo loach living in my aquarium that has gravel is this an issue? i think he does very well theres plenty of hiding spots for him and he seems happy. i was reading another post and someone said they should have sand substrate. why? can i add sand to a tank with gravel already in it? maybe half gravel half sand?

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

I've had a Yo-Yo since the start of my fish-keeping hobby about 6-years ago. Its grown from a tiddler to about 10-centimeters/4-inches, and is doing fine with gravel (as long as it has places to hide away). During all this time its had other Yo-Yo's living with it, and has out-lasted all of them.

This may be contentious, but I don't think they necessarily need to be in groups. Through experience, what may be perceived as "playfulness" by the fish-keeper, can be in fact a development of a 'pecking order' in the tank. This causes stress.

My Yo-Yo's been through a few stresses, ie water changes, furniture changes, and other fish 'friends', but have come through it all. I think its relatively happy/content, and long may it continue.

So, I think they're a great little fish to own, and have certainly made me happy with owning such a character!

Good luck with yours!

 

[millym]

hi
we've kept 2 yoyos in gravel for over 6 years, would prefer to have them in sand but we didnt have the knowledge when we started out 7 yrs ago, ours seem quite happy & often nose around digging deep in the gravel. theyve never been ill or had any probs. ours have lots of caves & hidey holes and as said as long as they have these places they will be happy enough. we are going to chage our 4ft to a 6ft tank soon & will be putting sand in the new tank. you could try some patches of sand they'll probably enjoy it but no dobt it would end up spread everywhere. great fish

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I've mixed sand with gravel before in the past, the only issue with it is that the sand will become very compacted amongst the gravel and so needs to be stirred around every now and then (like once a week) to help prevent too much anaerobic bacteria building up in it. To be honest though it would be better to just make the full transition to sand, sand has many advantages over gravel;
a. Sand will allow bottom feeding fish like yoyo loaches to feed more naturally and help reduce the chances of mouth/barbel infections happening in the fish.
b. Sand is much easier to keep clean as waste settles on top of it instead of in it- this helps improve the water quality of the tank and makes it a lot easier keep clean.
c. In my experience i would say that plants tend to grow better in sand substrates.

If the gravel is rough then it is definitely a no-no for the loaches, if it is smooth it is ok and the yoyo loaches will be fine on it, however at the end of the day sand is still superior to gravel.

On the subject of keeping yoyo loaches together, they do well in groups however the group needs to be of a decent size (5+ is a good number) for things to work out properly- keep in mind though they can grow relatively large and are very active fish so need a decent size tank to live in and good filtration .

 

[ROSSCO22]

I have 5 of them in my 200 liter planted tank over sand and there very happy