Why is it so hard to get some yo-yo loaches?

[NJ Devils Fan]

I got a yo-yo loach at my LFS last week, they only had one, so I figured I would come back this week and get some more(I've never previously seen them there). I asked the guy when they would get more in, and he said that he doesn't put an order in for them because they are very delicate. I said I got one there last week and he said that it was probably there for awhile, and that they come in very rarely. I was looking online, and they were reasonable prices, but the shipping and handeling is more than the fish. I will probably regret it, but do you think petco has them? I haven't been in my local one in over a year because it is such a dump and I refuse to go in.

[Dangerdoll]

hi NJD, I would lean more to the side of them "not" having them since the yo-yo's are a delicate bunch. I would think if the place is a dump, they surely wouldn't be able to keep them well enough and if they did by chance have them, they may be in weak condition....therefore, not a good choice to get them from there. The Petco over here only has your more common fish available, my guess is even the more hardier of fishes..... I would think yours is the same if you think it's dump as well...

[wetmanNY]

Come down to the city and go to New World Aquarium. Or one of the good places in Jersey. Don'r put up with bad stock from PetCo. It won't be worth it to you.

These guys are seasonal. Might be harder to find until September.

[NJ Devils Fan]

wetman, where in the city is that place? Next time we go down there, I'll see if I can get there.

[kuhli]

Most loaches are somewhat seasonal. Although most yoyos are bred in thailand by one of two fish farms. Yoyos are not that fragile btw I have seen some survive some nasty things like being out of water for 2 hours,, stuck over powerhead intakes and such. As long as the water changes are regular they are fine. I do 25% a week on all my tanks.
Kuhli

My loachy List

Clowns 4 Botia Macracanthus
Yoyos 7 Botia Almorhae
Striatas 3 Botia striata
Histrionicas 4 Botia Histrionica
Botia a Myanmar 3 Botia Angelicus


Red Tail Botia 3 Schistura mahnerti
Peppered Loach 2 Lepidocephalichthys guntea
Checkerboard Sand Loach 1 Nemacheilus masyae

Chinese Hillstream Loach 5 Pseudogastromyzon cheni
Beaufortia SP Hillstream 1 Beaufortia sp.

Chinese Weatherfish 1 Misgurnus mizolepis
Weather loach 1 Misgurnus anguillicaudatus / fossilis

Myers Kuhli Loach 1 Acanthophthalmus Myersi



Originally posted by Dangerdoll
hi NJD, I would lean more to the side of them "not" having them since the yo-yo's are a delicate bunch. I would think if the place is a dump, they surely wouldn't be able to keep them well enough and if they did by chance have them, they may be in weak condition....therefore, not a good choice to get them from there. The Petco over here only has your more common fish available, my guess is even the more hardier of fishes..... I would think yours is the same if you think it's dump as well...

[wetmanNY]

NJDevilsFan New World Aquarium is at 204 East 38th Street, just east of Third Avenue. It's the only good all-round LFS in Manhattan. Except Mr Win has the best fat Otocinclus (algae in his tanks) and bloodworms (Mr Win is on Mott Street)).

[Dangerdoll]

Originally posted by kuhli
As long as the water changes are regular they are fine. I do 25% a week on all my tanks.
Kuhli



Right, but I was going by what NJD's LFS had told him, which is that they are a delicate fish (I guess this is an opinion). Also it was said that his Petco was a dump, bringing me to assume that they may not do the weekly maintenance required for the aquarium in order to keep all inhabitants healthy or in the best condition, therefore he might want to try another place rather than go to the place he "knows" isn't all that great...

[JP457]

NJ-I have seen them at Petgoods several times but not many and they usually hide. It doesnt help that theyr not labeled either.

[NJ Devils Fan]

Yea, it wasn't labeled, so that didn't help much. I wasn't really sure if it was a yo-yo loach, but I said it to the guy and he bagged it for me. I am pissed that they don't have anymore. If you go there and see them, tell me.

[brianfl]

kuhli,

What do you think of your botia striata? I have always thought they were very cool. Want to get some, I just haven't seen any around here.

[carpguy]

Brianfl…
I have a little pack of striata and they're some of my favorites. Great little fish.


NJ…
You should call down to New World and see what they say. I'm in agreement with the mighty WetFeller: its the only Fish Shop in Manhattan that I bother with anymore (although Mr. Win seemed very nice and the Goldfish place around the corner was worth the visit). Its only a few minutes walk from Grand Central.

I realize you may not be as fully and independently mobile as you might like, but here are a few other places that aren't that far from you…

Pet Place II in Nanuet (on Rt. 52), seems well run but the stocking levels vary. Call ahead.

House of Fins in Greenwich CT. Definitely call ahead (very small but very good, and willing to special order — its a store front for an aquarium maintenance business in the wealth-belt… their volume and their connections aren't necessarily obvious from the street).

If you can hunt down someone going to the beach, Country Critters in Patchogue is a brilliant place and only about a 10 minute ride from the beach at Mastic/Shirley (east end of Fire Island). I saw Yoyos there a few weeks ago.

Maybe 20 minutes from the Jersey side of the GWB (in Clifton) Absolutely Fish has a large selection of fish and, it seems to me, very normally carries a number of small loaches, including YoYos. I'd guess here or New World are your best bet.

Did you try that guy on the service road for the Deagan, across from the raceway? I remember seeing a bunch of different loaches in there last year…

HTH

[NJ Devils Fan]

Carpguy, thank you very much for a list of those places. I go to the place across from the raceway sometimes, mostly for neons because they are cheap. It is called Exotic pet warehouse. I was thinking about trying it again, I was there a few months ago when I was looking for clown loaches and they didn't have any. They kept saying next tuesday, next thursday, next tuesday, and etc, eventually I just stopped going. I think I will try the one in Clifton because my dad works in NJ (east rutherford), so maybe on a saturday, we will take a ride down there. Thanks again.

[NJ Devils Fan]

I just tried Exotic Pet Warehouse, but they didn't have any. Of course, they have clown loaches now that I am not looking for them. The guy said maybe next week. Next week though, my friend said he would come with me to New world. Hopefully, they have them. Do you know where I could get the number so I can call?

[carpguy]

New World Aquarium Inc _
204 E 38th St, New York, NY 10016
Phone: (646) 865-9604

Walk out the front of Grand Central, turn left, about a block and a half to 3rd Ave, turn right, 4 blocks down to 38th, turn left towards 2nd and you'll see it on the southside of the street. They're a good shop but they aren't that big so I'd definitely call first. If you give them enough notice they can add them to their buyer's list.

I saw about a half dozen yo-yos at the Petco on Union Square (northwest corner of the park, to the left of the Barnes & Noble) yesterday. I think they were about $5 each. Its not my favorite shop in the world… I personally have never bought fish from them so I can't really say. I do trust the guys at New World to know what the're doing.

[NJ Devils Fan]

Thanks carp. I just called and they guy said that they had small ones. I asked how many, and he said decent amount. I lucked out too in that my dad wants to go down there to a store for something(I don't know, really wan't paying attention) on Saturday. They better not be gone when I get there, or there will be a serious price to pay.;)

[NJ Devils Fan]

Wow, what a pleasent experience. I just got back from New world. It was such a nice place. It wasn't very hot and smelly like other small fish stores.(:::cough exptic pet warehouse cough:::.) When I went into the back room, I was looking at the bottom row of tanks and I came to the clown loaches that were at a good small size. I couldn't believe how cheap they were, 3 for $20. I knew that since I got to the clowns, the yo-yos had to be close. I looked at the tank above and I saw tons of juvenile yo-yos, only about an inch, maybe less. An ear to ear smile came across my face. They were also very cheap, $2.99 each or 3 for $8. I got 6 of them and I couldn't be happier. Thanks so much wetman and carp for telling me about New World. I will definitely have to go back, maybe some time I will see one of you there.

[MicroFish]

I just added a Pakistani Loach to our setup and he's a VERY cool guy! Aquatropics here in Gainesville, FL had several of them. I'm planning to get a couple more, but didn't want to add too many new fishes to the aquarium too soon. The YoYo was originally intended to inhabit a smaller tank which houses one of our two Bettas, but the Betta didn't drop much food so the YoYo was constantly hungry. I moved him to the 20g yeaterday and he seems to be in heaven... went right to work on cleaning up what he perceived as a mess. *G* I drop half an algea wafer into the tank every other day and it tends to keep my bottom feeders happy. This is a fairly new setup though - I have been "out of" fish for about 5 years (except for the 2 Bettas) and just got back into it in the last several months.

MicroFish

----------
2-gallon mini-aquarium houses "Edo", electric blue Betta
2-gallon mini-aquarium houses "Kansai", purple/maroon Betta
1-gallon mini-aquarium will house (3) guppies eventually
One 20-gallon freshwater setup which currently houses:
- (3) zebra danios
- (2) lemon tetras
- (1) Pakistani/YoYo Loach
- (1) Chinese Algea Eater (he's so cool!)
- (1) Dwarf Plecostomus

[dethjam316]

random comment since i came in on the end of this thread...i got extremely lucky with my yoyos, which are some of my favorite fish....they were mislabeled as zebra loaches (which i would have been equally excited to get!!!) so i bought the last four at the then-lfs. i've never seen them at petsmarts or petcos in NJ.....and i've only seen them that one time at that lfs. who knows.