Getting rid of my Yoyo Loaches.

Swiftwind

Swiftwind

♡ Neptune ♡
Jul 25, 2006
90
0
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Australia
I've come to the conclusion that my two yoyo loaches just aren't right for my 22L tank. Even though they are 'small' loaches, they have a lot of energy and are constantly on the go. My tank just does not provide enough room for them. I mean, my tank is substantial enough, but they would enjoy it much more if they had more room to swim around in.

Over the past three weeks I have lost 3 of my White Cloud Minnows. I have NO idea what happened to the first one, but it wasn't there when I got back from my 2 day holiday. The second WCM I found stuck on the filter 'grate', actually it was just a skeleton with a bit of meat still stuck on it, and my very greedy (fat) loach was picking from it! :( I felt so sick seeing that. Then today, I know for a fact that I had 4 WCMs left. This afternoon I just checked my tank and now I only have three!! There is no trace of this third lost fish.

So, I've made the (somewhat sad) decision to get rid of both my loaches, and I will be returning them to the aquarium in the next few weeks. :( I will probably move my male Betta into the bigger tank with my minnows. Does that sound like a good idea?

As much as I love my loaches, and as sad as it is, I think it's only fair on them that I return them (hoping they will go to a lovely home, but there's no way to know).

My two loaches, Henry (greedy one, in the background) and Eugene:
loach_pair.png


Eugene:
yoyo.jpg


If loaches were fine being by themselves I'd be more than happy to just keep Eugene. He's such a lovely loach and has a great temperament. Henry is always 'causing trouble' and loves to chase Eugene all around the tank.
 
Those are very beautiful loaches. I'd like to have yoyos, too, but I don't have any aquarium that's big enough.
 
Thank you! :) I have a suspicion that Henry (being as greedy as he is) is stealing food from the white cloud minnows. He swims all the way to the top of the tank to grab as much food as he can, and pushes my other loach out of the way if he spots it with food. He also accidently nips at the minnow's tails when I'm feeding my fish.
 
Well, tomorrow is officially the day that my loaches will be going back to the aquarium! :( I still think it's a good idea to take them back, but it's been a hard decision to make.
 
yes, probably a good idea.

maybe it would be possible to place an ad and definitely find a good home for them that way? not to dissuade you from your plan, but if that is a major concern then selling them yourself and getting to know potential buyers is a way to get them a better home, although it will take more time.
 
That's a good idea but I don't know if anyone would really take up two Yoyo Loaches when you can just get them for $15 from the aquarium. As much as that would be the ideal thing to do, it just isn't practical for me, I work long hours and am too busy on the weekend. I guess there's no way to be 100% sure if they are going to a good home or not.
 
What is the min. for Yoyos, like, what 55 gallons? I'm just wondering for my tank.
 
Yo-yo loaches are one of the smaller species and so they can be kept in a relatively small tank. They are only going to reach 5 inches or so in length so you could keep one in a 10 gallon tank theoretically. However, they are two totally different fish when kept alone and when kept in groups of three to five. The group situation is going to be a much better way to go.

It is weird to hear that your loaches go to the top of the water to eat as this is usually a sign of not having food at the bottom of the tank. However, I doubt that they would kill one of your WCMs but it may have eaten from the body after it died (sorry to bring that up for you again). I would think about trading them back or try getting at least one more. I would also feed them some thawed out frozen blood worms and make sure a bunch hit the substrate for them. In general, they are micro-eaters and so they need little meals a few times a day rather than just one big serving.
 
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