accomodating a pair of 1" yoyo loaches <3

[my_betta_dances]

someone gave them to me as a surprise! but the 2 little things tried to dig into my gravel. i'm replacing a strip of my gravel with roughly an inch and a half of sand, but don't want to change the rest yet.

my question is: is it okay to use sand from outside? my yard is about half sand half dirt. i've cleaned the sand, rinsing and straining until the water comes out clear and getting rid of rocks/leaves. could they use it and be comfortable?

 

[Shane Reynolds]

I wouldn't chance it. You never know what could have gotten on your sand (pesticides, gasoline, even e coli). You can pick up some playground sand at Home Depot pretty cheap. They will be fine with most any substrate that doesn't have pointy edges. They're usually pretty hardy and not too picky about conditions as long as your water is well-filtered. They will come to the top to feed (they're too impatient to wait for anything to sink) and they will "smack." Sometimes they will do it to remind you that they're hungry. My wife likes to ask, "Will you please ask your fish to be quiet?"

 

[dbcb314]

sand is too cheap to take the chance IMO

 

[my_betta_dances]

no chems have been used in the yard. my stepmom's too poor =P and the previous owner had actually had the entire yard covered in wood before. it got torn down when Josie moved here. you guys sure it's not safe?

 

[H3D]

Why change the substrate? Yoyo loaches will not be able to live in a 20 gallon for very long. It might be wise to just wait until you get a new tank up and running for them and then use sand as the substrate.

 

[my_betta_dances]

i thought yoyo loaches get to be about 4 inches long?? they should be fine in my tank..?

 

[dbcb314]

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-almorhae


That says 6 inches, and that place is one of the most reliable for loach information.

I had one that was about 5 inches and fat as hell.

"Technically" you should get at least 5... when I had them I only had 2 and they were still fine, came out all the time, ect. But... "technically" they are schooling fish

 

[H3D]

i thought yoyo loaches get to be about 4 inches long?? they should be fine in my tank..?

Even if they only reached 4 inches a 20 gallon is not big enough for them.

 

[quadpants]

They need lots of room to play, they are very active fish. Mine went from 2 inches to 4+ within 6 months too. I would say a 20 gallon won't fit them for long at all.

 

[my_betta_dances]

then it's a good thing i'm giving the 20g to my stepbro before too long and getting a 45g =D then i can get another pair of loaches to go with these, no?

Sensei just came out of the pagoda to eat. those two little weirdos sleep in there. i wish they stayed this small, because they're so cute!