Loaches Online Forum

I was in my local branch of a large national, domestic pet retailer at the weekend and noticed in their clown loach tank they have a single 2.5"-3" Botia Almorhae. Would it be OK to put him in with my 3 4-5" clowns in a 160L tank, or should I leave him for someone who already has an established group of YoYos?

I have never seen YoYos in this shop before, and it took great willpower on my behalf, and sleeve tugging from Mrs Jay for me to walk away empty-handed.

Thoughts and Advice Pls.

TC

go get it TC, almorhae are a softy,
does it have the yoyo pattern or the vermiculated bud?

mick

mickthefish wrote:does it have the yoyo pattern or the vermiculated bud?

Thanks,

It has the typical YoYo markings just like the photos in the species index on the LOL site.

Think I'll swing by tomorrow and check if he's still there.

TC

Having kept both species together in the past (and subsequently separating them) I would say give it a miss. This Yo-yo may be small at the moment, but as it matures, it's feistyness (sp?) will heighten and as a lone specimen could cause problems. Yo-yo's are not majorly aggressive, but do have a bit of attitude, and I found that a group of them did unsettle/upset my clowns - hence I separated them. If you're after another species to mix with the clowns, I'd suggest Botia histrionica.

Sorry to confuse things, but that was my experience.

Emma

botia striata get along really well with clowns. even when they outnumber them!

I'm experiencing a lot of inter-species shoaling between my kubotai and yoyo loaches. My yoyos are older in terms of maturity but the kubs are catching up. Everyone is happy.

Think I'll give it a miss, after more thought. Had another look this evening and the Clowns in the tank with the YoYo are very skinny and suffering from whitespot.

I know they are underweight after being imported and the ich can be treated, but I don't have a separate Q tank at the moment and don't want to take the chance.

The shop had it labelled up as a Tiger Loach, and were asking just shy of 15 quid (~30 USD) for it. This seemed a bit steep to me, or has it been so long since I bought a new fish that I'm out of touch with reality?

@Emma - Your Experience = Years of accumulated professional knowledge and I thank you for it.

TC

Thanks TC, but it is only what I experienced. It may not be the same for everyone else. To me, Yo-yo's have always ranked a little higher than some of the other Botiid species for feistyness, but obviously not up in the realms of the Tiger Loaches - just somewhere in the middle. I think clowns are far more mild mannered (gentle giants) and don't appreciate constant agro.

£15 is very steep, unless it was an exceptional fully grown fully-reticulated adult. I don't like talking prices on here, but I think I can safely say that if you were after Yo-yo's at any point, you should be able to buy healthy 2" specimens for less than 1/3 of that price!

Emma

hi mate, i'll agree with emma theyre trying to rip someone of at that price, as emma has said we can only go by our own experience and ive never had a nasty almorhae, but that is what ive seen.
after what you've just said leave well alone bud.

mick

Regarding YoYo's and their potential fiestiness.
I specifically noted the use of In My Experience. However given this potential attitude what would be an ideal Botia companion for YoYo's?

I currently have 8 clowns, 5 yoyos, 5 marbled and a zebra loach together without any problems. They have been in the same 110g tank for about 6 months now. Another year and they will move into a 265g and more of each kind will be added.

Botia Robert wrote:Regarding YoYo's and their potential fiestiness.
I specifically noted the use of In My Experience. However given this potential attitude what would be an ideal Botia companion for YoYo's?

I would say 'lots more Yo-yos'. If you were after another species, they do seem to co-exist well with Botia kubotai.

Emma

Emma Turner wrote

I would say 'lots more Yo-yos'. If you were after another species, they do seem to co-exist well with Botia kubotai.

This is fine by me since these are two of my favorite loaches. However Kubotai are only sometimes available here. It would also be convieniant to keep just YoYos in lui of Kubotai since they are cheap here. However here is my confusion.

Mark in Vancouver wrote

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 1:30 pm

B. almorhae are relatively peaceful compared to Y. morleti - so that's the first consideration based on these options. Y. morleti can be quite aggressive and difficult - not just with other fish, but with each other. If you have the option, I would recommend going with a good sized group of any of the other true Botia species: dario, histrionica, striata, kubotai... These would all mix relatively well with B. almorhae.

Now, having said that, there seems to be some evidence that B. almorhae in a large group can be quite aggressive, too. Personally, I would opt for a good mix of peaceful fish in small groups of 5 to 8.

I know from reading posts here that the fundamental rule of such forums is "In my Experience.., Individual results may vary..," etc.

Does anyone else know about this behaviour of increasing aggression levels in large groups of YoYos?

Not to add more confusion to the mix, but I kept a small group of yoyos with modestas and they were equally fiesty. Maybe they were simply upping the aggression level to co-exist, but they certainly managed to hold their own with the modestas, no problem.

In a larger group? Dunno. Could go either way depending on multiple factors like territory space, tankmates, water parameters and individual fish personalities.

yeah. I'm sure that helped.

Hi Robert,
The "Aquariumwarehouse' in Southport had Kub's about 1 month ago for $25. They have a shop in Underwood ph-0732085537 and Southport ph-0755915162. I got 5 in February at $40 each they were around 3cm and rather skinny but responded quickly to good feeding and doubled this size in 3 months and were looking strong and healthy. I returned to the shop in August and got 5 Yo Yo's for $2 each and they still had the same Kub's for sale reduced to $25 but what amazed me was they were still 3cm ??? - it was like they had held them at this size by minimal feeding. The YoYo's I got have grown from 25mm to 60mm in less than 3 months. They are absolute pigs at dinner time and seem to outeat(and poo) the Kubs 5 to 1.
The 2 larger Kubs (possibly female) have the occasional "Alpha fight" that does get quite intense at times. One morning they were having one of these were they were spinning head to tail fast then would sit side by side on a large rock and try and "bump" the other off, then the alpha YoYo came up and sat between them and stopped the fight.
My 2 larger YoYo's have more fights but they are less intense as the alpha always start them but the other would rather flee and only stands and fights when cornered. The alpha YoYo does dominate the Kubs a bit by chasing them occasionally but they just flee. There does not seem to be any damage in these tussles but they do "grey-out" quite a bit.
There seems to be more fights and aggression early in the morning before they get fed and I dont see any after they are fed and the occasional one at dusk .
I am setting up a 5x2x2 to put them in which I think will lower the aggression some. More space = less aggression
Cheers Graeme.