Yo-Yo question

[fish_frenzy]

Has anyone observed Yo-Yo breeding behavior? I have 5 yo-yos, all around 5-6". Out of the 5, three are females. All three are gravid but the alpha is HUGE! It is her I am concerned about.

I have noticed her chasing the younger of the males. Completely ignores the alpha male. When the alpha has chased all others away (pretty roughly for a yo-yo), he and the female will race the length of the tank on their sides bumping their bellies together, nearing the end of the tank, the alpha actually tries to pin her on her back.

What is worrying me is she seems worn out....breathing fast, trying to evade all other yo-yos (they are the only loaches in this tank).

Should I move her to a dark, quiet tank ?or both of them?

I know she has spawned before in this tank, but more occupants now than last time.

Advice please .

Tammy

[fish_frenzy]

Nobody has any ideas? I really need some input please. Where are all you loach experts? I ordered the loach book too, it should be here in a day or two. Can't wait!

Tammy

[mickthefish]

i think everyones having a good think about this one Tammy,
if there's plenty of hiding places in the tank i'd leave her in with her mates.
as nobody has seen almorhae spawn it's hard to say wether what you saw was a spawning ritual, it could be? but the pinning down sounds like a dominance/fight pose to me.

mick

[fish_frenzy]

The part that worries me most is she seems to be breathing too fast and her vent is looking like she is ready to release her eggs...but she is rejecting the alpha male and seems to want the sub dominant male.

They all sleep in one cave and though I have added extra caves, they have no interest in them. I will try to get a pic of her but they hate the limelight! lol. I have 3 pregnant females in this tank, though the other 2 aren't near as big as my alpha female.

Tammy

[starsplitter7]

Is there any chance you could move this super pregnant girl and her non- Alpha boy to a separate tank? At least remove her from the Alpha male. Maybe if the other male isn't intimated by the Alpha male, they can work something out together.

[palaeodave]

I know she has spawned before in this tank, but more occupants now than last time.

She did? What happened? And what size is the tank?

[fish_frenzy]

The tank is a 75G. Temp is 78F. At the time of last spawn, there were 4 yo-yos, 1 bristlenose pleco, 4 Angels, and 1 Flying fox, 4 Otos. I recently added the 5th yo-yo and a few stray praecox rainbows and 3 rescued bala sharks. The BN pleco is removed now. I do a 50% WC 2-3 times a week. I have 2 Aquaclear 110 for filtration.

There is a large slate level decoration that all the yo-yos sleep under, but when I saw her getting larger and larger, I added 2 caves, 1 was a half coconut shell with a hole drilled and the other was a half flower clay type pot covered with sand to look more natural. And a big piece of driftwood with a hollowed out area.

I know she hung out at the clay pot for a day or two and wouldn't let anyone near it but I didn't want to move it or muck around in case she had eggs. After 2 days, she left the pot and never went back, but she had to have spawned because she was MUCH thinner...her belly almost looked saggy. That was approx 3-4 months ago.

Now she is HUGE again and I never observed this behavior that is going on this time.

I am actually in the process of emptying the occupants of a 25G tank to put her in, then I think I will wait a day or two and add the younger male, though he shows no interest in her, she pursues him around the tank.

Tammy