Loaches Online Forum

I used to have yo-yos a long time ago. They were so much fun, full of character, even moreso than the clowns at that time. Great pics of yours.

The Clowns have been pretty shy up until now. Since I added the Yoyo's all the fish have been more active. Thank you

Strength--and comfort--in numbers. Glad you're enjoying your fish and that's some great art you posted too. Such talent!

How cute he looks peeking out of the cave-- "coast is clear!"

My favorite yoyo story happened when I had to remove one of my caves because the clowns used to burrow under them and I used to go crazy trying to find them. It took me a long while to figure out where the hell the clown(s) were hiding. After I figured it out I wanted to plug the hole with filter foam because as they got bigger I didn't want any bodies to get stuck there.

As I shook and swirled the cave decoration before removing it from the water to be sure no clowns were stowing away (and after I completed my clown head count), I pulled the piece out, set it on the kitchen counter, and decided to do a good gravel cleaning where the cave was. About 20 minutes later I'm moving stuff around the counter, and my eye catches in the hole underneath the cave, that I also had a paper towel thrown on, the FACE of a yoyo! YES!, the little devil must've swam in as i was removing the cave, or maybe he was already there when I shook and swirled the cave, but whatever happened, there he was in a small pocket of water that had cooled now. OMG! I actually don't remember exactly what I did to get him back in the tank (I probably block it out because fish out of water do scare me). But long story short, he was just fine.

So when I saw your newest pic, that's what I thought of.

Awwwww. Yea ill be getting bigger pieces of wood for them to hide in once they out grow these. The guy at the fish store had to shake the one loose from on of the decorations in the tank. I'm so scared to have to move any of the wood for fear of smushing one that swims back under.

I'm glad your guy was ok.

Thank you, yes, he was just fine. It was amazing really.

I move my wood and decorations relatively often, because I have found fish stuck. Two raphael catfish and a yoyo. The yoyo was in the hole drilled into the coconut hut. I have no idea how, because he was twice as wide as the hole. Several hours of cutting later, and I finally got each of them out. (Pictures are on threads here.) Luckily happened at different times. I also vacuum under all my decorations to make I don't ge pockets of yuck. I have had a twig catfish and a bumblebee catfish out of water 2 hours while cleaning the tank (at different times), and both survived. Thank goodness.

After that yoyo episode I got that decoration outta there.

Wow, you certainly have had your share of near death experiences. LOL Well thank God all were happy endings. You were brave cutting wood to save your fish. I'm not sure what I would do in that instance because it's true that I really do fear fish out of water. Crazy it is especially having fish for most of my life.

I couldn't bear to see them suffer. None of my fish have ever hurt me. I held the decoration underwater, cut with wire cutters, back under the water, more cutting. To get the raphael out of the drift wood took 6 hours. Then four months in the Q tank to regrow her fins that were damaged. I picked her up almost daily to look at her (I clamped her pectorals next to her sides with my thumb and forefinger -- safer than a net where they get stuck). Now she doesn't even twitch when I pick her up.

The raphaels could hurt if they clamped your fingers with their fins, and I got stuck by an injured yoyo once, but nothing serious. My tiretrack eel is big enough to give a serious bite, but it doesn't occur to her. I guess I know the danger each one possess, and I just take steps to make sure they don't accidently hurt me and I try never to hurt them.

I am a relatively new fish keeper (five years), and unfortunately, my fish and I learn from my mistakes. I am also not scared of much. I caught fish and crawdads by hand as a kid, and I still shoo snakes off the road including venomous ones. Two weeks ago I picked up an alligator snapping turtle to take her off the road. She could have seriously hurt me.

And Tay, forgive me for going off topic with your thread. I love your yoyos! Tanja