Loaches Online Forum

We just added a 3rd yo-yo loach to our 10 gallon tank. We had 2 for a couple months already and the bigger of the pair became real shy and scared acting and grumpy and hides in a seashell most of the time ghosted out but still bigger and for a time was bruised looking in coloration like a week but back to more normal if not ghosted. Since the smaller loach is more social we got him a new friend and the 2 have fun together but the grumpy one is still grumpy and territorial of his shell. Wondering if the grumpy one could be sick or just not social.

Loaches require some time to adjust in a new tank, the time depends on the species, size, surroundings and the individual.

With yoyo's, very young animals (1") seem to adjust nearly instantly, but a 2"-3" animal may take a couple of weeks. It would be clearer if you mention the size/age of the three yoyo's you have and what else is in your tank.

Now, keeping yoyo's in a 10g tank for long is really not a good idea. This seems to stunt their growth, and they may not be able to resume it later in a larger tank. I've seen yoyo's remaining at 1"-1.5" after months in a 10g or 15g tanks. I might have stunted my own yoyo's too: I kept them in only a 29g for a few months, and now, in a large tank, they seem to have a real problem growing beyond about 4".

You do need at least a 30g tank for small young yoyo's, a 55g will be much better.

Mikev is right about the yoyos needing a larger tank. I had mine in a ten until I new better. Now he is in a twenty, but soon to be moved to a fifty-five.
Also you should not have gotten a new yoyo until you were positive the larger one was not ill. You should quarantine all new fish for a couple weeks before adding to established tanks anyway.

I think if you increase hiding places inthe tank the "grumpy" one will feel more safe and come out more. The more spots loaches can hide = the better chance you will see them come out... it's funny how it works that way!

yep, i had two yoyos in my 10g for about 2 years, they grew to about 1.5" in a few months then stopped..

they both unfortunately died a few months ago, but i will get more for my 70g (the big tank wasnt ready when i still had the yoyos)

yoyos can reach 6" when living in a properly sized tank (4' or more for adults), fed properly and given lots of water changes (all loaches love clean water)

-brett.

AK yo-yos, you have to plan now for getting a substantially bigger tank if you want to keep these fish for very long.