Very Fat Yoyo Loach

[puppylov14]

This is my first time posting on a fish forum so I hope I get the lingo right:

Yo-Yo Loach, Botia almorhae
The tank has been set up for a year and a half
25Gal
Internal filter
79ºF
1/4 water change about every two weeks
Nothing and no one new to our tank

We have two yoyo's in the tank. We have had them since they were very very small no bigger than an inch. They have grown to be about 2.5-3 inches long. Both are looking very happy and healthy, however the one we always suspected to be the female has started to get rather plump. I cant say for sure how long she has been getting fat but is has been only recently that she has gotten large enough for me to be concerned. The other loach looks like he goes to the gym twice a day (not fat at all).

She looks just like the loach in this old post except wider!
http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=5206

From what I have been reading on old posts she could be full of eggs or just fat from eating to much. Either way I would like some tips on feeding: to either help her get the nutrition she needs or cut back of her feeding with out starving the other fish in the tank.
Also if she is full of eggs how long will she carry them? She looks a little awkward when swimming but still behaving as she always has. If any one has experience with an egg stuffed yoyo I would love to hear your experience.

Thanks

[Diana]

Behaving about the same, just getting fatter does sound like a gravid fish: she is growing some eggs.
Most of the time a female fish needs a male's attention to lay the eggs. If the other fish is an interested male, then they might mate and this is how she will get rid of the eggs. Most fish will not get rid of the eggs without a male.
She might reabsorb them (good) or not. If she does not lay the eggs or reabsorb them she can get sick.
I do not know of any way to get a fish to lay the eggs.

In case it is constipation, try feeding foods with more roughage such as cooked peas or daphnia. You can also add some Epsom salt to the water to see if this helps.

[puppylov14]

I'm sad to hear that she might get sick BUT we do have a male in the tank and he seems to be very interested in her. Just last night they both were blushing a little (pink barbs). If it is constipation is there any kind of live food I should be avoiding? I usually feed them blood worms and brine shrimp.

Thanks for the help

P.S. do you know a good website that has information of loach breeding, like where they like to lay their eggs?

[Diana]

Loach breeding in general is rather new, people have been trying, but the fish have not been cooperating,. Seems some species need some sort of hormone injection.

Diet to prevent constipation:
A varied diet including vegetables, and an assortment of protein sources. My understanding is that blood worms tend to be high in fat, so if there is a weight problem or constipation I would avoid them, perhaps only feed half as many or less. Great conditioning food to get the fish physically ready to mate, seems to have done the job here!

Here are some of the foods I feed my fish:
Just about all the vegies we eat. Cooked just enough to be tender, not over cooked to fall apart in the tank.
Live garden snails. Other live food in season: Aphids, Earthworms, Mosquito larvae. I also harvest pond snails from the other tanks and drop them into tanks with Loaches.
Flake, pellet and wafer foods from Almost Natural Tropical Fish Food. Main ingredients are human grade of fish and shellfish, several sorts of algae, and some foods have earthworms, vegetables, shrimp or other things. Some are higher in the plant based foods.
Freeze dried foods including Bloodworms, Brine Shrimp and Daphnia
Frozen foods in those little cube packs: just about everything they sell, but my fish do not seem to go for Krill. Bloodworms, Brine Shrimp, Glassworms (Mosquito larvae), Daphnia, Tubifex worms, Emerald Entre...
I make my own frozen food according to the recipe here at Loaches.

By rotating through all these things, plus a fast day once a week, the fish do not eat any one thing more than a couple of times a week.

[Crissyloach]

How big are the loaches? If they are big- 6+ inches, then she is most likely gravid. If not, then she is probbably fat (like mine), or constipated. I ran into the same thing with my zebras, and it turns out, that she was just better fed than the male. Sadly, she died recently due to ick, and the male doesn't have a friend anymore. Now, HE is getting fat like she was. \
\
What kind of bloodworms are you feeding? If it is freeze dried there is a chance that she is bloated. Do you have any pictures of her?

[Crissyloach]

How is she? Any better?