Yoyo loach tank questions

[meckle]

I have a 40 gallon tank with not a lot of fish in it and I was wondering what my stocking options could look like.
I have 1 pleco, 4 yoyo loaches, and 4 black skirt tetras in the tank right now but I wanted to know how many more yoyo's can I add without overstocking it. The yoyo's are my favorite in there and I know they prefer bigger schools than the 4 I have now.

[bookpage]

Welcome to the forum. Glad that you joined.

This page may help with some of your questions. http://www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-almorhae

Yoyos get pretty big and you should be thinking about getting them a bigger tank in a year or so.

[meckle]

I do plan on getting a new tank some time next year but since my loaches are slow growers I'm not as rushed. Any idea on how many could comfortably go in the tank I have now? The link described the fish and what it likes but not much on stocking.

[Diana]

Yoyos can grow really fast when they are cared for properly. Unfortunately for me mine decided that Neon Tetras were a perfectly balanced diet. I think they doubled in size!
If the Yoyos are under 3" long, then half a dozen or more is not a problem, but they will need a larger tank as they pass 3" long. So plan on what size tank you can handle, and base the population on that. Remember that tank mates need to be large enough not to fit in their mouths, so lets say you want half a dozen Yoyos, a school of 12 Congo Tetras, or similar sized fish, a Pleco (not a common, they get too big) and maybe an upper level fish like a Moonlight or Pearl Gourami.
I would start thinking along the lines of 75 gallon minimum. 4' long.

[meckle]

I keep my tank clean and check the water every other day and it's always been perfect or really close to and and I feed them shrimp pellets and brine shrimp/bloodworm cubes and they still grow kinda slow. I must have gotten the special bunch or something. Your reply also made me realize where my platty went when I went out of town for the weekend. Guess it looked like a tastey snack or something. I plan on going bigger than 75g because I want to get clown loaches as well as these guys and some other freshwater friendly fish. So then adding 2 more shouldn't send things into utter chaos then if I do get them is what you're saying?