yo yo loach nipping?

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Nikki B

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May 26, 2006, 11:42:42 PM5/26/06
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I have never seen the clowns do this but tonight i was feeding these
guys and noticed the yo yo loaches were (what looked like) pulling them
selves up with the gourami's & angel whiskers, did not seem to be
nipping would grab on it then let go while coming up to get food..
seems kind of strange, so thought i would ask.
Nik

Gill Passman

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May 27, 2006, 6:33:16 AM5/27/06
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I sometimes see my Yoyos trying to nip at the other fish - one had it in for
a Red Rainbow for a while and then stopped again. I always suspected that I
lost a Mollie down to an eye injury from a YoYo nip...

When they swim with the Gouramis it sometimes looks like they are trying to
hitch a ride on their backs...

Gill


anglerfishuk

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May 27, 2006, 8:25:23 AM5/27/06
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Hmmmmmmmmmmm yo yo loaches ??? i know that Chinese/Indian Algae
eaters are notorius for attaching them selves to fish like Discus,
Angelfish , & Gourami something to do with the body secretion they
produce , they have been known to cause fish loss due to this action
because it allows bacterial or fungal infection to set in if they
create a wound

Nikki B

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May 27, 2006, 9:52:16 AM5/27/06
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Yeah has to do with their slime coat. My clowns loaches dont do it but
these yo yo's I dont know, I would guess it looks like like they are
hitching a ride..the are only grabbing on their whiskers. Mostly of the
gourami and angel, more worried about angel then gourami, it did not
seem to bother him one way or another. koi angel is the smallest of the
angels.
Nik

Gill Passman

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May 27, 2006, 10:05:26 AM5/27/06
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I actually haven't seen the YoYos sucking on slime coat of the other
fish....nor have I seen any sign of any injuries suggesting that this is
happening. I wonder if it is part of their playfulness?
Gill

Nikki B

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May 27, 2006, 10:24:52 AM5/27/06
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Oh i was replying to the thing with the algee eaters posted above about
the slime coat.
I dont think that is what the yo yo's are doing, they are not touching
the body just the whiskers, catching a ride i guess
they are playing i am sure.
Nik

anglerfishuk

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May 27, 2006, 12:28:30 PM5/27/06
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I just looked up Yo Yo loach cos i wasnt sure of it lol now if you
had said Reticulated Loach or Pakistani Loach i would of clicked
lol , shouldnt think you got any probs with them they almost
certainly try to hitch-hike lol .
Having seen one now guess i gonna have to get me one or a few as
they are shoalers, Hmmmm got a 4ft tank sitting empty guess will have
to fill it up with a few fish lol .
LFS here i come

Gill Passman

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May 27, 2006, 1:03:23 PM5/27/06
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Yep, they are called Pakistani Loaches in the UK (Botia Lohachata just
renamed to Botia almorhae). I prefer the name YoYo loach although some staff
in the LFS look a bit blank if you use that name. The name YoYo loach comes
from the fact that their markings spell out "YoYo".

I've very rarely seen any of a reasonable size, but snapped them up when I
did. However, they do actually grow very quickly with the right conditions.
A lot of the YoYos that I see on sale locally are very small though - try
and go for the largest that you can - I've found the smaller ones are not as
robust as I would hope.

I have YoYos in three tanks. 2 full grown ones in a 30 gall - one was full
grown when I bought him and the other was diddy but grew rapidly - can't
tell them apart on size now. I have another 2 in a 4 foot tank - they were
around 1" long when I bought them around 2 months ago - now almost 3" long.
I then have 4 of them in my 6 foot tank - but that was by accident....one
hitched a ride in with some plants (so pleased I didn't bleach them before
putting them in the tank) and even after all the neglect and lack of water
in the plant bag he is thriving...I then had to go out and buy him another 3
friends - all doing well although I'm not always sure that the Clown Loaches
really approve of them.

They will eat snails but not with the enthusiasm of the Clown Loaches. They
certainly have character. The pair in the 4 foot tank are no respecter of
any other fishes space....they seem to have decided that the Queen Arabesque
Pl*co is one of them (same colours) and invade his hollow mercilessly....

If you do go out and buy some - enjoy....

Gill

Altum

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May 27, 2006, 1:54:59 PM5/27/06
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I've seen this happen. I always figured the loaches were "tasting" the
long, thin whiskers with ther barbels to see whether they were worms.

--Altum

Nikki B

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May 27, 2006, 2:02:58 PM5/27/06
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could be huh, I'm not to worried about it as they did not touch the
other fish's body, just whiskers.
Gill, i know what you meant about them not being respectful of ther
other fish, between the clowns and the yo yo's my pl*co is looking for
a new hide out, he may need to go to a new tank, he does not like them
one bit.
Nik

NetMax

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May 27, 2006, 4:42:39 PM5/27/06
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Loaches are not (imo) the sweathearts they sometimes appear to be.
Yoyos can be quite disruptive, and the worst is the red-tail botia.
Clowns are actually the best behaved - relative to their size.

NetMax

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