My Yoyo 3 Loach

[Satsumas]

This is a fairly long thread please do read though. (Questions at the bottom)

I have had 2 yoyo's for about a year now and at first they were really active but after a fairly short period of time they decided to get lazy.

Ever since they have both found an area to just lay there all day.
To try and get them out a bit more i bought another yoyo, they are a bit more active when they see the new (tiny in compoarison) my biggest one chases it away but the one in between seems to want to follow it in a non-aggressive way.
I think the new yoyo is slightly wary and cautious of the biggest one. (to be fair he is a monster in comparioson) Because of this i think he is more scared when the other one follows and swims with him.

Also in the rare occasion when one of my bigger 2 are out they are really timid and tend to dart for cover if there is a quick movement outside of the tank. When i see either of the bigger 2 out i approach slowly and sometimes they dont notice or dont mind but then within seconds of me watching them they dart for cover anyway.

I know it is a loach characteristic but i have seen big clown's swimming all over tanks in a shoal. Is there any food that they relish besides snails? I dont really want to use food to get them out but i suppose i could use the method of 'taking away' (i'll use snails as an example) 5 snails one day, 3 the next etc.. would this make them more acitve? I have brine shrimp, bloodworms and white mosquito larvae which they like but danios and neons spot it on the bottom and eat them all.

Does anyone know if i can do anything to make them more active as a 3?
I cant see my biggest one being friendly tbh he's really territorial. My middle one is friendly toward the younger one but they are both timid about the big one.

Thanks for reading.

[Devilishturtles]

As with all loaches, they can be nocturnal (although I have heard recently that alot of yoyo's are not). Therefore, it's not unlikely for you to not see them during the day, or when you do see them, having them be so lazy. They just don't want to be out during the day.

My clown loaches come out every once in a while during the day, but only to make a lap around the tank, then go back "home" until lights out.

Try observing them during the night, after you have turned the lights out. Get a flashlight and shine in the tank, or turn a room light on enough to see in the tank. See if they are keeping together in a different light environment.

As far as anything else you can do to help them get along, I'm not sure.

[Zagz]

My yoyo's are fairly active but they do hide a lot throughout the day. You could also try turning off the lights in the daytime and allow the natural lighting in the room to be the only lighting and see if they are more active. My clowns are weird apparantly they are always out and about.

[Johnmc]

How big is your tank? Yoyos (and loaches in general) like their space. I had 4 active, shoaling baby yoyos which became lethargic as they outgrew their 20g tank. When I moved them into a 46g tank they instantly became ‘activated’ again, though they don’t school together like they used to.

[anythingscales]

You can add schooling fish to make them feel assure of themselves. When they see the schooling fish swim around, they know there are no predators nearby.