Where are my loaches???

[Hholly]

So I have had these 3 yoyos in my 45gal. community for a while now. They have been healthy and active. I added a zebra loach about a week ago. He was alone at the LFS. It seemed like they we all getting along. But yesterday I noticed I hadn't seen the zebra all day. I did a pwc last night and all the loaches hid, probably in my big fake rock that has hollow areas in it. This morning, I saw all the yoyos, but still no zebra. This evening after work I don't see any of them, all evening. Now, still don't see any of them. Do you all think they may have killed the zebra and are in the rock gorging themselves on it? That's the only thing I can think of. Everyone else in the tank is business as usual.

 

[bs6749]

They are excellent hiders. My guess is that it is somewhere in your tank

 

[Hholly]

They are excellent hiders. My guess is that it is somewhere in your tank

But do you think it's likely they have killed the zebra? I havent seen any of them all evening. Usually they are out and about.

 

[Cichlid Kid]

Were the 3 yoyo's the only inhabitants?

 

[Hholly]

Were the 3 yoyo's the only inhabitants?

No, it's a community tank with rainbows, white clouds, a pearl gourami, and a Betta.

 

[bs6749]

I doubt that the yo-yo's killed the other loach.

 

[Hholly]

They have to be in the fake rock. But wow, they've been in there a long time. I hope they didn't kill the zebra. He was so cool.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Can you remove the rock and have a look?

 

[Hholly]

Can you remove the rock and have a look?

If I take it out, it will drain the water inside it and they will be in there without water. And you can't see much down in the holes. Very dark in there. I need to take the thing out when they are all out and visible. They love that rock but it drives me crazy.

 

[Cynic]

If I take it out, it will drain the water inside it and they will be in there without water. And you can't see much down in the holes. Very dark in there. I need to take the thing out when they are all out and visible. They love that rock but it drives me crazy.

Be very careful with that! I had a castle ornament in with my Clown Loaches and every time I had to remove the castle they would hide in the nooks and rudely drop out onto the floor whenever I moved it off the tank.

Drove me insane as no matter how long I held and gently shook the castle above the aquarium the second it went over the towl *Flop flop flop*

 

[Hholly]

Yeah. I have no doubt that the second I try to grab it out they will all rush inside it. And the thing is huge. Not easy to quickly remove. :/

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Take the whole rock and put it in/over a bucket of tank water. If they come out they will (hopefully) drop in the bucket.

 

[Hholly]

Take the whole rock and put it in/over a bucket of tank water. If they come out they will (hopefully) drop in the bucket.

Brilliant idea! I'll do that in the morning if they are still MIA.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Let us know how it goes!

 

[Hholly]

So this morning, all the Yoyos were out grazing as usual. The zebra was hanging in a plant totally dead. But the body hadn't been chewed on. It was totally limp, hanging there like they had placed it there, about 15 inches up on this fake plant. So weird.i wish I had had a night vision camera to see how that happened.

 

[LyndaB]

Sorry you lost him. I wouldn't blame the yoyos though. They're not exactly a violent species.

 

[Hholly]

It's just odd though. The body was so dead, it's like it had been placed there. Not like it died there in the plant. I wonder if he died in the rock and they brought him outside.

 

[LyndaB]

Like a little New Orleans loach funeral procession? Hmmmmmmm..... nope, don't think so. Since he's new, he was probably mostly nocturnal and was resting on the plant when he died.

 

[Hholly]

Like a little New Orleans funeral procession?

Lol, yes exactly. it's just so weird. He looked so healthy before disappeared.

 

[LyndaB]

Over the years, that's happened to us many times. Sometimes there's just no rhyme or reason for why they die. Nothing we can figure out anyway.