Yoyo Loach aka Botia almorhae

[mitche8359]

I'm looking at getting some yoyo loaches for snail control. Any cons with these guys? I have never kept them but they have been suggested for reducing snail population. The few articles I've read have not mentioned anything about snail control.

I thought I knew what a loach was as I thought I had a clown loach at one time. Not sure what I had. The 'loach' had orange and black in it but resembled a worm or eel. Anyone have a clue as to what it is I'm describing? When I saw the picture of the yoyo loach I looked up a picture of a clown loach and realized that I had no clue as to what a loach was let alone what I used to have.

 

[Menagerie]

The 'loach' had orange and black in it but resembled a worm or eel.

Khuli loach--my favorite!

I have three yo-yo loaches and they are a blast to watch. I don't have any snails in that tank, but if you look at their mouth structure, you can see that they are good at getting into tight places.

 

[mitche8359]

The 'loach' had orange and black in it but resembled a worm or eel.

Khuli loach--my favorite!

I have three yo-yo loaches and they are a blast to watch. I don't have any snails in that tank, but if you look at their mouth structure, you can see that they are good at getting into tight places.

Yep that's them! Thanks! Makes me feel like I'm not losing my mind. Now where did I put my brain...

I'll send you some snails which you can add to your tank and you can tell me if the yoyos keep em under control. How's that?

 

[Menagerie]

I'll send you some snails which you can add to your tank and you can tell me if the yoyos keep em under control. How's that?

Do you know what kind of snails you have?

 

[mitche8359]

Two kinds... mts and another kind.

I think the football shaped one. Mostly MTSs.. hundreds. thousands.. millions. when I clean the canister, there's hundreds of babies.

 

[Menagerie]

Some people say that no fish likes the taste of mts, or can't get through the shell. I would like to hear other peoples stories about mts and loaches. I know the loaches can eat the young ones and the Mbuna have decimated the mts population in their tank! I was trying to keep the mts to aerate the substrate

 

[SerLunchbox]

my kuhli loaches have actually taken the population of my MTS down a lot ... given that Kuhli loaches (well mine at least) burrow into my sand and gravel substrate they find snacks all over the place. That and my striped raphael and spotted raphael catfish are now on the prowl every night. Those 2 catfish are able to eat the MTS at any given time! They are literally like jaws/sharks. the 2 of them circle around the spot where one is and then **WHACK** no more mts. The thing i like about mts is that they reproduce so fast! Though i think mine have been wiped out in the sand bed (i found some grey spots in the sand .... stirred them around for what i could see and all i saw coming from where the grey was was some gas of some sort)

ah well. Kuhli loaches (if you still have them) do best in groups of 6 for hunting and everything!

 

[Fruitbat]

Here's a link to a profile I wrote on the YoYo Loach for Aquarium Advice. It may answer some questions you have. Botia almorhae is a good choice for snail control...though I'm not sure how well they'll do with MTS.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=19557

-Joe

 

[mitche8359]

Well I think I'll try these guys. I noticed in your review that you aren't sure how well they work on MTS. I mostly have MTSs so I'll let you all know how they work out.

 

[Menagerie]

Well, let us know how they do. If they don't much down on the mts, at least you will have some fun fish!

 

[whitetiger_CJ]

The most effective snail control that I have found is the Oranda goldfish. I bought one for my pond, but I put it in my tank while I fixed a leak. I had a rather large mts problem, but the goldfish ate they faster that I could have imagined. in 2 weeks, it had irradicated all of my snails.

 

[mitche8359]

Well, let us know how they do. If they don't much down on the mts, at least you will have some fun fish!

I bought three yoyos Thursday evening. When we added the loaches, hundreds of snails were visible on the sides of the tank. We watched as the yoyos swam right by snails. Once in a great while, a loach would knock a snail off the glass. I kept telling the wife that they were just getting acclimated to the tank.

Friday when I got home from work my wife told me that she saw one of the loaches messing around with a snail and there were a lot less snails on the glass. I looked at the tank and saw maybe 20 snails. Yesterday I only saw two rather large snails and they were not MTSs.

I don't for a minute think that the loaches ate all the snails. I suspect that the snails found out that a predator was reintroduced into the environment and high tailed it to the substrate. In any case, the tank is getting back to normal.

 

[Menagerie]

I suspect that the snails found out that a predator was reintroduced into the environment and high tailed it to the substrate.

I don't think snails are that smart. Even if the yo-yos didn't eat the adults, I bet they did in the substrate and eat the young.

 

[mitche8359]

Well if the yoyos had eaten ALL the snails... they'd be the size of a pleco. Maybe they simply knocked a lot of them off when they tried to eat them.