loaches: yo-yo and polka -dots

[HeatherW]

So I am getting ready to place my order for loaches. i have a 90 gallon tank that I am stocking. going to have 2 german blue rams in there and some loaches. I was looking for around 5. can I mix the yo-yo and polka -dots? will they hang out together or is it better to keep them all the same?

 

[toddnbecka]

You need to keep all the same species. I'd go with the polka-dots, they're less troublesome to other fish than yoyo's.

 

[HeatherW]

You need to keep all the same species. I'd go with the polka-dots, they're less troublesome to other fish than yoyo's.

yay! thanks for getting back to me. that is what I decided to do. I went with 6. hope they will be happy.

how many do you think the bottom of my tank can hold? i have a 90 gallon with a pair of rams in there and the loaches (other fish up on top, but it is just the bottom that I need to be worried about with these guys right?)

 

[toddnbecka]

I have a group of 9 in my 125, a 90 should be fine for 6. I also have a fat Synodontis eupterus and a handful of BN pleco's in there, along with 4 severums, a couple of cutteri, 4 yellow Lab's, and schools of Colombian and white skirt tetras. Also a zebra knife fish that I haven't seen since it went into the tank, but I presume it's still alive in there somewhere.
The loaches mainly interact with their own species, and nothing else appears to bother them either. If you were going with less shy/mellow cichlids than Ram's I'd say toss in a group of Sid's too. They'd stir the polka-dots around a bit more, but would probably be too active for Ram's.

 

[HeatherW]

Yoyo or polka dot?

 

[toddnbecka]

Looks like polka dot to me, gotta be really little ones though.

 

[HeatherW]

thanks! they are pretty small! I only got 2 - they ran out so now I need to order more. thinking another 4-6 more.
theya re acting kinda crazy tho - up an down the sides over and over! hope they are going to be ok.
oh - and one jumped out of the bag when I was acclimating them! I about had a heart attack!!!

 

[HeatherW]

just had to update - I found 4 more at the LFS so I snatched them up. now I have 6 in the tank. I love these guys!! Let me tell you it really pays to know ALL the names of the fish you want - everyone calls them different things.
here is a pic of one of my little guys

 

[HeatherW]

so now I have a new question about feeding. I have 6 little polka dots in my 90 gallon. I got some little pellets to feed them too. I know they will eat the flakes and everything else I put in there as well.

do you feed the pellets to yours? how much? should I feed one pellet per loach or is that too much? it is the APi brand bottom feeder - premium shrimp pellets for bottom feeder. it is a sinking pellet and they are pretty small. should i feed them these every day or every other?

any input would be great!

 

[Koikid88]

2 GBR in a 90g!? They will look so small.
I personally love the look and behaviour of Yoyos. I have a dozen in my 90g. $3/1.99 for healthy little guys, why not.
The more you have, the more they play together and leave other fish alone. If you only have a few in a 90g, they will be 'bored' frequently if they can't see others of their own. This applies to a few types of loaches, I think polkadots too.

I know what you mean about the names, There's the scientific term, then all the common names. Some keep the actual name, others use the more customer friendly names like Rainbow shark or Yellow lab.

 

[manbeast]

my yoyo loach gets along fine with all my other fish including my striped/striated loaches, and as far as food they love algae wafers

 

[Koikid88]

Careful when feeding the loaches too.
Not sure with polkadots, but my yoyos don't know when to stop. They will eat until there is nothing left, even if their stomachs can't handle it. Better to underfeed with the sinking pellets, as they are usually worse then other foods for water pollution if left to decay.
I drop my pellets in the same rest stop area they all go to.

 

[HeatherW]

2 GBR in a 90g!? They will look so small.
I personally love the look and behaviour of Yoyos. I have a dozen in my 90g. $3/1.99 for healthy little guys, why not.
The more you have, the more they play together and leave other fish alone. If you only have a few in a 90g, they will be 'bored' frequently if they can't see others of their own. This applies to a few types of loaches, I think polkadots too.

I know what you mean about the names, There's the scientific term, then all the common names. Some keep the actual name, others use the more customer friendly names like Rainbow shark or Yellow lab.

haha! I love my rams! they are the best. I thought about adding another set, but I will let these guys do their thing for now. also I am wanting to leave some room for babies... we will see if they are able to survive in this tank.
so how do I know if I am overstocked? my filtration is good, but I think my tank is pretty full. my loaches do not stay on the bottom like i thought they would - they swim all over the place. they are the best! I absolutely love the little guys! so glad I got them. they dig around in the rocks, check out all the decor and swim up and down the sides of the tank!

 

[HeatherW]

Careful when feeding the loaches too.
Not sure with polkadots, but my yoyos don't know when to stop. They will eat until there is nothing left, even if their stomachs can't handle it. Better to underfeed with the sinking pellets, as they are usually worse then other foods for water pollution if left to decay.
I drop my pellets in the same rest stop area they all go to.

OK, i was kinda doing the same thing - putting all the pellets in basically one area. I don't ever see mine "rest" they are always swimming around doing their thing. will they calm down after they adjust more to the tank?
so should I feed the pellets every other day? and like one per loach or one per every two loach?

here is my feeding schedule:
mon - tropical flakes
tues - super spirulina/ veggie flake (free sample from angels plus)
wed - frozen brine shrimp
thur - tropical flakes
fri - frozen blood worms
sat - tropical flakes
sun- fast

forgot to do the blood worms today but when I did the brine shrimp i did not drop the pellets in. I could do pellets on days with the flakes... what do you think?

 

[toddnbecka]

I feed all my fish NLS 1mm Cichlid or .5mm Grow pellets and spirulina flake as the staple diet. Occasionally canned green beans, mainly for the BN but it's surprising how many other fish will eat those too. I never try to regulate the amount of food for each fish, just toss some in once daily.

 

[Koikid88]

I feed all my fish NLS 1mm Cichlid or .5mm Grow pellets and spirulina flake as the staple diet. Occasionally canned green beans, mainly for the BN but it's surprising how many other fish will eat those too. I never try to regulate the amount of food for each fish, just toss some in once daily.

Same, I just put some food on 1 end for the surface eaters, and stir some on the other end of the tank by the output nozzle so it spreads across the bottom for the scavengers. With a designated pellet area lol

All foods gone within 2 mins.
Varied diet also, but not as much protein as yours since mines a Malawi set up and has algae grazers like yellow labs.



As for the Yoyos resting, it's only for 5 minutes after hours of chasing and doing barrel roll torpedoes across the tank, before going back at it. Looks awesome when 6 do it at once, ramming into whatever fish is in the way. They do occupy every inch of the tank, just the open water at the surface isn't there preferred spot, they like being against something.
And if you hear a weird clicking noise coming from the tank, it's not something cracking, as I first thought, the yoyo's have a loud snap when eating off the surface.

 

[HeatherW]

well I had a scare last night... I guess I am still learning lol

thought at least one if not two of my loaches was dying. they were not moving very much and really acted like they were not doing well. one was even kinda hanging over the heater suction cup. I thought they really were not well. I tried to net them out but it was not working well. it was late, I was home alone and really needed an extra set of eyes. so I gave up and went to bed. Asked God to save my little loaches and sure enough I wake up this morning and they are all acting just fine. very "loachy" like. that sure was a scare!!

so now I have yet another question about them... one looks like he has a pretty full belly. does that mean he is overfed or is he supposed to look like that? thinking maybe I need to cut the pellets back a little and feed them every other day or something. they don't look like they are starving or anything

 

[Koikid88]

They rest in awkward positions sometimes, sideways or even upside down. Look dead until another yoyo swims by, all of a sudden it's going full speed.
It's better to feed too little than too much, they are efficient scavengers and eat just about everything the fish miss.
About the belly, could be bloating, One of mine developed a big belly. Was going to treat, but it didn't show any other symptoms. It's been a long time and is still the same old, king yoyo of the tank. Suckers almost almost 4". He most likely had too much to eat lol