YoYo Loach Questions + (Sick?) Pics

[grimlock3000]

The YoYos I just got tonight are nice looking fish, about 3 inches long. At the store they looked a lot smaller, but once I got them home they are big compared to the other tiny fish in the tank. Anyway, after looking at other Loach pics online, mine are skinny 8O Not sickly skinny, the fish still look healthy with good colors and swim around a lot. They simply do not have that cute Loach pudginess I see in so many pictures. They were in a tank with large Gouramis at the pet store so I have a feeling they did not eat much for a while. I fed them some OSI flakes while they were being acclimated and they ate them. What is the best type of food to fatten up these fish? All I have for food right now is OSI and Omega One flakes. I threw away all my other food a couple weeks ago to start over with fresh stuff.

I am making a couple of black caves for the Loaches right now, I will post pics when I am done.

 

[TankGirl]

I have seen a rash recently on the forums of TB in loaches, so skinniness is a red flag to me, but as long as they are eating and behaving normally I would not worry - competitiveness for food in the tank at the LFS is a common problem, so they should fatten up under your expert care!

 

[grimlock3000]

TB huh? 8O More info please... Anything I can do as a preventitive?

 

[grimlock3000]

Btw tomorrow I begin feeding the tank Pepso Food for a few days as a preventitive in case anything tagged along from the pet store...

 

[Fruitbat]

If you want to fatten up your YoYo Loaches....get some frozen bloodworms and maybe even some Hikari algae wafers. Mine eat like pigs when bloodworms are offered and they click like fiends when they're going after an algae wafer!

 

[grimlock3000]

I would have payed double for these YoYos if I knew they would be clickers. I hope mine click, stuff like that is annoying to other people but I love it I actually went to Wal Mart tonight looking for Hikari algae wafers and they were all out. I will just pay double at the pet store and get some tomorrow

Can I feed these fish at night when the tank is totally dark (no room light and almost 0 ambient light)? I know my Pleco can get around with no light, not sure about the YoYos yet...

 

[Fruitbat]

Yes...the YoYos will eat at night but will be plenty active during the day as well. They will click like crazy for algae wafers!!!

 

[TankGirl]

TB is actually mycobacterium and the symptoms are wasting (thinness) and lesions on the body, scale loss and sometimes spinal curvatures. It is treated with drugs like Kanamycin.

I have seen a lot posted about it recently so it is something to be aware of, as any fish can get it, but if the loach is acting healthy and eating it might just be from not getting enough to eat at the LFS.

 

[docrak]

Mine seem to like shrimp pellets. They also love those algae wafers. Freeze dried worms, they'll swim to the surface for those. They also love zucchini.

 

[grimlock3000]

I am going to have to double my water changes as I try to fatten up these fish

 

[grimlock3000]

Alright here is what the two Loaches look like. I forgot which one was which, but both are pictured here:

 

[Menagerie]

They don't look too skinny! Mine started out slender and bulked up quickly on a fine diet of flakes, blood worms and algae wafers.

 

[grimlock3000]

Most of the pics I see have them looking all porked up like this:

Anyway, glad they are not deathly ill looking...

 

[TankGirl]

They look fine - sorry if I alarmed you!

I like those PVC caves - you are somethin' else with the Rit dye!

 

[Fruitbat]

Yep....I agree....they look OK. Yes...they're skinny but they should fatten up nicely in no time!

 

[pkremer]

Congrats on your new yo-yos!!! I can't say enough good things about these guys.

They look fine to me as well. My LFS has several that look exactly like that. I think maybe they are just younger. Believe me, they will 'pork' up soon enough. My problem is getting them to leave some food for the other fish! Mine ignore shrimp pellets (some say theirs love them though), but they love algae wafers. They'll eat until (as fruitbat once told me) they look like little sausages. Other than the shrimp pellets, they eat anything I put in there.

Paul

PS - I experienced the same thing fruitbat wrote about in his article. Both of the yo-yos lost all of their color...they were pure white, their normally dark stripes were a light silver, and they were swirling around and around each other. If it had not been for reading that in fruitbat's article, I probably would have been terrified! About 30 minutes later, they are back to normal. Very strange...

 

[grimlock3000]

It is going to take me a while to get used to seeing fish sleep on their sides 8O

 

[krap101]

lol my puffers usually do that 2. lol i almost took it out. but when the tip of the net touched it, it like blinked a couple times and swam away groggily

 

[grimlock3000]

I may have gotten a special Ich-suprise with my Loaches. Once Loach has one spot which is questionable. I got the tank temp up the 82F and holding for now.

You can see the spot in one of the earlier pics, I highlighted it here:

At least if it turns out to be Ich, I can deal with that fairly easily...

 

[Fruitbat]

Have to be careful using 'ich' meds with loaches! I've had pretty good luck using half-strength Aquari-Sol but since it is a copper-based medication it will kill any desirable invertebrates in your tank as well. Keep stoking your loaches up with food and get them into tip-top shape and you will rarely have to worry about 'ich'.