YoYo Loach Not Growing!

[GouramiFanatic]

One of my original YoYo Loaches doesn't seem to be growing very much - if at all. I know it's one of my originals because I can tell them apart by markings and other features. One has really reddish colored barbels, one is missing an eye (I've named him Uno), and the other is a lighter colored fish, and then there's Tiny - the one who isn't growing! All of the other Loaches were larger when I first got them so that helps to tell them apart.

'Tiny' has been eating all along and is very active as are the others. The only difference is that the others are now chunkier as YoYos should be (or so I've read). Do you know why he may be staying smaller? Is it a defect or something? I've had him for several months and I haven't added new fish in months. I don't think it's a disease that was carried in as none of the other fish were effected.

Here are a couple of photos.

This is a side view (don't mind the streaks on the glass).
http://www.marinediscoveries.com/tiny.jpg

Here is a fluke shot of all 4 of my YoYos together. It's not a great quality shot, but it gives you an idea of the size differences. 'Tiny' is to the right.
http://www.marinediscoveries.com/tiny2.jpg

 

[coldmachineUK]

Hi there,

I think you've just got a 'runt' in your batch. Lately I've heard about yoyos being bred successfully in captivity because the market was flooded with them not long ago (before catfish season, around July/August time). I noticed that many many many fish within the batches coming in to the LFSs (not just the one shop but a few) were thin like your 'Tiny' is. It's nothing you've done for certain, particularly if he's eating fine and you've a nice group size (4) of them so its not stress related. The others all look fine.

So yes, I think it's to do with the quality of the fish that are either being shipped over or, if it's true, bred.

 

[LandGhoti]

I have three clowns, and they were all the same size when I got them. Now one seems to have remained pretty small (although has gotten a bit bigger), and the other two have grown, one of them considerably more than the other two (Papa Loach).

Maybe it's a botia-runt type of thing.

Your yo-yos are cute!

 

[Mosaic]

I gotta say, neat pic with the loaches against the black and white gravel. Awesome!

 

[severum mama]

I agree with the others. He's most likely just a runt. I wouldn't worry about it much as long as he continues to eat normally, and doesn't get any thinner, or have white stringy poop- this would indicate parasites. One of my yo yos is smaller than the others too.

 

[Tam]

I have had the exact same thing happen with my clown loaches. All do well but one real small runty guy who has barely grown over the year that I have had him. The others are now easily 3 times the size of the small one when they all started the same size. He looks like another species.