Are my Yoyo loaches in love?

[KittenFishMom]

I have a planted half cylinder tank, about 10 gallons, with 2 yoyo loaches, one male betta (plakat) and 4 dark kuhli loaches.

One of the yoyo loaches looks to me like she is carrying eggs, the other does not at all. They are both active and eating and have grown faster than any fish I have had. I know yoyo loach don't breed in home aquariums. Do I need to do anything so she does not get egg bound? When they are swimming, they look like water ballet, doing graceful relaxed loops and following each other. They also spend a good bit of time in a hollow ceramic log together and digging in the java moss.

I could remove the male betta pretty easily, but right now I don't have a tank for him. I do have someone who is planning on adopting my red view tail betta when the guppies are gone, which could happen sooner to free up a tank for the male betta, if need be.

I think I would have to trap the 4 kuhli loaches if I needed to take them out of the tank. I don't think I could net them without removing all the plants and heater etc. If I could catch them, I could have them go in the other tanks that each have 3 kuhli loaches.

Do I need to remove the other fish, or do anything else or is everything fine the way it is?

My spouse is much better with the camera and will take photos soon.

[Colu]

To the best of my knowledge no species of botia have been bred in captivity without the use of artificial hormones it not unusual for mature females yoyo loach to fill with eggs but spawning hasn't been recorded 

[KittenFishMom]

@Colu Thank, so I don't need to do anything differently. She with be comfortable with the tank mates she has, right?

[Colu]

On 10/30/2022 at 8:19 PM, KittenFishMom said:

@Colu Thank, so I don't need to do anything differently. She with be comfortable with the tank mates she has, right?

Should be fine I would leave her we're she is

[anewbie]

First they must be pretty young to be in a 10; adult yoyo are going to be between 4 and 7 inches and WAY too big for a 10. 2nd yoyo are highly social creatures and really should be kept in large groups - most recommend 6 but 6 is more of a min; them more the merrier. Third yoyo don't fall in love - they are not pair forming.

 

[KittenFishMom]

@Newbie They were labeled as dwarf chain loaches when I bought them. I will either buy more when they move to my 55 gallon I am building, or rehome home them.

When I got them home and got a better look at them, I realized they were yoyo loaches. The store said they would give me store credit, but not take the fish back. I knew I was planning the 55 build. I don't know any fish people with large tanks. What do you think I should have done? 

[anewbie]

Even dwarf chain require a larger aquarium; they are very small but hyper active species also they require a large group. Well a 10 is ok for a a few months for the yoyo but eventually they will need to be moved. 

 

As to what you should have done - well it is hard to answer that - the store should of course give you more than store credit as dwarf chain are more expensive than yoyo; also they might not be yoyo - they might be gold zebra or a few other species that look similar when young; as they age the pattern will change and the species will become more obvious. 

There is a rosy loach but i'm not sure of the details of their requirement beyond being small; but a 10 is pretty small - probably the only loach that really fits in a 10 are Pangio shelfordii; most books recommend at least a 20 but they are not nearly as active as kuhli loaches and of course a lot smaller.

 

In any event if what you have are yoyo they are at least a year from maturity....

Edited October 30, 2022 by anewbie

[KittenFishMom]

My yoyo loaches are now merrily digging out a cozy nest area under the ceramic log, with some driftwood hiding the doorway. I don't have the heart to tell them the sand is going to continue to fill it almost as fast as they dig it, and they won't be see little loaches zipping around.  They are having a grand time, and hardly notice the betta building inspector when he tries to see what is going on. One loach even bumped into the male betta by mistake.  The kuhli loaches are oblivious and just keep swimming around.

I have been mixing well water in with the spring water. The KH test, in the well water was suppose to change color by 12 drops. At 15 drops I decided to get some distilled water and dilute the well water 1:1 or 1:3 and test it, then multiply it back up to get a full strength reading. I am also getting a Ca test kit on Wednesday. Depending on those results, I might even get an Mg kit.

I really want to understand what is in the well water, so I can try to stock for the water, rather than doctor the water for the fish I stock.  The water is "completely soft" which I assume means little or no Ca or Mg with a high pH and a very high KH. An unusual combination. I hope it is suitable for more than a rubber ducky. Updates to follow when I get consistently reproducible test results.

Trick or Treat ! Happy Halloween !

[Imperfect_aquatics]

I’ve got 3 yo-yo’s in my 75g. One has always been waaaaay chubbier than the other two for years. Doesn’t ever seem to drop eggs or anything or get smaller. I wouldn’t worry too much about it other than getting them in the 55 once you get it set up. They’re a really fun active fish to have. 

[KittenFishMom]

@MattHasMTS I know they don't breed in home aquariums. It is uncanny how they keep going into their nest together, and then one at a time. They go in and lay on the sand for a while, then trade places for a while and then squeeze in together for a while. They are acting just like the native fish in the lake act when they breed.  I wonder what it is that makes it fail every time. They were swimming together for a few days. This morning the thin one worked and worked to move the sand. Now they are using the hollow just like a pair of breeding fish.  We are at the shallow end of the lake, so I watch fish breed every summer. When you watch them, you can tell the bullheads apart, this is missing a barbel, that one has a scrape on it's side, another has a line mark on it's back. You can tell when they pair up, and they stay together until the fry are big enough to be on their own. The Bullhead catfish digs a hole, but the mud here is more stable than the sand in my tank. I kept watching them while I was trying separate fine seaweed from the scuds I caught tonight. 

Funny, I haven't seen the kuhli loaches this afternoon. I wonder if they are doing the same thing under the sponge filter?

[KittenFishMom]

This morning, the female is on her side in the cave. I can only see the end of her tail. The male is foraging below te sponge of the sponge filter.  The kuhli loaches are slowly circling the flat back of the tank. I don't feed today, so I will wait a bit to test their water.