A Few Questions About Yoyo Loaches.

[ey2006]

Hi, I recently got a small group of Yoyo loaches for my 240L tank and have a few questions about them:

- I've noticed that on some of them, their colouration and patterns change throughout the day in terms of brightness. Sometimes their patterns would be so light you could barely see the "Y's" and "O's", whilst other times the patterns are dark black. Is this normal?

- I noticed 2 of the largest yoyos in the group fighting earlier today, is this normal? They kept trying th bite each other and were slamming their heads into each other. I was concerned at first, but later my friend told me they could be sorting themselves out to see who is the leader of the group, kind of like a pecking order theory.

- Are yoyos as prone to ich as clown loaches? So far, they've been in there for a little over a week and seem to be doing great.

- Finally, as yoyos are scaleless fish (like all loaches), are they really picky with water conditions? I know clown loaches require or thrive in top notch water condition, does the same apply to Yoyos? If so, should I be changing more water than the current 15% level? I was worried if I (increased and) changed 25% of the water instead, it would stress out the yoyos?

Thanks in advance.

 

[The-Wolf]

- I've noticed that on some of them, their colouration and patterns change throughout the day in terms of brightness. Sometimes their patterns would be so light you could barely see the "Y's" and "O's", whilst other times the patterns are dark black. Is this normal?

yes perfectly normal. kind of like a mood ring.

- I noticed 2 of the largest yoyos in the group fighting earlier today, is this normal? They kept trying th bite each other and were slamming their heads into each other. I was concerned at first, but later my friend told me they could be sorting themselves out to see who is the leader of the group, kind of like a pecking order theory.

again normal and you're correct it is a pecking order thing.

- Are yoyos as prone to ich as clown loaches? So far, they've been in there for a little over a week and seem to be doing great.

they are not as bad as clowns for getting ich, IME they are more suceptable to fungal infections than other botias.

- Finally, as yoyos are scaleless fish (like all loaches), are they really picky with water conditions? I know clown loaches require or thrive in top notch water condition, does the same apply to Yoyos? If so, should I be changing more water than the current 15% level? I was worried if I (increased and) changed 25% of the water instead, it would stress out the yoyos?

yes, yoyos need good water quality.
a good regime of water changes is 10-20% so your 15% is ok.

HTH

 

[ey2006]

Thanks for the reply Wolf!

 

[millym]

hi
add wolf says the colour change is a mood indicator - when we first added a second yoyo to our tank a few years ago we were quite worried when both loaches spotted each other they both went pure white and stayed that way for about 15 minutes. they settled down & we havent seen them go that white again just occasionally you'll see one of them a little pale maybe theyve been having a 'tiff' or something.
great loaches we love ours!!!

 

[TammyLiz]

Out of 5 yoyos I only have one that changes color intensity with mood. He happens to be the biggest one, although still under 2 inches. 3 are very contrasty (pardon my made up word) always black and white with clear boundries. One other...I'm not sure. It kind of looks like something in between. The one that sometimes looks pretty grey seems to be the most sensitive to water changes. Recently I skipped a water change and went 2 weeks instead of one. That particular loach started flashing, and someone on another forum suggested to me that it may have been because of the nitrates. He actually made that guess before I even revealed that I had skipped the water change. So in answer to your last question, I would say, yes, they are picky about water quality.

Tammy