lucy loach is misbehaving!

[millym]

hi & help
we have 2 yoyos that we have had for about a year & a half. our no 1 loach larry is a lot smaller than the one we bought 2nd lucy. ( hes probably about 5 months older than her) and just over the past few weeks lucy has spent most of the time chasing poor larry around & is esp aggressive at mealtimes. even though these 2 loaches are known as larry & lucy im not really sure of their actual sex- as far as i know more mature male yoyos get reddish whiskers & both of ours have that so i presume theyre both actually boys???
i always read that yoyos like their own company but lucy does not seem to appreciate larry being in HER tank & i feel v sorry for larry his life is not much fun at the moment. lucy is approx 5 inches big & quite broad, larry is about 3.5 inches & much narrower.
any suggestions???
dont really want to rehome the bigger loach but dont want the otherone to spend his life being chased around
thanks

 

[cyprinut]

Try rearranging existing hiding places like rocks/driftwood, or adding more places to hide. Could be that larry keeps trying to hang out in lucy's favorite spot.

 

[Barracuda518]

The bigger loach is probably trying to establish a pecking order and letting the smaller loach know who is boss. But if this were the case, then it should eventually stop. I have 4 yoyo's that I bought all at the same time and there are 2 that are bigger then the other 2, but all 4 of them are always together. What size tank are they in?

 

[millym]

hi
theyre in a 44 us gal 4ft tank.........we have 2 large caves made out of rocks & another hiding spot, bully loachs fav is a large rock that is elevated a couple of cms above the substrate with other rocks - shes always under there & it has lots of gaps for her to peek out from, the other loach never goes near that cave but she still chases him constantly. maybe i'll just have to hope it'll settle down soon.
thanks