Suggested tankmates for Yoyo (B. almorhae)?

[GeoGreg]

New poster here... I've looked through a number of old threads, but I still am in need of some help.

I have an unusual tank situation. I've got a 20gal high (24"wx14"dx15"h). Right now, the only occupant is a solitary yoyo (B. almorhae). I bought 2 of them over 3 years ago and put them into my community tank. They chased each other endlessly (not enough hidey holes?). One of them finally decided to make a break for it and jumped, apparently when I was changing water. Remaining yoyo seemed content, other fish (mix of cherry barbs and harlequin rasboras) were fine until a rash of mysterious deaths eliminated the schoolers. I think it was disease, as they started looking bad one by one and quickly died before I could try any treatment. I doubt the yoyo was to blame. That was a long time ago, as I haven't had much time to do much with the tank since. Yoyo seems content enough (eats, comes out and explores, hangs out in plants).

So, I would now like to start adding fish. First should I get another loach (yoyo or perhaps similar)? Most people seem to say that loaches like companions. Do I need to get an odd number, or at least 3 so that the "alpha" doesn't harrass the other one to death? Is the 24"x14" area too small for more than one yoyo? Or if I have enough hidey holes (say, # of loaches +1), will that be sufficient?

If I want to add some community fish (the usual barbs, tetras, etc), would 1 loach feel the need to harrass them? Would 3 loaches snip amongst themselves and leave other fish alone? I wouldn't dare get any non-loach bottom dewellers (eg corys). Other posts I've read give varying accounts of how yoyos get along with other fish. I'm assuming slow moving, long finned fish (eg gouramis) would not be a great choice. And since this is a 20 gal tank, I'm guessing that if I had 3 yoyos, I could only have a few other fish.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Wanda]

I am no expert and don't have all the answers to your questions but my Dad had a Yo Yo for the longest time in his 20 gallon aquarium. He only had one and this guy definitly had a territory - liked to sit on this one rock - he chased everyone away from that rock when they swam near. Besides that, he seemed to get along with all the other fish in the tank - tetras, danios, ottos, and 1 tiger pleco. Sorry, don't have any advice on different kinds of loaches though.

[gulogulo]

if you add more i would suggest at least 2 if not 3 or 4 more yoyos. it would also be a good idea to to rearrange the tank to break up the resident yoyo's territory. i would suggest 2 to 3 hideyholes per loach. i had 5 yoyos for many years and when they were in community tanks mostly ignored the other fish, even gouramis.
good luck

[shari]

I think you're right that the footprint of your 20 tall is not enough to support 3-5 yo yos. You saw what happened with just 2. The alpha torments the other too much. Odd numbers are better.

You could keep several Botia striata in a tank that size, but even 3 yo yos would be up each others territories (read that tushes;-) an awful lot with that limited amount of space.

3 striatas and a small school of more colorful dithers would be fine in your 20.

[GeoGreg]

I think you're right that the footprint of your 20 tall is not enough to support 3-5 yo yos. You saw what happened with just 2. The alpha torments the other too much. Odd numbers are better.

You could keep several Botia striata in a tank that size, but even 3 yo yos would be up each others territories (read that tushes;-) an awful lot with that limited amount of space.

3 striatas and a small school of more colorful dithers would be fine in your 20.

Since I don't want to get rid of the current occupant right now (s/he's been there for over 3 years, after all), would a couple of striata's get along with the yoyo? Or would yoyo just terrorize them?

If yoyo would be OK by itself with the dithers, that would be fine too. I just don't want it to be either too scared or too aggressive.

Thanks for the advice.

[Tery]

It doesn't seem to matter how many caves,ect. I have in a tank, the yoyos sleep together. I've never had problems with the yoyos being aggressive with each other. They are rowdy and would occasionaly chase a straita,but never harasses the other fish. I wouldn't put them with other bottom feeders that are small or shy. My yoyos are 4+" , I gave them their own tank with green fire tetras as dithers because my panda cories and hillstreams were stressed out by their constant activity. If you want to give it company, I would give it other yoyos. The straitas are ,for lack of a better word, to gentle .

[mikev]

Tery,

If I may ask: how long did it take for yours to reach 4" ?

I'm having a bit of a crisis here with mine: they grow at an insane rate, doubled from less than 1" to 2" in one month, and it they do it again, in a month I will have a seriously overcrowded tank.

Incidentally, they also don't hide and don't sleep: I checked on them in the middle of the night, and they were still looking for more food. And they are clearly bad for other bottom-dwellers, they keep my BN terrorized.

[Erik]

That sounds about right. I found that yoyo's have an incredibly fast growth rate up to about 5 inches at 2 years and then slow down.
E

[shari]

I had a trio of yo yos with a bristle nose (if that's what you mean by BN) for quite a while and it didn't seem to bother either of the two. When I treated the tank for an angel with shredded fins (due to another angel) with melafix and pimafix, my gravid yo yo jumped out of the tank and the BN was found floating on top of the limnophila the next morning...I'd read the label, had used melafix before with no major issues, and followed the recommendation to use them in concert that was on the bottles. BIG mistake was that I just added the meds and went out to an appointment without taking time to observe the fish's reactions. I lived and learned, but the fish didn't

yo yos are extremely curious and sometimes overly 'friendly' fish, depending on the individual personality (which they seem to have . Though it's not usually recommended, you could continue to keep your single fish alone, since he's 'part of the family' now, as long as you think he's happy...or trade him in for striatas if your store ever gets some.

Ultimately it's your tank, your fish, and you know how the fish behaves. Comes down to you in the end, in a case like this

[mikev]

Erik, thanks for the bad news,....

I had a trio of yo yos with a bristle nose (if that's what you mean by BN) for quite a while and it didn't seem to bother either of the two.

Possibly larger yoyo's are less food-oriented.

What is happening here is that mine chase the bristlenose away from his food. I do make sure that he eats, but he is hiding more than before.

Very sorry to hear about your incident. I assume that a gravid yoyo is something not very common...

While we on the yoyo subject: one more question:

Did you have some discussion about yoyo patterns already?

On my end, it seems that two are "classical" yoyo's, two have a different "diagonal" pattern, and the smallest one seems to look like Histrionica right now. They do behave like a group, however.

[shari]

Hi Mike,
Actually, gravidity in yo yos has been noticed fairly regularly on LOL over the years. The trick is to get an actual spawn, which to my knowledge hasn't been accomplished (yet) in aquaria.

Mine was quite small and because it seemed unlikely to many that she should be gravid I was trying out varieties of scenarios trying to induce a spawning when I lost her. Pics are on coppermine of the VERY unscientific 'autopsy' I did of her insides just to see if she actually was carrying eggs. She was, and when I opened her up I might as well have had my nose in a puddle of Pimafix, it reeked so strongly.

Yo Yo patterns are very variable. Most show the typical yoyo pattern which morphs over time into a reticulated pattern. If you look into the species index there's a discussion of histronica/kubotoi or some other option and here's a link to a previous discussion:

http://aquaweb.pair.com/forums/archives ... view=87012

[mikev]

Hi Shari,

Hi Mike,
Actually, gravidity in yo yos has been noticed fairly regularly on LOL over the years. The trick is to get an actual spawn, which to my knowledge hasn't been accomplished (yet) in aquaria.

I think I understand...I am now up to four gravid khulis and in the need of a trick. Incidentally, one of four is very small (2").

Yo Yo patterns are very variable. Most show the typical yoyo pattern which morphs over time into a reticulated pattern. If you look into the species index there's a discussion of histronica/kubotoi or some other option and here's a link to a previous discussion:

http://aquaweb.pair.com/forums/archives ... view=87012

Thanks a lot for this link. Cybermeez' series of photos is great.

[shari]

You're welcome.

All I did was go to the Archives, type in 'histronica' and poof! tons of info in those archives...

[Tery]

Thanks Erik, I was getting worried. Mikeev- my experience coincindes with what Erik says, I've had some of them about 2 years ( the other 2 my brother unloaded on me because they were too rowdy in his tank) and I'm waiting for their growth to slow down. If I got them all, I've got 5 , moved them to their own tank last month and they are still sulking. My bristlenose used to think he was a yoyo and now thinks he's a straita, eat algae? yea right, why bother when all he has to do is wait for the pellets to come down. I have a couple of ottos and hillstream loaches for algae, and in the other tank ottos and a rubberlip (?) pleco that do the job. Sorry about the length.

[GeoGreg]

Thanks for the advice... and sorry to hear about the gravid yoyo that jumped. Is there an article on LOL (or elsewhere) about meds that are safe for loaches? Or alternatively, about meds that are NOT safe?

Also, does anyone have any thoughts on fish that would be a good match for the yoyo? For instance, I was thinking about tiger barbs. Would a school of 5 tiger barbs + the yoyo be too much for a 20 gal high tank? I've not had tiger barbs before, and I'm thinking that they might need more swimming room than my tank has.

Thanks.