Yoyo Loach fat and acting strangely...
Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 10:42 am
My yoyo loach has been acting and looking different recently.
He appears to have gained a lot of weight recently. He isn't nearly as fat as other yoyo loaches that I have found photos of online in trying to find a solution to his problem, but he still seems slightly bloated. I've owned him for probably three-ish years now, and his diet hasn't changed recently (I feed the fish flake food and algae wafers, as advised by the aquarium shop) so I'm not sure what could be causing this- although I haven't ruled out just overeating! His movement doesn't appear to be affected, he's not swimming at odd angles and he's as active as he always has been, so I don't have reason to believe that he's suffering because of it. As there hasn't been another yoyo loach in the tank since a couple of years ago, I can't imagine it would have anything to do with pregnancy. Any ideas?
The other anomaly I've noticed is a weird behaviour: over probably the past few weeks, he's been doing this strange movement in which he'll lie on his side at the bottom of the tank, then suddenly flip upright in the water, then float back onto his side and do it again (I can't think of a better way of describing it than that). I don't think it's causing him any struggle as he doesn't appear to have difficulty navigating the tank otherwise, but I could be wrong. I wondered at first if his weight gain had caused him to no longer fit into his cave, and that this could be bothering him- he's claimed a tight hole in a rock in the tank as his home- but having seen him in there since, it can't be that. It could have something to do with the weather, as it's been a very hot, muggy, stormy summer here, but I haven't noticed any of the other fish change their behaviour.
I bought him first as a friend for another yoyo loach, who he long outlived, but he seems very social with other fish in the tank- I also have two weather loaches, two sucking loaches, three siamese algae eaters and a large common pleco, as well as a lot of guppies. He hasn't recently had any new tank mates, and the tank hasn't been redecorated, so I don't think I can blame any of this on changes in his direct environment. Not sure if this would make a difference, but context is always useful!
This could all be totally harmless (I rather hope it is), but I don't want to risk missing a sign that he's of ill health! He's very playful and brings a lot of life and fun to the tank, so I want to keep him well and happy. I have looked around online for answers as to what could be wrong, but couldn't really find anything relevant. I'd be very grateful for advice! I don't think I've missed anything out here, so if there's a solution I haven't mentioned, it probably means I haven't tried it. Thank you
I don't have pictures as they were rather difficult to take, but I'm sure I can get some if you need photos for a better idea of what's wrong. (First-time poster so I hope my formatting is alright!)
He appears to have gained a lot of weight recently. He isn't nearly as fat as other yoyo loaches that I have found photos of online in trying to find a solution to his problem, but he still seems slightly bloated. I've owned him for probably three-ish years now, and his diet hasn't changed recently (I feed the fish flake food and algae wafers, as advised by the aquarium shop) so I'm not sure what could be causing this- although I haven't ruled out just overeating! His movement doesn't appear to be affected, he's not swimming at odd angles and he's as active as he always has been, so I don't have reason to believe that he's suffering because of it. As there hasn't been another yoyo loach in the tank since a couple of years ago, I can't imagine it would have anything to do with pregnancy. Any ideas?
The other anomaly I've noticed is a weird behaviour: over probably the past few weeks, he's been doing this strange movement in which he'll lie on his side at the bottom of the tank, then suddenly flip upright in the water, then float back onto his side and do it again (I can't think of a better way of describing it than that). I don't think it's causing him any struggle as he doesn't appear to have difficulty navigating the tank otherwise, but I could be wrong. I wondered at first if his weight gain had caused him to no longer fit into his cave, and that this could be bothering him- he's claimed a tight hole in a rock in the tank as his home- but having seen him in there since, it can't be that. It could have something to do with the weather, as it's been a very hot, muggy, stormy summer here, but I haven't noticed any of the other fish change their behaviour.
I bought him first as a friend for another yoyo loach, who he long outlived, but he seems very social with other fish in the tank- I also have two weather loaches, two sucking loaches, three siamese algae eaters and a large common pleco, as well as a lot of guppies. He hasn't recently had any new tank mates, and the tank hasn't been redecorated, so I don't think I can blame any of this on changes in his direct environment. Not sure if this would make a difference, but context is always useful!
This could all be totally harmless (I rather hope it is), but I don't want to risk missing a sign that he's of ill health! He's very playful and brings a lot of life and fun to the tank, so I want to keep him well and happy. I have looked around online for answers as to what could be wrong, but couldn't really find anything relevant. I'd be very grateful for advice! I don't think I've missed anything out here, so if there's a solution I haven't mentioned, it probably means I haven't tried it. Thank you
I don't have pictures as they were rather difficult to take, but I'm sure I can get some if you need photos for a better idea of what's wrong. (First-time poster so I hope my formatting is alright!)