Loaches Online Forum

I bought two yoyo loaches at the same time. They were the same size but one has gotten much larger while the other is so tiny. Why aren't they growing at the same rate? The small one doesn't look like he grows much at all.

Well, it could be a couple things. 1 loach may be a food hog & get most of the food. Or the smaller loach may carry internal parasites that prevent it from utilizing the food well. It could also be a sex difference, females tend to grow fatter & larger than males, because of that, males tend to grow slower & be smaller.

With just 2 loaches their social needs aren't really being met. Do you have room to add 3-5 more yoyos? At least a 4ft 75g tank? That might help & you'll see much more loachy fun in a larger group.

I haven't kept yoyos but that's true for almost all loaches kept in small numbers.

Thanks for the replies. There could be various reasons that cause this problem.