PlanetCatfish.com

Unfortunately, loaches.com does not offer much advice on what species will be happy with yoyo loaches.

I'm helping someone set up their cycled (been going for nearly a year) 29 gallon tank. The tank has two paradisefish, some peacock gobies (from me), a farlowella cat, cardinal tetras (9), and some cory cats. The tank is planted, but it's an odd tank: it's minus a lid so the vals can grow out of the tank and flower.

Would a trio of yoyos be too much to add to this tank? And would they help take care of MTS?

You'll eventually have at least two dead yo-yos if you put a trio in a tank. Spurs behind the eyes + nasty temperament == disaster waiting to happen. For the best snail eating Botia, look no farther than B. striata. A much better community fish IME.

Rusty

Hey Rusty that's good advice, I'm also in search of loaches for snails. I've seen some weather loaches recently, and something described as a spotted loach (no results in search) that was actually very pretty, had dark scroll-like markings. Anyway I have recently seen clown loaches described as good for snails and this contradicts my tacit knowledge, can you speak to that? Thanks . . .

I can say that they are awesome for getting rid of any snails around.

jamos

Actually YoYo-loaches (Botia almorhae, formerly B lohachata) are one of the more placid species.

BUT they shouldn't be kept in too small tanks or too small groups!
I've kept three in a 35G, and they were often quarreling.
Once I gave them to Pectorale (he's on here too; and a Loach-enthousiast), he added another two, and they're in a 400 liter tank. They're doing fine.

I'll second the notion that they're not good snailkillers; Yoyo's are lazy!

B striata is indeed a MUCH better choice, and it stays small too; about 6-8 cm or so.
I currently have 4 in that 35, and the snails are an endangered species as a result.

keep Botia's in groups; it's the best way to spread agression.

A single Botia might behave, but it also might turn into a terror.....

I have 3 yoyo in my 20 gallon. They are very peaceful. They suck my MTS right out of their shells.

They like to hang out with eachother and my bronze and albino cories. See pic.

Hey pics sound good! Update to my earlier post I went and got a couple of clown loaches Sunday and they have settled in to the SA tetra tank very nicely. They're way out of biotype I know but there is a dearth of SA snail eaters it seems (?).

They're already clowning around too - they're about 5cm and I saw one yesterday hovering off the bottom facing down a 10cm Buenos Aires Tetra (H. caudovittatus)

Oh yeah and the snail population seems to have plummeted virtually overnight yippee!

I seem to recall that some of the loaches are known for exiting the tank. This might be an issue in a tank without a lid. Anyone recall which loaches are most likely to go walkabout?