yoyo loach question

[katyboombaty]

i've had my yoyo loaches for about 4 years now. they have recently become aggresive towards certain fish in my tank. they recently contributed to the death of one of my very old cory cats (i found them munching on him one night WHILE HE WAS ALIVE!) and i think they might be attacking my new angels i put in my fish tank. their fins were becoming chewed and it did not appear to be fin rot to me. i moved them to a hospital tank to get their fins growing back (which they are doing so). at any rate, could it definately be the botias doing this to the angels (since everyone else for the time being looks fine in the tank) or is it something else? if it is the botias, what should i do? sell them to a pet shop? PLEASE HELP! thanks!

 

[Lotus]

What else do you have in the tank? Sometimes adding a new type of fish can cause behaviours you haven't seen before in your existing fish. Angels can be bullies, so maybe they bothered your yoyos, who then decided to take it out on something smaller and weaker.

 

[katyboombaty]

i added two new angels after there was only one angel left in the tank. the new ones really didn't bother anyone. it seems like after the yoyos finished off my cory cat, they found the angels. i know that the one angel likes to sleep at the bottom of the tank, which happens to be the angel that is more chewed up. since i moved the angels to the hospital tank, peace has been restored to the tank and the yoyos only chase each other again. should i add the angels back when i clean the tank again since everything will kind of be in flux and the yoyos might not notice them as easily?

 

[Lotus]

You can always try adding the angels back. Rearrange the tank before you do so, that way, everyone can re-establish territories etc. Adding another cave might help, too. I don't know how many caves you have, and how many other bottom dwellers, but a choice of caves for the yoyos might help.

It's possible your aggression was among the angels, and rearranging plants etc. might help with that, too.

 

[katyboombaty]

yeah i think i should get some more caves. i have one rock formation that the one yoyo hides under and then the other yoyo and my clown loach hide in the drift wood together. next time i clean the tank i think ill add the angels back. although their fins are growing back already, i want to make sure they can handle themselves (and get slightly bigger since they're about a little larger than a silver dollar).

 

[katyboombaty]

well now the yo-yos are going after one of my other cory cats now. i just emailed a local fish society to see if anyone would like to take the loaches into their own tank they arent getting along in mine. was that a good call?

 

[Lotus]

I would say either the cories or the yoyos have to go. I guess if the yoyos have been attacking your angels, too, then they will have to go Yoyos can sometimes be aggressive, and if they haven't stopped now, they probably never will. It sounds like you made the right choice.

 

[katyboombaty]

thanks for the advice. my mom is a little upset (since she takes care of the tank while im at school) 'cause we've had them for a bit. but i reassured her that since the yoyos are buddies with my clown loach that in lieu of the departure of the yoyo's i'll probably get a couple clowns instead since they're not as mean.