Yoyo loach

Water parameters

Tolerated range for this species. Aim for the middle of each band rather than the extremes.

Tank and habitat

Substrate: sand.

Behavior

Plant interaction: digs up plants.

Feeding

Sinking pellets, sinking wafers, frozen bloodworm, frozen brine shrimp, frozen mysis, live blackworms, live snails, and blanched vegetables. They forage actively on the substrate, poking into crevices and under decor. Snails are a favorite food item and they'll systematically clear a pest snail population. Feed once or twice daily with sinking food. In community tanks, they'll also grab food that drifts to the bottom from surface feeders. Not picky about food type but need enough volume to fuel their active metabolism.

Compatibility

• Semi-aggressive bottom-dweller that harasses slow-moving or long-finned tankmates. Corydoras, in particular, get bullied by yoyo loaches. The aggression is territorial rather than predatory.
• Best kept with robust, active species that occupy other zones: barbs, larger tetras, rainbowfish, and other loaches. Avoid bettas, angelfish, and anything slow or fragile.
• Groups of 4+ help spread aggression. A single yoyo loach focuses all its energy on one or two targets. In a group, they sort out a hierarchy among themselves and bother tankmates less.
• Snail eater. Yoyo loaches eat pest snails efficiently, which is often the reason they're purchased. They'll also eat ornamental snails, so don't keep them with mystery snails or nerites you want to survive.

Origin and habitat

Botia almorhae, described by J. E. Gray in 1831, is a loach of the family Botiidae from the Ganges basin of northern India and possibly Nepal. Despite the trade name Pakistani loach, the true species is not known from Pakistan. Its taxonomy is muddled: most fish sold under this name appear to be the closely related Botia lohachata, and the two are treated by some authors as one species and by others as distinct, with B. lohachata said to have darker markings, a slightly larger size, and a different range. The name yoyo comes from the dark body markings, which on young fish often read like the letters 'yoyo' along the flank; that pattern breaks into a reticulated web of dark lines over a silver-gold body as the fish matures. It reaches about 14 to 16 cm. The fish are scaleless in practical terms, carrying only tiny scales beneath a heavy protective mucus layer, which leaves them sensitive to many medications and to poor water. They are active, social bottom-dwellers, best kept in groups, and they make short work of pest snails. The IUCN lists the species as Least Concern while noting pressure from mining, logging, and the ornamental trade. Wild fish are seldom exported; most stock is farm-raised.

Breeding

Rarely spawned in home aquariums, with little reliable hobby data on tank-raised broods. Like other Botia, it probably needs seasonal cues, large water volumes, and migration triggers that a normal tank cannot supply. Sexing is subtle: mature females grow noticeably rounder, especially when full of eggs, while males tend to show some redness around the mouth and barbels. Commercial supply leans on hormone-induced spawning in large pond facilities, so nearly every yoyo loach in shops is either wild-caught or hormone-bred on a farm.

Common problems

Aggression toward bottom tankmates is the main concern. Yoyo loaches are persistent chasers and can wear down slower bottom fish; corydoras in particular tend to fare badly with them. The fix is choosing tankmates that keep up, or housing the loaches in a suitable community. Because they are effectively scaleless under their mucus coat, they react badly to full-strength medications, so ich and other treatments should be eased in at reduced dose or handled with gradual heat. Wild-caught fish often arrive carrying internal parasites that cause slow wasting, treatable with levamisole or fenbendazole. They are capable jumpers, leaping at night or when startled, so a tight lid matters. And they grow: a 5 cm youngster becomes a 14 cm adult over a few years, which catches out keepers who bought one for a small tank.

Bioload

Further reading

• How to cycle a fish tank
• Stocking ideas by tank size