Stunt Growth?? Doesn't Eat Pellets?

I got a yoyo loach a few days ago from a friend of a friend, apparently he never took care of the aquarium he was the only bottom feeder in the tank, he had him for about 3 years he said, did water changes once every 2 months and just filled up the tank with straight tap water, and only fed him once every 2-3 days and it was tropical flake food. Honestly I'm surprised he is still a live , I decided to take him, I already have 6 yoyo at home in 75g. now my question are

is his growth stunt he is around 2" but yet he is 3-4 years?
How do I get him used to eating sinking pellets made for loaches? ( when I feed my Congo tetras he comes to the surface and eats the tropical flakes and doesn't care for the shrimp pellets)

thanks

 

Yes stunted sadly.
Try feeding him a variety of foods. If he has just been fed flakes it may take a while.

 

What size tank was he in before you got him?

 

Yes stunted sadly.
Try feeding him a variety of foods. If he has just been fed flakes it may take a while.

thanks for the reply, I've tried giving him omega one shrimp pellets which my 6 yoyo absolutely love and I also tried hikirI sinking wafers, nothing just seems to like flake food. But yes hopefully he'll follow his new friends

and what will happen if his growth is stunt? can he still live a heatly happy life?

What size tank was he in before you got him?

actually he was in a 29g, My guess is stress from being alone, stress from terrible water quality and being fed so little caused him to not grow.

 

Feeding every two or three days is fine, it's what I do, but what he fed him was not enough. The rest of those factors probably stunted it.

 

Feeding every two or three days is fine, it's what I do, but what he fed him was not enough. The rest of those factors probably stunted it.

what will happen if his growth is stunt? can he still live a heatly happy life?

 

thanks for the reply, I've tried giving him omega one shrimp pellets which my 6 yoyo absolutely love and I also tried hikirI sinking wafers, nothing just seems to like flake food. But yes hopefully he'll follow his new friends

and what will happen if his growth is stunt? can he still live a heatly happy life?



actually he was in a 29g, My guess is stress from being alone, stress from terrible water quality and being fed so little caused him to not grow.

Maybe try something like frozen bloodworms? Most fish go mad for them. It will probably take him a while to recognize pellets and other foods as foods.

Unfortunately stunted fish are not healthy fish. Their body is forced to stop growing while their internal organs continue to grow. This is quite painful and dramatically shortens their life. I believe it also makes them more prone to some diseases such as swimbladder.
The best thing you can do now is make the rest of his life as good as you possibly can. He is probably already happier than he has been in a long time with buddies and a bigger tank and an owner who obviously cares about him

 

Maybe try something like frozen bloodworms? Most fish go mad for them. It will probably take him a while to recognize pellets and other foods as foods.

Unfortunately stunted fish are not healthy fish. Their body is forced to stop growing while their internal organs continue to grow. This is quite painful and dramatically shortens their life. I believe it also makes them more prone to some diseases such as swimbladder.
The best thing you can do now is make the rest of his life as good as you possibly can. He is probably already happier than he has been in a long time with buddies and a bigger tank and an owner who obviously cares about him

thanks so much !! I definitely will try and give him the best rest of his life I possible can. Thanks for the advice on blood worms will purchase some today and try it out.

 

No problem! Chances are the rest of your fish will like bloodworms too!

 

I agree on the trying bloodworms, My crew LOVES bloodworms!!
Far more than brine shrimp or pellets.

I'm actually cutting up BWs into smaller pieces for the fry now and they are going absolutely crazy for them!!

 

I don't really have much to add but Yoyo loaches are one of my fave fish and I'm glad he has a good home now. I'm sure he'll live a happy life with you and his new buddies and I hope that he starts eating better soon!

I had issues with a picky betta and I agree with the bloodworm thing. Try weaning him away from flakes and onto bloodworms and then try other foods. It's actually what ended up working for me weirdly enough. He only ate bloodworms for a while and I eventually got him to eat crushed up soaked flakes. Kinda happy about that because it's not good for them to eat bloodworms 24/7.

 

Thanks , I 100% agree I love yoyo loaches as well, I find them super active , with crazy personalities I find they add so much character to an aquarium, they arnt just bottom dwellers, their everywhere dwellers lol.

I bought some bloodworms as suggested, came home and fed them and wooo all my yoyo loaches went nuts for them including him as well!! super happy right now!!

Thanks guys!!

 

I believe bloodworms are meant to be more of a treat, so I would still feed a variety of foods.

 

I believe bloodworms are meant to be more of a treat, so I would still feed a variety of foods.

Ya definitely, but I'm glad he actually ate it and seemed to really enjoy it. He is very used to tropical flakes and coming to the surface of the water to eat, since his old owner didn't have any shrimp pellets or sinking wafers. So hopefully sooner or later he'll follow his new buddies and eat with them at the bottom.

 

You could try some floating or semI floating pellets to start with as he's used to eating at the surface

 

So this is a Yoyo Loach that is only 3 years old.

This is a long-lived fish. At 3 years old it will still have the potential to grow larger in my opinion. Growth has merely been postponed until suitable conditions for growth return.

I don't believe this stuff about the internal organs growing and exploding inside the fish. Where is the logic in this? If every other part of the body stopped growing why would certain organs continue to grow and which ones? Show me the scientific study that discovered this.

My Clown Loaches are 23 years old and I am not aware they have stopped growing yet as my biggest grew another 1/2" last year to 11.5".

 

I don't believe this stuff about the internal organs growing and exploding inside the fish

I don't think anybody said anything about their organs exploding

 

The exploding claims have been included in other discussions about stunting I have read. I appreciate you don't subscribe to them.

You said "Their body is forced to stop growing while their internal organs continue to grow."

I wonder why some parts of the body would grow and others wouldn't.

Just show me the scientific paper where this was discovered or tell me how you know.