How to Care for White Cloud Mountain Minnows
White cloud minnows are one of the oldest fish in the hobby. Due to there small size and hardy nature, they are still very popular among aquarists today.
Care Level: Easy
Breeding: Semi-Easy
Temperament: Peaceful
Minimum Tank Size: 10 gallons
Temperature: 60-75*F
Scientific Name: Tanichthys Albonubes
Maximum Size: 1.5 inches
White clouds have a simple beauty. With there coppery-orange lime running down their body, and their red fins, it is easy to see why they are so popular. In fact, they were once called the 'poor mans neon' because they have a similar size and body shape. They have also been a cheap fish, but neons, believe it or not, used to be fairly expensive compared to the 99 cent fish you see in stores today.
Tank and Setup
The white cloud is not a picky fish. They have been bred in captivity for many, many, years, making them very adaptable to a wide variety of water parameters. They will do well in a tank as small as 10 gallons. They enjoy to have lots of hiding spaces, as with most fish. Live plants make exceptional additions to their tank, as well as artificial decor. If your tank is too bare they will spend most of their time stressed out and hiding. But remember, they are a shoaling fish, so you will need to keep a a group of them.
White clouds are not tropical fish, so they will do fine at room temperatures. In fact, many people keep a chiller in tanks that have white clouds, although that is not required.
Tank Mates and compatibility
Due to the fact that white clouds require lower temps than most tropical fish, there isn't a huge variety of fish they can be kept with. They do enjoy having members of there own kind, and large shoals look really impressive. Luckily, there are many different varieties of the white clouds. Golden, long fin, and golden longfin, and of course, wild type. These are the most common morphs.
They can be kept with goldfish when the goldies are small, but larger goldfish may eat them. Juvenile dojo/weather loaches will also do well with the white clouds. But like the goldfish, larger fish will eat the minnows.
Zebra danios are compatible with the minnows throughout their entire life, but they both compete for the same swimming space. Since the danios are slightly larger and faster, they may outcompete your minnows for food and tank space.
If you are keeping your white clouds at room temperature, panda cories will do well with the minnows. In the wild they come from slightly cooler water than most other cories, so most other corydoras species will not do well with the white clouds. Since the panda cories are bottom dwellers, they won't outcompete your minnows.
Variatus platies will do well in cooler waters. They grow to about 2.5 inches. They will swim all over the tank, making your tank active. There also many colors to add something different to your tank. Be careful though, if you have females you WILL have fry. It won't take long for them to over run your tank.
There is a wide variety of native fish that will do well with your minnows. One that I highly recommend is speckled dace. They stay near the bottom, and rarely exceed 4 inches.
Feeding
White clouds will eat just about anything that falls into the tank. They will eat flakes to live brine shrimp. Since they are smaller fish, make sure that the food you feed them is not too large to fit in their mouth. Keep in mind that they have up-turned mouths so it is best to feed them floating foods. Although they will chase food towards the bottom of the tank if they see it moving.
Breeding
These little fish are very easy to breed. In fact they are commonly one of the first egg laying fish that beginner hobbyists breed. In fact, they are so prolific that they are commonly sold as feeder fish. But enough with the jibber-jabber. Let's get to the informative stuff!
Egg scatterers, breeding comes easily to healthy specimens. To breed, get a school of 8-10 in a “conditioning” tank. This is the tank you will prepare the breeders in. You will feed them heavily, keep the tank clean and slightly warmer than usual. A 10 gallon tank will do great (you might be able to get away with a 5 gallon, but I wouldn't recommend it)! Make sure you have a good amount of females (at least half of the school). Females are slightly rounder than males, and males have that red to their dorsal and caudal fin.
Feed them frozen foods or high quality prepared foods multiple times a day and raise the temperature to 4-5 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than your tank is currently at. As the conditions change, so should the fish. Females should swell with eggs.
The breeding tank should be a 5-10gal (18-38L) with a special substrate. A common method is to use ~2” (5 cm) of glass marbles but you can also use a plastic grate. Just something for the eggs to fall into so the parents can’t get to them and eat them. Add a small air stone.
Add an egg heavy female and two males. By morning, they should have bred. If they don’t do a small water change every day until they do.
Raising the fry!
The eggs will hatch in approximately two days. White cloud minnow are not noted for eating their eggs or hatchlings. Some may be eaten but many will survive. Therefore, removing the adults from the breeding tank after spawning is purely discretionary.
Within a few days the fry will become free swimming. Newly hatched fry can be fed infusuria or luqifry. Within a week their diet can be switched over to baby brine shrimp or finely crushed fish flakes. The fry will grow to within 1/2 inch in the first three months and will reach full adult size within a year.
I hope this information is useful for you!
White cloud minnows are one of the oldest fish in the hobby. Due to there small size and hardy nature, they are still very popular among aquarists today.
Care Level: Easy
Breeding: Semi-Easy
Temperament: Peaceful
Minimum Tank Size: 10 gallons
Temperature: 60-75*F
Scientific Name: Tanichthys Albonubes
Maximum Size: 1.5 inches
White clouds have a simple beauty. With there coppery-orange lime running down their body, and their red fins, it is easy to see why they are so popular. In fact, they were once called the 'poor mans neon' because they have a similar size and body shape. They have also been a cheap fish, but neons, believe it or not, used to be fairly expensive compared to the 99 cent fish you see in stores today.
Tank and Setup
The white cloud is not a picky fish. They have been bred in captivity for many, many, years, making them very adaptable to a wide variety of water parameters. They will do well in a tank as small as 10 gallons. They enjoy to have lots of hiding spaces, as with most fish. Live plants make exceptional additions to their tank, as well as artificial decor. If your tank is too bare they will spend most of their time stressed out and hiding. But remember, they are a shoaling fish, so you will need to keep a a group of them.
White clouds are not tropical fish, so they will do fine at room temperatures. In fact, many people keep a chiller in tanks that have white clouds, although that is not required.
Tank Mates and compatibility
Due to the fact that white clouds require lower temps than most tropical fish, there isn't a huge variety of fish they can be kept with. They do enjoy having members of there own kind, and large shoals look really impressive. Luckily, there are many different varieties of the white clouds. Golden, long fin, and golden longfin, and of course, wild type. These are the most common morphs.
They can be kept with goldfish when the goldies are small, but larger goldfish may eat them. Juvenile dojo/weather loaches will also do well with the white clouds. But like the goldfish, larger fish will eat the minnows.
Zebra danios are compatible with the minnows throughout their entire life, but they both compete for the same swimming space. Since the danios are slightly larger and faster, they may outcompete your minnows for food and tank space.
If you are keeping your white clouds at room temperature, panda cories will do well with the minnows. In the wild they come from slightly cooler water than most other cories, so most other corydoras species will not do well with the white clouds. Since the panda cories are bottom dwellers, they won't outcompete your minnows.
Variatus platies will do well in cooler waters. They grow to about 2.5 inches. They will swim all over the tank, making your tank active. There also many colors to add something different to your tank. Be careful though, if you have females you WILL have fry. It won't take long for them to over run your tank.
There is a wide variety of native fish that will do well with your minnows. One that I highly recommend is speckled dace. They stay near the bottom, and rarely exceed 4 inches.
Feeding
White clouds will eat just about anything that falls into the tank. They will eat flakes to live brine shrimp. Since they are smaller fish, make sure that the food you feed them is not too large to fit in their mouth. Keep in mind that they have up-turned mouths so it is best to feed them floating foods. Although they will chase food towards the bottom of the tank if they see it moving.
Breeding
These little fish are very easy to breed. In fact they are commonly one of the first egg laying fish that beginner hobbyists breed. In fact, they are so prolific that they are commonly sold as feeder fish. But enough with the jibber-jabber. Let's get to the informative stuff!
Egg scatterers, breeding comes easily to healthy specimens. To breed, get a school of 8-10 in a “conditioning” tank. This is the tank you will prepare the breeders in. You will feed them heavily, keep the tank clean and slightly warmer than usual. A 10 gallon tank will do great (you might be able to get away with a 5 gallon, but I wouldn't recommend it)! Make sure you have a good amount of females (at least half of the school). Females are slightly rounder than males, and males have that red to their dorsal and caudal fin.
Feed them frozen foods or high quality prepared foods multiple times a day and raise the temperature to 4-5 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than your tank is currently at. As the conditions change, so should the fish. Females should swell with eggs.
The breeding tank should be a 5-10gal (18-38L) with a special substrate. A common method is to use ~2” (5 cm) of glass marbles but you can also use a plastic grate. Just something for the eggs to fall into so the parents can’t get to them and eat them. Add a small air stone.
Add an egg heavy female and two males. By morning, they should have bred. If they don’t do a small water change every day until they do.
Raising the fry!
The eggs will hatch in approximately two days. White cloud minnow are not noted for eating their eggs or hatchlings. Some may be eaten but many will survive. Therefore, removing the adults from the breeding tank after spawning is purely discretionary.
Within a few days the fry will become free swimming. Newly hatched fry can be fed infusuria or luqifry. Within a week their diet can be switched over to baby brine shrimp or finely crushed fish flakes. The fry will grow to within 1/2 inch in the first three months and will reach full adult size within a year.
I hope this information is useful for you!
Above is a pair of longfin white clouds in breeding condition
To the left is a golden white cloud.
To the left is a golden white cloud.