If anybody wants a lively, vigorous, and peaceful little fish to make his or her aquarium enjoyable, then he or she needs to get a White Cloud Mountain Minnow.
These little guys come from China’s river basins. They are nice, gentle, curious, cold-water community fish that can be grown in 10 gallons of water and more in freshwater aquaria.
Let’s familiarize ourselves with the basics of White Cloud care before you rush into purchasing a fish so that you can ensure they are provided with the happy home they deserve.
These fish really brighten up our tank thanks to how lively they are with their distinct personalities. Let’s do it!
The White Cloud needs to know
White Clouds, the adult, which grows only up to an inch in length, appear small. Nonetheless, they have a striking look, which is a product on its own both in terms of color and operation.
The males, in particular, are conspicuous, having thick stripes that are reddish-orange in color running along their blue-greenish bodies coupled with red-pigmented fins.
Female fish with less attractively colored bodies and less vivid ones, yellow striping are more restrained yet engaging nonetheless, they still never have a dull moment.
They are top-class swimmers who spend a lot of their time exploring around their tank, both genders.
Taking care of White Clouds is simple compared to other fish breeds. White clouds can live in water of different quality and resist the changes in pH that kill many tropical fish species.
Ideal numbers refer to a water temperature of between 60 and 72 °F, slightly cooler than the average tropical tank.
The best pH is between 6.0 and 8.0. For this, they are seen to favor highly oxygenated water that has significant surface agitation due to the presence of an air stone or filter outflow.
Some high-quality flakes, pellets, or frozen meals will be provided as food. They are not choosy.
However, we must feed them different kinds of food in small amounts that they can consume over 2-3 minutes within each of the two feeding time periods.
Tank Setup
A well-arranged aquarium is essential to keep these enthusiastic little fish or living organisms, well, full of life!
Hence, larger. 6–8 number groups require not less than 10–15 gallons of water to have a perfect environment.
Choose a fish tank that is heavily planted with a lot of hiding places for décor. The fish tend to hide in dense vegetation, driftwood chunks, rocks, and other decorations that block their vision.
This makes them more comfortable and gives them an opportunity to exhibit their natural habits.
I have discovered that they fancy Java Fern, Anacharis, and Java Moss for their taste, and they bring oxygen into the water, which pleases these fish.
Make the aquarium in such a way that there are open spaces for swimming that these fish can use.
An air-driven sponge filter is excellent for making water flow and keeping things well-oxygenated without blowing too much current into the fish.
It`s bad for these meek little swimmers to have very strong filters.
Tankmates
Though they love the environment, White Clouds are not so good at living with aggressive friends. The best place for them to live is in a quiet community setting with other fish in their own world.
Good tank mate options include:
- Other small, peaceful minnows and rasboras
- Small, non-aggressive tetras
- Dwarf shrimp
- Snails
- Small, peaceful gouramis
- Corydoras catfish
Make sure to avoid housing them with such larger, territorial, aggressive, or roughhousing fish that may bully, harass, or potentially eat them lest they become an easy target owing to their small size!
Additionally, avoid leaving single White Clouds because these fish are extremely social and their behavior is best observed when kept in groups of at least six of their own breed. Schooling them allows us to observe and understand their true nature.
Breeding & Sexing Tips for White Cloud Mountain Minnow
If we add a nice mix of males and females to our school, we may just witness these little fish spawning their eggs all over our tank! It’s a thrill to see, and giving it a try is part of the fun of fishkeeping.
It takes keen observation to tell males and females of this fish species apart. Males are more vividly colored, with thick red stripes over their entire body and bright red fins.
On the other hand, females have lighter coloration, including some strains of yellowish stripes alongside their fins.
Males have a triangular vent shape, while females have a round one, a different aspect that can only be spotted through close observation.
Also, the vent forms are a pointer: males have a triangular vent while females have a round one, and it is only through watching them side by side that these variations become apparent.
Breeding Tips
In order to breed fish, it is important to ensure good quality water for their health care, feed them vitamins, especially when they are about to spawn, and keep lower temperatures, say about 60–65°F, which should be around “cool” so that the coldness may pacify them in readiness for spawning.
When a couple gets together, it is the male who comes forward with a courtship dance, which may involve nudging her along, among other things; his aim is that eventually she should let go of her eggs.
This results in their being scattered all over such surfaces as leaves, boulders, and aquarium ornaments only for him to immediately attend to them through fertilization.
Once we notice them spawning, it’s a good idea to remove the adults since they will eat up the eggs or fry when the latter hatches soon after.
Take them into other tanks for hatching under gentle flow that would hold the freshly hatched fry, and their food should consist of particular fry diets. Breeding these little energetic fish is usually enjoyable!
Conclusion
If you’re an expert in fishkeeping or a beginner eager to set up an aquarium with cold water for the first time, then there is a lot for you to appreciate from adding White Cloud Mountain Minnows.
Easy, engaging observer fish that are patterned as they swim quickly and of different colors are like the whole package because of their curiosity and general hardiness.
The only thing required is setting up a well-planted aquarium containing peaceful tankmates, and then we will just sit back for action all day long.
In a short while, we will come to see why many are those who are fascinated with the white cloud effect in a short while.
Should anyone be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of this fish and observe its liveliness for just a second, an irresistible desire to keep it would overwhelm him/her.
