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Passport
- Family
- Danios / Whiteclouds / Medakas
- Grows to
- 4 cm (1.6")
- Lives
- 5–7 years
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Care
- Beginner
- Swims
- Near the surface
- Keep
- In a group of 6 or more
- Water
- 14–22 °C (57–72 °F)
China
Care requirements
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On record for White Cloud Mountain Minnow: adult size, lifespan, minimum tank, temperature, ph, hardness, minimum group, diet, care level, swim level, tank length.
A figure that is not on record is left out rather than guessed. One marked Suggested comes from keeping knowledge rather than a page.
- Minimum tank 57 L / 15.0 US gal
- pH 6–8.5
- Hardness 5–20 dGH
- Diet micropredator
- Tank length 60 cm minimum
Care notes written from general aquarium knowledge, not from the cited sources.
About
White clouds were once called the poor man's neon tetra, which was unfair then and is absurd now. A conditioned male in a cool, well-planted tank — iridescent green stripe, red-flushed fins, sparring with a rival — is one of the prettiest small fish available.
They're a coldwater fish, and that's the point of them. They live comfortably in an unheated tank in a heated room, which makes them one of very few genuinely good options for a setup with no heater.
Their history is remarkable. The species was believed extinct in the wild for decades after collection and habitat loss emptied its home streams near Guangzhou, and it survived entirely in aquaria until small wild populations were rediscovered.
Tank setup
Keep your white clouds cool and don't heat the tank. Warmth is the commonest mistake with this species: at tropical temperatures they're short-lived, faded and prone to disease.
Plant it densely and leave open water in the middle. They shoal loosely and males display constantly, and they want both cover and room.
Go dark underneath. The green stripe and the red fin edges both intensify against a dark substrate.
Keep a decent group with several males. The sparring between males is much of the interest, it does no damage, and it's what brings the colour out.
They're indifferent to water chemistry and thrive in ordinary tap water.
Feeding
White clouds eat anything and are among the easiest fish to feed.
Give them small food. Their mouths are tiny and standard flake often needs crushing.
Feed live and frozen regularly — daphnia, baby brine shrimp, cyclops. The red in the fins responds directly to it.
Avoid: large pellets, and avoid the assumption that a coldwater fish needs less food. They're active and they eat well.
Filtration and flow
Moderate flow. Filtration doesn't need to be strong, but they appreciate some water movement and even do well in a hill-stream setup.
Cool water holds more oxygen, so their requirements are easily met in an unheated tank.
Ordinary filtration is fine. They're forgiving and hardy, though they still want regular water changes.
With plants
White clouds are entirely safe with plants and never damage them.
Plant thickly at the sides and back. Dense growth gives them cover, breaks up the male displays, and catches eggs.
Cool-tolerant plants are the ones to choose — java fern, anubias, elodea, hornwort and moss all handle an unheated tank happily.
Health
They're exceptionally hardy and among the most forgiving fish in the hobby.
Most problems trace to being kept too warm. A tank of pale, listless, short-lived white clouds usually just needs the heater turned off.
They tolerate a wide temperature range and won't be troubled by a cool room in winter, which is unusual and useful.
Breeding
White clouds spawn continuously in a well-planted cool tank, and they're one of the few egg-scatterers that don't hunt their own eggs with much enthusiasm.
That means fry appear on their own in a densely planted tank with no other fish. It's the easiest breeding project in this catalogue.
For numbers, move conditioned adults to a tank with moss or spawning mops for a couple of days. The fry take infusoria then microworm and baby brine shrimp, and they grow steadily in cool water.
Tank mates
Avoid7
- Convict Cichlid Convict Cichlid grows to 15 cm against White Cloud Mountain Minnow at 4 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Jewel Cichlid Jewel Cichlid grows to 15 cm against White Cloud Mountain Minnow at 4 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Pictus Catfish Pictus Catfish grows to 12 cm against White Cloud Mountain Minnow at 4 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Demasoni Cichlid Demasoni Cichlid is not safe with White Cloud Mountain Minnow: african cichlids and danios / whiteclouds / medakas are a bad pairing.
- Electric Yellow Lab Electric Yellow Lab is not safe with White Cloud Mountain Minnow: african cichlids and danios / whiteclouds / medakas are a bad pairing.
Only with care16
- Chinese Algae Eater Chinese Algae Eater is aggressive and White Cloud Mountain Minnow is peaceful.
- Agassiz's Dwarf Cichlid White Cloud Mountain Minnow and Agassiz's Dwarf Cichlid are an uneasy mix: danios / whiteclouds / medakas and sth american cichlids - dwarf are a pairing to watch.
- Bala Shark Bala Shark is a risk to White Cloud Mountain Minnow: danios / whiteclouds / medakas and sharks are a pairing to watch.
- Bolivian Ram Bolivian Ram is a risk to White Cloud Mountain Minnow: danios / whiteclouds / medakas and sth american cichlids - dwarf are a pairing to watch.
- Cockatoo Cichlid White Cloud Mountain Minnow and Cockatoo Cichlid are an uneasy mix: danios / whiteclouds / medakas and sth american cichlids - dwarf are a pairing to watch.
No conflict is recorded with the other 81 species in the database, so nothing to flag. 4 species are not covered at all, so they could not be judged either way.