White cloud

[Regen311]

So, I got some new fish... I bought 3 beautiful red platys, and the guy trying to catch them what he said was a danio in with them. I had a lot of room in my aquarium, so I decided to get 4 danios too (they're small).... well it turns out the first one wasn't a danio. It was a white cloud. I knew it looked different, but I thought maybe it was the difference between males and females or something. I wasn't too familiar with danios, I just knew that they would be fine in my tank. I had read about them, just didn't know enough about what they look like. So, the 3 danios (they're pearl danios) hang out together and seem fine, but of course the white cloud just kind of hangs out by himself. I feel kind of bad... I can't take him back to the fish store (it's like 45 minutes away), and I don't have any room for more fish. Is this fish going to be completely unahappy? It's either a 30 or 36 gallon tank, so he's got plenty of room, but I know they're schooling fish...

[neilanh]

Why do you say you have no more room in the tank? I would think a 30 or 36 gal tank could handle a bit more bioload than you have.

Is this an established tank you're adding to? What's the rest of your stock list like?

[Stephen]

I'm sure a 30 gallon tank can handle a few more white clouds.

[Burks]

Get 3-5 more White Clouds. They don't produce a lot of waste.

Mine rarely school unless the gourami is being a bit of a jerk.

[coldmachineUK]

You have an antisocial minnow then by the sounds of it lol. Mine school with my tetra and whatever else comes their way, though admittedly there are four of them already. I would get hold of another five of them, then, for a school of six.

They're lovely fish, but to get the best out of them you'll need cooler water (23-25c max or so) and if you've the energy to try and sort it, try recreating a river conditions setup: they'll colour up lovely then in the fast flowing conditions.

[Regen311]

A friend of mine has my old 10 gallon set up, I may see if he has the room to add a couple white clouds to his tank. My tank is currently running at around 78 degrees. Yes, it is an established tank. I already have golden barbs and cories in it. I'm pretty sure I could add some more white clouds, even if I had to do more frequent water changes due to the bioload, but I don't really want the tank to look cluttered. We'll see how he does, maybe he just needs to settle in. Perhaps this weekend if the tank has settled down and there's room, I may get a few more. They stay pretty small I guess. I don't know though, again, just remembering they like the cold water. Maybe I'll just keep him alone and hope it all turns out for the best... Buying fish can be frustrating, espcecially since I'm not an expert and it seems difficicult to get answers in the fish store. When I had mollies a couple years ago, i made the mistake of thinking that the guy in the pet store could tell the difference between males and females, and trusted that he'd get me females, which he didn't. And the two males fought constantly. You live and you learn I guess! I've definately learned to tell the difference on my own.