Breeding White Cloud Minnows

[foshizzle11]

We started a white cloud minnow breeding tank. We have an 8 gallon fluvial tank, that came as a whole package with the filter, light and CO2 canister/distributor.

We want to breed white cloud minnows, we were thinking for our gar to eat but sounds like it might a year until they are ready to be eaten and wouldn't satisfy the gar at all as they will grow as well and need more food.

Anyway, we currently have a couple live plants for them to lay eggs on in the tank. We have 4 minnows in there currently. We have had the tank setup for about two weeks.

How long would it take for them to be comfortable enough to breed and can we add a few more minnows?

How do we know what sex they are??

Thanks guys!

 

[Andy Sager]

We started a white cloud minnow breeding tank. We have an 8 gallon fluvial tank, that came as a whole package with the filter, light and CO2 canister/distributor.

We want to breed white cloud minnows, we were thinking for our gar to eat but sounds like it might a year until they are ready to be eaten and wouldn't satisfy the gar at all as they will grow as well and need more food.

Anyway, we currently have a couple live plants for them to lay eggs on in the tank. We have 4 minnows in there currently. We have had the tank setup for about two weeks.

How long would it take for them to be comfortable enough to breed and can we add a few more minnows?

How do we know what sex they are??

Thanks guys!

You might want to switch to livebearers to use a feeders. They breed faster and are easier to breed than white clouds. Just a suggestion

 

[foshizzle11]

What is the biggest difference between live breeders and egg bearing?

Can you suggest some live bearing?

Thanks!

 

[Andy Sager]

What is the biggest difference between live breeders and egg bearing?

Can you suggest some live bearing?

Thanks!

The livebearers give birth to live young that are minature versions of their parents. They are pretty much self sufficient from the start. Egglaying fish first need to have a place to lay their eggs and be fertilized, the eggs need the right water conditions to hatch and start off with a stage where they absorb their yolk sacs before they become free swimming and start eating other foods which will need to be very small (in most cases) and not always the easiest to obtain or keep going.
The best livebearers for an 8 gal tank will be guppies. I suggest you get some "feeder" guppies and just let them repopulate the tank. Just make sure you get at least one male in the mix. Other livebearers are Mollies, Platies and Swordtails.

 

[foshizzle11]

Thanks for the heads up.


Any idea what the ideal water/tank conditions are? So temperature, what food, types of plants and ideal pH?

 

[Andy Sager]

Thanks for the heads up.


Any idea what the ideal water/tank conditions are? So temperature, what food, types of plants and ideal pH?

Pretty much just ask the store you buy them in what their water parameters are and use them. With livebearers, whatever water conditions they are living in is breeding condition. Very different from egglayers like Minnows

 

[foshizzle11]

Ya, we went to a different store today and got other fish to breed. We ended up getting Molly's and it looks like one is already pregnant. So that's pretty cool.

They are live bearers too. We have never breeder so it will be interesting to see!

How do we feed them? Same as the other fish food we use?

 

[Andy Sager]

Ya, we went to a different store today and got other fish to breed. We ended up getting Molly's and it looks like one is already pregnant. So that's pretty cool.

They are live bearers too. We have never breeder so it will be interesting to see!

How do we feed them? Same as the other fish food we use?

You can use a basic flake food for the Mollies but you should also add some vegetable matter or Algae flakes or cubes as well.

Good luck with these. They too will be a lot easier than the White Clouds

 

[Sillyfishies]

I think mollies get too big for an 8 gallon. You could only have 2 or 3... I HIGHLY recommend guppies for an 8 gallon.

 

[foshizzle11]

Well we only have 3 and the babies will be feeders for our other fish so it shouldn't be an issue. We won't be keeping a whole bunch of fish!

 

[Oceangirl]

they'd grow faster in a bigger tank. i had 2 sets of fry the same batch, one in a 3 gallon and 1 in a 10 gallon. The ones in the 10 gallon, grew weeks faster than the ones in the 3 gallon. Same everything just different size!

 

[foshizzle11]

Thanks, we will consider moving them to a larger tank.

Will all other fish eat them?? How big do they need to be in order to share a tank with say 5 Priscilla's, 3 blood fin tetras, a dwarf frog, kuhli loach and 1 albino plecostomus?

 

[Oceangirl]

They are really tiny when born, anything that fits in the mouth will be eaten.

 

[Mundle]

I want to breed white clouds
How do you do it

 

[Andy Sager]

I want to breed white clouds
How do you do it

Check out this thread: Exact instructions on breeding white cloud mountain minnows, and how many should i have in a tank? - Yahoo! Answers

I've read through the plan and it's pretty much what I would have told you (so now I don't have to type as much )

Good luck and keep us posted

 

[Mundle]

Sounds to hard thanks anyway

 

[foshizzle11]

That doesn't sound like fun! I'm happy we made the switch.

 

[Andy Sager]

That doesn't sound like fun! I'm happy we made the switch.

Told ya lol
Breeding fish isn't as easy as it sounds but it can be fun

 

[foshizzle11]

Ya, we will try and see what happens. It was more for the kids to have something cool to look forward to. A gift from their nana. We have zero experience so it will be interesting to see what happens!

 

[foshizzle11]

Our babies were born yesterday!

6 little black mollies popped out Sunday morning. Man are they ever cute!

We have crunched up flake food really small for them and bought some vinegar eel cultures at an aquarium/fish auction on the weekend. They seem to really like those, even though you can barely see them.

The babies are really cute and I hope I don't get attached to them because we are breeding to feed our other fish.

We will see!