#wcmm

[wetmek]

Tanichthys albonubes - White Cloud Mountain Minnow

[gay-werewolves]

this is probably incomprehensible to anyone but me

[badgerofshambles]

I just did a very big water change on the white cloud tank and slightly overfilled it. One of the big females keeps going to the outlet of the smaller whisper filter, throwing herself onto the mesh media I stuffed in there and laying eggs, which are then immediately jettisoned down into the tank. She’s really up there, doing the fish equivalent of sticking your dick in a vacuum cleaner’s hose attachment. Nature is beautiful.

[sassyhazelowl]

These minnows... they’re unstoppable.

Like the klutz I am, I accidentally spilled a ton of decapsulated brine shrimp into my nearly empty 20L. Imagine a beautiful cloud of tiny white snowflake-like specks glistening throughout the entire tank ready to spike the ammonia so high.

My first thought was Oh Shit followed my so expensive, such a waste, followed by me grabbing the net to scoop out 20 minnows out of their tank to do some clean up work.

They shook it off like nothing. Within seconds of hitting the new tank they were gobbling that shit up. Within minutes they were in a completely clear tank and looking for more before going back to their 40 gallon.

I appreciate these little guys even if I never really wanted them in the first place. They’re such hardy, lively fish.

[aquariumadventures]

As clear pictures as I can get of my tiny fish.

[badgerofshambles]

Some shots of my 20 long White Cloud Mountain minnow set up. I swear I could spend all day taking pictures of these fish and still only get a handful where any one fish was in focus, they’re just that active. Keep that in mind when someone tries to tell you they’ll be okay in a five gallon; they’re small but super busy.

The babies I let in with the adults earlier this week are doing great so far, good color and holding their own with the school. I’m doing an extra feeding each day to make sure they get their fair share and can keep growing.

This is how I’ll leave the tank until January. Then I’ll be looking to get rid of the gravel and replace it with either sand or substrate so I can grow some nice low-co2/low light plants. I’m not in a position to get high tech right now since I’m living under my cousin’s roof. If anything went seriously wrong with these guys she’d be pretty upset. She’s more attached to them emotionally than I am to be honest. Some days I come home and find her sitting on my bedroom floor, staring up at the tank. She apologizes when I catch her but I’m glad it brings her some peace. That’s what it’s there for.

I also have some nice driftwood from my trip to Lake Erie this past summer that I may put in too. It’s big but if it saw it down or snap some off it might work. For now I have the two big hunks of mopani and the spiderwood as a centerpiece. Not sure how I’d fit more but I love a good jungle tank, so I’m not worried about it looking cluttered.

[badgerofshambles]

Today was graduation day for my little White Cloud minnows born back in August! Four of the 20-odd fry made it from that hatch. They’ve come a long way from the little sea monkeys they used to be. They’re all about an inch long and strong enough to hold their own with the adults in the main tank. This brings my total school number to 11, with five silver and six gold. AqAdvisor puts me at 45% stock with this many fish in a 20 long, which is about as high as I’m comfortable going until I get this thing heavily planted and re-scaped. 

The babies were all okay with getting in the observation cup except for the last guy with all the debris in his water. He was so stubborn he wedged himself between the netting of the breeder box and the frame. I had the take the whole thing apart to get to him. Once they were all out with the adults they seemed to be doing well. The adults are definitely more scattered than they previously have been, but I’m guessing that’s because I took the largest piece of furniture in their home and also added four new occupants. The big dominant gold male (aka the father of today’s grads) flared at them for about a second before getting bored and going off to harass the little silver boy. Terrible dad, he is. 

The last picture is what’s left of the jute twine spawn mops I placed in the breeder box at the start of the process back in August. The box was covered in an extremely fine mesh net, so certain critters-like scuds- couldn’t get out once they got in and started breeding like crazy. These mops used 3-5 feet of twine each. My logic in using twine was that it would create microprey for the baby fish to eat as it decomposed. I hadn’t counted on scuds (aka ampipods) doing most of the decomposing for themselves. Generally I am very pro-detritivore, since a good clean up crew makes for a more stable tank and a little less maintenance. However, don’t let them get out of hand like I did. The amount I had to get rid of today was a bit much. 

I’ll try to take some decent pictures this weekend, though. I’m tempted to go get some sand and fertilizer and start the re-scape I've been looking forward to ever since the last crayfish died. However in two weeks I’ll be traveling all over the place for the holidays, so I should really hold off until I get back. 

[glassboxdiaries]

✨ I Have Baby White Cloud Mountain Minnows! ✨

A few days ago, while watching my tank, I spotted something tiny darting around in the corner.

At first, I thought it was a baby shrimp 🦐, but when I looked closer, I realized it was a tiny White Cloud fry!

There are definitely two of them, maybe even three, but they dart in and out of the plants so quickly it’s hard to tell.

My golden White Clouds have been in this tank for months now and started breeding almost immediately after settling in.

I honestly didn’t expect to see any fry because my ramshorn snails 🐌 usually eat the eggs soon after they’re scattered.

Somehow, these little ones managed to beat the odds!

The fry are incredibly fast 🚀—much faster than the Medaka fry I raised earlier this year.

Catching them would be nearly impossible, so I’ve decided to leave them in the tank with the adults.

They seem to be doing fine hiding near the plants.

To give them a little extra help, I’ve started adding Hikari First Bites 🥣 to their diet, and it looks like they’re eating it!

If all goes well, they’ll grow up healthy and start eating adult food soon.

Wish me luck with these tiny fry! 🐟💛