Photo: Ethmostigmus, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
White Cloud Mountain minnow
Tanichthys albonubes
4 cm
Adult size
70 L
Minimum volume
8
Minimum group
5 years
Lifespan
Water parameters
Understand these values- Genus
- Tanichthys
- Diet
- omnivore
- Social life
- shoal
In the wild
Overview
The White Cloud Mountain minnow, named after the scout leader Tan Kan Fei who first collected it, comes from the “White Cloud Mountain” near Guangzhou, where it has disappeared. It was thought extinct in the wild before a few populations were rediscovered. Very common in aquariums, it comes in long-finned, golden, albino and “super red” forms; inbreeding in farms has weakened many strains.
- Scientific name
- Tanichthys albonubes Lin, 1932
- Classification
- Cypriniformes › Tanichthyidae
- IUCN Red List
- Data deficient (DD)
Natural habitat
Southern China (Pearl River delta, Hainan Island) and Vietnam; introduced elsewhere
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Rivers and lakes
One of the rediscovered populations lives in a slow, spring-fed mountain stream, in clear, shallow water with dense aquatic vegetation, alongside the paradise fish. The Hainan population occupies a slow coastal stream over sand, pebbles and dead leaves, less than 60 cm deep. It tolerates water at 5 °C.
Behaviour
Very peaceful, ideal in a community tank provided its need for cool water is respected: rosy and Odessa barbs, golden barb, paradise fish. Despite common practice, it is not a good companion for goldfish. Keep it in a shoal. A micropredator: easy to feed, with small live or frozen prey for condition and colour. It can also live in an outdoor pond in summer.
Sources:FishBase Seriously Fish GBIF · Base map: Natural Earth