Tanichthys Albonubes - White Cloud Mountain Minnow By Joe Schill
This fish originally comes from China and requires lower temperatures - they can survive in unheated tanks in a warm room. They grow to approximately 6 cm (2 1/2 inches) and are slim bodied. The body is olive green and white. A dark green stripe, edges above with gold, runs along the length of the body, ending on the tail with a black spot. The fins are yellow, edged with red, and the tail is bight red [quite a colourful fish..... editor]. The colour will fade with age.
This fish is amongst the easiest of all egg-layers to breed. They spawn in pairs on bunches of fine leaved plants after a prolonged courtship. Unusually, there is no need to remove the parent fish after spawning as they generally ignore both eggs and young. I have had them breeding in my fish pond and was surprised by the end of the season to see about 700 fish -starting from seven fish. The fish need a temperature between 16-22C. Unfortunately I lost about half due to an error in temperature and providing insufficient food.