coldwater fish

[rosierabbit]

all my goldfish recently died from a particularly bad bout of ick so i want to stock it again. its a 5gal. i'll get goldfish if thats my only option, but i'd quite like something different.

i've heard of white cloud minnow, or something like that, how many would i need to keep them happy and how many could i fit in my tank?! any other suggestions??

 

[rosierabbit]

any suggestions?

 

[crimsontsavo]

If you can get to the local creek,pond,river...whatever....try catching your own.
I am in America and catch my own fish.They dont require a heater because they are aclimated to the temps around them.

I have some flag fin shiners..beautiful fish.....and they are native here so no heater required!
Do a search for fish native to your lands and you might be surprised at what you find.There are some really colourful fish out there that arent topicals!
(make sure it is legal to collect wild fish in your area)
Best this is the fish are FREE!

The white cloud minnows are pretty neat and would do well in your 5 gallon.
They will eat flaked foods as well as live.
Good luck and hope this helps!

 

[rosierabbit]

i can't catch my own for numerous reasons -
1) i expect its illegal in england (most things like that are)
2) i can't catch fish
3) all the fish where i live are either too big, or will grow too big, or aren't very pretty
4) i'd have to buy the stuff to catch the fish, which would be more expensive than buying 6 little white cloud minnow.

other than that, it's a really good idea!! thank you for replying though, and i'm glad to hear they eat flakes (is it tropical or goldfish flakes?!).

 

[Alien Anna]

i can't catch my own for numerous reasons -
1) i expect its illegal in england (most things like that are)
2) i can't catch fish
3) all the fish where i live are either too big, or will grow too big, or aren't very pretty
4) i'd have to buy the stuff to catch the fish, which would be more expensive than buying 6 little white cloud minnow.

other than that, it's a really good idea!! thank you for replying though, and i'm glad to hear they eat flakes (is it tropical or goldfish flakes?!).

The majority of wild fish in UK rivers are protected, you're right. We have native brown minnows, sticklebacks (also brown), grayling (rather large and brown), brown trout (very large and brown with beighe spots), stone loach (long and thin, spotty brown) etc.

IOW, most of our native species are varieties on the theme of brown. Plus by catching them you'll either get into trouble for taking protected species, or you'll get into trouble for poaching.

So I'd strongly suggest you don't do that.

Cold water fish (other than goldfish, koi, hillsteam loaches and minnows) also include pygmy sunfish (1.5" kept in groups with one male. Best for species tank) and Eastern mudminnows (2.5", air-breather, schooling fish. Brown).

 

[Alien Anna]

Oh, and white clouds can eat goldfish food but IME they're better off on tropical flake, bloodworms etc. They love live daphnia.

 

[crimsontsavo]

Well hell, if ya wanna dig down deep, , this is what I do for my fish.

I make my own foods,.

Make a bog garden,. (all that is, is dirt,leaves and water with plants.)

After a few weeks it's teeming with live foods..
I add a healthy layer of that to the bottom of my tanks.
make sure you dont introduce any bad beasties to the tank,lol.
But this is just what I do.


Using tropical fish flakes should be fine for your minnows.
Though, you can never beat live foods.
It's just healthier than flaked.

Here is a link that might help ya out.

http/www.aquariacentral.com/articles/wcloud.shtml


Weee good luck!

 

[rosierabbit]

wow ! crimson, you must have some of the luckiest fish alive

 

[rosierabbit]

just wondered, it says white cloud minnow are rare on that website, but one of my lfs has a huge tank (at a guess, 75 gal.) full of the lil critters (overstocked with them, actually - theres at least 100 in there... maybe more ). is it more common to have none?

 

[nene]

The long finned White Cloud is rare and hard to find. The regular White Cloud is not, in fact some pet stores sell them as feeder fish. I have White Clouds and next to Corys, they are my favorite fish. They are very hardy. When you get them their color will be washed out because of stress and it may take a couple of weeks for them to get their colors back. They look best with dark gravel. Their coloring is subtle but beautiful. If you have at least 6 they will usually school and they all get along really well. They make for a peaceful and relaxing aquarium.

 

[crimsontsavo]

Yup, my fish are very lucky,lol.
They get the best money doesnt buy LOL!
I havent spent one red cent to feed any of them. hehehe,im a cheap person.LOL.
They dont seem ta care though.

Edit ( to make it easier when you harvest live foods, mosquito larva,worms....etc....just put some bread in their tank.....after about 30 minutes or less there will be loads around the bread to scoop out!)

 

[jlm]

Rosie,
Have you determined why your goldfish died? How many were there?

White clouds are an excellent suggestion for a small, unheated tank. They like to eat tropical flakes, but they also like other things, like frozen bloodworms.