I have a lone white cloud minnow about 4 cm long that I was given by someone. What other fish are compatible? I put him in with my two comets but they seemed aggressive. I also have two koi but they would gobble him up in a minute!
I know White Clouds Minnows are community fish but my local pet store doesn't have WCMs.
What else can I get? Thank you.
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If you're going to put little fish with koi and goldfish...they will get eaten up but you can put little rasboras with wmm in another small tank.
Nicole V
While it is pretty imperative that you find some WCM for him (try www.liveaquaria.com they ship) anything in the minnow family works. Red minnows, of course, but also any other sort of community fish. He'll school with those that look more like him, though. Danios are a good place to look. Your pet store should carry at the least zebra danios, but may also carry blue danios, giant danios, and possibly gold danios. Most tetras, guppies, and mollies will cohabit quite peaceably with minnows and danios as well.
Keep in mind that minnows and tetras are top to mid level fish. If you want a balanced tank, you should also add bottom fish, such as cory cats (my favorites are the green, and the peppered), shrimp, small algae eaters, and small bottom feeding loaches if the tank size permits.
As with any community fish, I'd advise against putting any sort of aggressive or even semi aggressive fish in. While, for instance, a betta can coexist in a community tank with the right balance of community fish, the wrong sort of fins will antagonize it. Stick to peaceful fish.
Anonymous
That white cloud minnow is going to get eaten by the goldfish in minutes, or he'll die from the stress of not being in a proper school before that. Minnows are schooling fish that thrive when kept in schools of at least six.
Zebra danios, and other tropical fish that may be recommended to you are not great companions. Yes, they're around the same size and are schooling fish as well, but they are tropical whilst minnows are cold water fish found in lakes and ponds. Tropical fish thrive at temperatures anywhere from 70-80F whereas minnows thrive at temperatures anywhere from 60-70F. I recommend you keep him with five or so other minnows if you have the tank space. I don't recommend anything under 20g for a school of minnows.
If your local fish store doesn't carry them, you may want to give him away to somewhere that does carry them, or order them online. He won't be much fun to take care of if he's constantly stressed and skittish.
tish
you could try zebra danios, they are the closest to the wcm, they do like to be in groups