Vietnamese White Clouds

January 15th, 2010

Last fall, I bought a dozen Vietnamese White Clouds in an auction at a Capital Cichlid Association’s meeting. I have never kept these fish before, but was always tempted by them in the fish stores. The one thing I never realized was how magnificent their fins can be until I put the group in my 20L and the males started displaying. In the stores, the fish just seem to hover in place, but in my tank, the males are constantly chasing each other around.

White Clouds

Supposedly these fish are very easy to breed, but I have not yet seen any eggs or fry in my aquarium. It’s possible that some loaches are taking care of any eggs that might be in the tank. These White Clouds seem to be fantastic fish for the planted aquarium. In addition, they can tolerate slightly cooler temperatures, so you don’t necessarily have to keep a heater in your aquarium. There is also a long-finned version of this fish which is even more impressive.

Posted in 20L Tank Log, Fish Profiles | 11 Comments »

11 Responses to “Vietnamese White Clouds”

  1. Warren Says:
    January 15th, 2010 at 9:38 am

    Wow. I would have been biased against them because they are “just minnows”, but they’re gorgeous.

    Nice fish!

    Warren

  2. m@ Says:
    January 15th, 2010 at 10:45 am

    Wow, great pic. Are the Vietnamese variety different than the standards White Clouds I might see in store?

  3. guitarfish Says:
    January 15th, 2010 at 9:32 pm

    m@, I believe they are a separate species. From what I’ve read online, they are a little bit smaller than the regular White Cloud. If anyone else has more info, please chime in.

  4. Chris Says:
    January 16th, 2010 at 3:50 pm

    Heya, just wondering if you know the scientific name for these??

  5. guitarfish Says:
    January 16th, 2010 at 4:16 pm

    A quick google search brings back Tanichthys micagemmae as the scientific name. The pictures look like my fish, so we’ll go with that.

  6. Johnny Says:
    January 19th, 2010 at 10:24 pm

    Kris,

    Very nice! I actually got some from the Aquafest event after seeing how nice they looked in your aquarium. Mine are doing fairly well and are constantly active. I hope mine breed very soon!

  7. guitarfish Says:
    January 20th, 2010 at 8:52 am

    That’s great JD! I thought that I would have seen babies by now in my tank too since it’s packed with fern and moss for the fry to hide. I do have two loaches in there though, so maybe they’re clearing any eggs out…

  8. bdagosti Says:
    January 21st, 2010 at 4:21 am

    These fish seem hard to find. I’m still trying a few local stores around Portland, Oregon. Have any idea where I can get these (specifically the long fin)?

  9. guitarfish Says:
    January 21st, 2010 at 9:59 am

    Your best bet would be to talk to your local store owners to see if they’d bring any in for you. If that’s not possible, try contacting Houston Aquarium Warehouse:

    http://houstonaquariumwarehouse.com/

    Otherwise, a google search for them turns up several online vendors selling them.

  10. donna Says:
    April 3rd, 2010 at 12:22 pm

    I bought some of these last fall in Portland from World of Wet Pets to use as dither fish in a tall square 16 gal. They aren’t shy and get along with the other fish but tend to stay at the surface unlike my other White Clouds. They may need a roomier tank in order to be active.

  11. Tom Says:
    June 3rd, 2011 at 8:53 am

    I was wondering what the temperature tolerance of these were. Can they stand temperatures close to 90 degrees F. ?