AquaNexus verified profile
White cloud mountain minnow
Tanichthys albonubes
A cool-water schooling minnow best kept in a large shoal; cryptic lineages make provenance and separation of wild-origin stocks important.
Outcome: PASSED Permanent ID: 732
Profile overview
- Scientific Name
- Tanichthys albonubes
- Identity and search names
- White cloud, White cloud pond minnow, Tanichthys albonubes
- Category
- Freshwater fish
- Subgroup
- Rasboras, danios and minnows
- Environment
- Freshwater aquarium
- Origin
- Cool streams of southern China and northern Vietnam
- Care
- Beginner
- Adult Size
- 3–4 cm
- Lifespan
- 5–7 years
- Tank
- At least 80 L for twelve or more
- Temp
- 16–22 °C preferred; short stable periods slightly outside this range may be tolerated
- pH
- 6.0–8.0
- Hardness
- Soft to moderately hard
- Salinity
- Freshwater; no routine salt addition
- Lighting
- Normal aquarium lighting
- Placement
- Upper and mid water
- Diet
- Omnivorous micropredator; fine dry food plus small frozen or live foods
- Filtration
- Use mature biological filtration with effective mechanical solids capture and turnover matched to the species’ natural flow needs. Protect intakes, preserve established media during cleaning and keep ammonia and nitrite at zero.
- Aeration
- Maintain continuous surface agitation and dependable dissolved oxygen across the whole aquarium. Increase oxygen reserve in warm water, strong-current systems, dense groups, medication periods and power interruptions.
- Maintenance
- Observe feeding, respiration, body condition and social behaviour daily; test nitrogen waste and key chemistry on a schedule; clean mechanical media before trapped waste decomposes; and perform regular temperature- and chemistry-matched water changes.
- Welfare
- Maintain the stated adult space and social structure, verify feeding, and intervene early when injury, exclusion, weight loss, abnormal respiration or altered behaviour appears. Tanichthys albonubes contains deeply divergent cryptic lineages. Preserve known provenance, do not mix wild-origin lines, and do not maintain this cool-water fish permanently at tropical temperatures.
- Biosecurity
- Never release fish, fry, eggs, aquarium water, sediment, plants or live foods into drains, dams or natural waterways. Confirm current Australian import conditions and South Australian possession, trade and movement rules before acquisition or transfer.
- Review Status
- PASSED
- Source Status
- CURRENT — accepted identity or explicitly bounded species profile; husbandry, welfare, sources and Australian/South Australian biosecurity rechecked. CURRENT
App-ready care, welfare and biosecurity details
Identity Scope
Single-species profile for Tanichthys albonubes. Preserve permanent AquaNexus ID 732, slug white-cloud-minnow and route /species/white-cloud-minnow/; retain former combinations, locality labels and trade names only as searchable aliases.
Adult Size And Space
Expected adult size: 3–4 cm. Minimum permanent housing: At least 80 L for twelve or more. Plan around adult dimensions, activity, social structure, aggression, oxygen demand and waste production rather than sale size.
Social Structure
Keep twelve or more in an active shoal; avoid warm-water tankmates that force chronic high temperatures
Swimming Zone
Primary zone: Upper and mid water. Keep that zone usable for movement, feeding, refuge and escape.
Feeding Ecology
Omnivorous micropredator; fine dry food plus small frozen or live foods
Feeding Plan
Small appropriate meals based on age and body condition
Water Stability
Maintain 16–22 °C preferred; short stable periods slightly outside this range may be tolerated; pH 6.0–8.0; hardness or minerals: Soft to moderately hard; salinity: Freshwater; no routine salt addition. Stable oxygenation and nitrogen-cycle control matter more than chasing one exact value.
Habitat Structure
Cool, well-oxygenated planted tank with open swimming space and a lid
Compatibility Plan
Small peaceful cool-water fish; avoid large goldfish and persistently warm tropical specialists
Breeding Plan
Plant-spawning egg scatterer; eggs and fry receive no parental care and may be eaten Parental care: No parental care; dense fine plants or a separate spawning setup protects eggs and fry.
Quarantine
Quarantine new livestock in a separate cycled system for at least 30 days. Observe appetite, respiration, waste, skin, fins and behaviour; use dedicated equipment and never add transport water to the established aquarium.
Welfare Checks
Maintain the stated adult space and social structure, verify feeding, and intervene early when injury, exclusion, weight loss, abnormal respiration or altered behaviour appears. Tanichthys albonubes contains deeply divergent cryptic lineages. Preserve known provenance, do not mix wild-origin lines, and do not maintain this cool-water fish permanently at tropical temperatures.
Biosecurity And Release
Never release fish, fry, eggs, aquarium water, sediment, plants or live foods into drains, dams or natural waterways. Confirm current Australian import conditions and South Australian possession, trade and movement rules before acquisition or transfer.
Main Risk
Tanichthys albonubes contains deeply divergent cryptic lineages. Preserve known provenance, do not mix wild-origin lines, and do not maintain this cool-water fish permanently at tropical temperatures.
Adult Projected Load
Plan filtration and stocking for the full adult size (3–4 cm), the complete social group and peak feeding waste, not the current shop size. Permanent housing remains At least 80 L for twelve or more.
Filtration
Use mature biological filtration with effective mechanical solids capture and turnover matched to the species’ natural flow needs. Protect intakes, preserve established media during cleaning and keep ammonia and nitrite at zero.
Aeration
Maintain continuous surface agitation and dependable dissolved oxygen across the whole aquarium. Increase oxygen reserve in warm water, strong-current systems, dense groups, medication periods and power interruptions.
Maintenance
Observe feeding, respiration, body condition and social behaviour daily; test nitrogen waste and key chemistry on a schedule; clean mechanical media before trapped waste decomposes; and perform regular temperature- and chemistry-matched water changes.
Overridable Warnings
Warnings are decision support, not permission to ignore welfare limits. Override only with specimen-specific evidence, equivalent risk controls and a recorded reason; never override legal, biosecurity, provenance or no-release requirements.
Sources and review basis
- Eschmeyer’s Catalog of Fishes — Tanichthys albonubes: Taxonomy — accepted name, former combinations, synonyms and identity cross-check
- Chen et al. — cryptic diversity in Tanichthys albonubes: Taxonomy and conservation — cryptic lineages and provenance risk
- IUCN Red List search — Tanichthys albonubes: Conservation and provenance — wild status, locality and collection-risk cross-check
- PIRSA — South Australian noxious fish list: Australian biosecurity — current South Australian possession, trade and movement restrictions
- DAFF — importing live ornamental fish to Australia: Australian biosecurity — national live-fish import pathways and permitted-species warning
AquaNexus uses original editorial synthesis. Exact import, possession, movement and disposal requirements must be rechecked with the current authority before acquisition or transfer.