Karly

Oh I see you're in Chch too. So disregard the comment re being sold as coldwater fish - you obviously already know that! Cheers

Hi jn. I've had minnows for approx 17 mths or so. I think your ones just need to get used to where the food comes from. Give them time...in a couple more days they'll have it sussed out. Mine took a few days when I got them too. In Chch they are sold as coldwater fish, but I feed mine the micro granules for small tropical fish as they are nice and small for the minnows' wee mouths. Mine love those. I also feed them goldfish flake, spirulina flake, frozen bloodworms and, at the moment, frozen brine shrimp, as I'm breeding from them. In my experience they love variety and eat just about anything. But my ones' favourites are the micro granules and the frozen bloodworms. You'll get to know which yours prefer. I feed mine a different food every day and usually feed morning and early evening. If your new minnows are very small you may need to crush the micro granules and flake so they are even finer and the minnows can fit the food into their wee mouths. Hope this has helped!

Sorry....SpidersWeb....(not spiderweb)! Thanks Zev. I was wondering whether snails would help as I have a friend who is currently getting overrun with them. But from memory when I had them before they leave a lot of droppings in the tank themselves anyway. But heh, I'm willing to try anything. Will give it a go.

Thanks guys. I think you may have hit the nail on the head SpiderWeb. I have been doing water changes as I read that fry hate dirty water. Excuse my ignorance (but I am new to fishkeeping) but how do I keep the water clean without doing water changes....do I just syphon out the rubbish and return the same water once the rubbish has settled in the bottom of the bucket???? And also I was removing the fry and putting in a separate container, but every day one would be dead in the bottom of the container. I had read to do this on the internet somewhere, but it didn't work for me. So in desperation I put the remaining 14 or so back in the tank with the adults and every day or so I would see one floating around dead. I now have two left which have been alive for quite a while so I hope they will survive long term. However my big fat female has obviously laid her eggs in the last day or so and I'm expecting more fry any day now.....HELP!!!!! There conditions at present are that I have 7 minnows in a 30 litre tank with Java Fern and stones. I had an airstone in there (which I read to do) ...the smallest I could get, but it was still a bit strong for the fry (as I've read they don't like a lot of flow in the tank) so yesterday I took the airstone off and put a wee diver on the hose instead and the flow in the tank is a lot gentler now so I'm hoping the fry will like that better.

Thanks Caryl for the info. Have sent Loopy a message. Thanks for the welcome SpidersWeb....wow over 2000 litres - that is impressive!!!!! Sounds awesome. Just as well we don't have a bigger house as I could go crazy with tanks if I had the room!

Thanks for the welcome Jude. I was wondering what MTS was through reading previous comments, but in the context you've sent to me ...now I click....it's something like Multiple Tank Syndrome....and yes, fishkeeping as I'm sure you know if VERY addictive....much to my husband's frustration...HA!!!

I have recently started trying to breed from my white cloud mountain minnow and am pleased to say I have been successful, however my fry have all (bar two) died!!!! I've had two lots hatch - about 42 the first time, then ten days later another 18 arrived. Have tried several different methods of housing and feeding the fry, but with not much success. Rather than go into all the various things I've tried, if anyone has any info they think could be of help to me, could you please let me know what you think works best with these little guys. Thanks :

Hello great all-knowing ones! Obviously, as I'm writing in this area, I'm another new member. I have been browsing the site for a few weeks in my search for information on breeding wcmm and decided I might as well join as I have only been keeping fish for a year and am sure I will learn HEAPS from you guys. I'm a 40 year old, married, mother of two boys (currently 3 and 5 years old). I live in Christchurch and am a stay at home Mother, but I also sell Avon part-time from home as well. My tanks: 60 litre hexagonal tank containing two blue fantails (grey in colour), one red fantail and two small moors. Aquaone CR320 28 litre tank containing one shubunken and two comets. 30 litre tank containing 7 white cloud mountain minnows which I am breeding from. Anyway, that's me in a nut shell. Hope to hear from some of you and learn heaps over time. What a great resource for fishkeepers!