Plant Doctor Archive

Water Gardens — White Cloud Mountain Minnows

I HAVE a pond which has several small grey fish with red tails in it. I was wondering what they are and how to breed them.

THESE are White Cloud Mountain Minnows (Tanichthys albonubes). They are easy to keep and I recommend them to any water gardener, especially those with small ponds. They lay eggs and will breed prolifically during spring and summer. If there are any other fish in the pond, even Goldfish, they will eat the eggs and young minnows. The adult White Clouds will not eat their eggs or young so all you need is a pond with no other species present and you will be breeding White Clouds!

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH.