White Clouds (Minnows?)

[TheSims3Dude]

Hello,!

I just went to check on my tank, (a 20 gallon) with 2 platies, 1 molly, 3 loaches, and 3 "white cloud minnows"
Anyways, my one white cloud, keeps "flaring" or "showing" it's fins, (it's bigger than the other 2)
it chases the one and keeps showing off it's fins it looks like, what the heck is it doing? I'm guessing it's a female as it's larger in size, the other 2 are a lot smaller, So ya, my question is why is it doing that? Is it trying to mate?
I watch them all the time & I've never seen it do that...

Sorry, stupid web browser, made a double post!
Didn't mean to do that!

 

[haowin]

hey, not too sure on the flaring, when i had some, didnt really notice any flaring, sure their not stabilising themselves in the water? Also they should be kept in schools. like 7 or so, IS the chasing or w/e a sign of hierarchy domniance or something?

 

[TheSims3Dude]

Hmm, could be, I used to have 6-7 of them, but some of them died, so now I only have the 3
I know their not stabilizing themselves, (I've had em for like 3-4 yrs already

 

[MrNiceGuy]

i have 7 white clouds in my tank and they flare regularly. my understanding is that the males will flare at each other in a competitive sort of way. or maybe the males flare at the females in a mating ritual. not sure, i don't think its a cause for concern though.

 

[TheSims3Dude]

Phew! that's good to hear!
Thanks for the replies! ^^

 

[Biulu]

Yes, it is just dominant behaviour and it is probably the male that's doing it. Either it is to intimidate another male or it is to show a female its 'greatness'

 

[TheSims3Dude]

Kk! Thanks for all the replies, I really appreciate it!

 

[LongS]

I've kept White Clouds for a while now. This behaviour is normal. Its males displaying to the females by flaring their fins. They will probably do this at least once a month (at least they do in my tank). They are very active at feeding time, and pretty fun to watch.

They are fascinating little fish to watch. I keep 7 and might actually get some more. Try to keep more females than males, although this isn't really as important as the likes of guppies as they they will not constantly harras each other to the point of death.

But fin flaring is a good sign of a healthy white cloud.