gold cloud minnows

[StripyMagicDragon]

I started with 4 elderly minnows I adopted from a friend who was going to flush them. then there were 3. I was going to let them live out the last of their lives then use the tank for my betta. but now betta has a new tank anyway.

my question/surprise is that I was giving the tanks a clean and thought I noticed some little things in the minnows tank. first thought was snails. but no, theyre fry.
I never noticed eggs, and the water temp is constant, only plastic plants. these minnows are around 6/7 and never spawned before as far as I know. so now I may have a constant minnow presence.
is there anyway to discourage spawning in minnows? or were they having a last hurrah?
I keep them in a tank whose temp is 20, they're active and healthy. would another temperature be best?
or am I doomed to multiple minnows?

They are randy buggers, the only way to stop them is to separate males and females. It should be simple to tell, the males have more intense red colours (although might be tricky on the golden variety) and the females are plumper- try looking at them from above as well.

Sounds like they are much happier with you if they are spawning :) Well done for rescuing them, who the hell flushes fish just because they don't want them

I've never had them before, been sitting staring at the tank trying to decipher who is male or female. I think two females, one male. I feel bad about separating him because they like being in groups. I may keep a permanent minnow tank I suppose, my dd loves them, quite funny wee fish to watch. plus some baby fish have excited her, I counted 8 fry so not too prolific thankfully.

I know, the person (dh's cousin) was going to flush the fish now has asked if I can take 4 Albino corys. the only space is the minnows tank. could they go together peacefully? from what I've read they should so need to adjust some bits for them.

or would they be ok in the betta tank till I get the water temp up in the minnows? argh, logistics!

Aw baby minnows!!!! I keep hoping mine will spawn but no luck so far --I think
my goldfish eats them the fat bugger-- I reckon you should definitely have a minnow tank.

Should be fairly easy to sell if you can grow them on a bit?

I wouldn't think 20 degrees is warm enough for corys, I'd keep them at about 26 I think. They should be OK with the Betta if the tank is warm, for a short while - how big is your betta tank?

20 degrees is OK for corys, they prefer it a bit cooler than a lot of tropical fish. 26 is very warm, best for livebearers and bettas maybe but not corys.

Sorry I missed this before :( Corys and minnows should be fine together.

Sorry, then I stand corrected. I kept bronze corys in the past and was told to keep them at 22 to 26 degrees in my community tank.

That's the standard temperature that most shops will tell you for tropical fish but there's a lot of variation between different species of fish (and species of cory). It wouldn't kill them being kept at 26 and they may not even get ill but some cory species will thrive much better at the lower end of the scale. Looking at their natural environment will give a big clue as to what sort of conditions they will thrive in.