Cardinal fish gold - Tanichthys albonubes "gold

The Golden Cardinalfish, Tanichthys albonubes, is another great breeding form of the Cardinalfish, originally from southern China. There it inhabits clear and rather weakly flowing waters with weedy shore areas. The Cardinalfish, which belongs to the group of the Bearfishes, has an interesting scientific species name, which refers to the so-called "White Cloud Mountain", and thus means the habitat of the White Cloud Mountain.
The Golden Cardinalfish can spend the summer in the garden kingdom and can otherwise be maintained well at room temperature.

In the basic coloration it is golden, only the fins show a delicate red, partly with white fringes. Far behind are set dorsal and anal fins, which start at about the same height. At mating time, especially the males shine in intense shades of red. Even though the males defend their territory well during courtship, they do not harm their fellow fish in the process. Especially the more intense colors and slimmer build distinguish the males well from the somewhat plumper and rounder females. With a targeted temperature reduction and increase, as well as a more intensive live feeding, the cardinalfish can be motivated to mate. The courtship dance takes the form of circling the female, with the male simultaneously raising and lowering all fins. The free spawners usually lay their eggs somewhere scattered in the aquarium, therefore for targeted breeding a tank filled with Java moss as spawning substrate in an aquarium of 20 liters or more. After approx. 48 hours the larvae hatch, which should be well fed with infusoria and freshly hatched Artemia nauplii. Very good water hygiene should be maintained.

The Golden Cardinalfish is a schooling fish with a more or less fixed social structure, which it lives out intra-species. Therefore we recommend keeping it with at least 12 or more animals. Its aquarium should contain at least 60 liters and may have a light and coarse-grained substrate. Roots and stone structures can serve as territorial markers, but also create a visual screen. The dense planting in places serves as a retreat for the sometimes highly courted females and lower-ranking animals. The water can be soft to hard and rather cool at 17 to 22°C. With permanently higher temperatures over 23°C the Gold Cardinalfish can even get sick.

The Golden Cardinalfish can be easily socialized with other peaceful fish. For example with  tetras and danios, but also livebearers such as Guppy, Platy and Swordtails, as well as with Loricariid catfish. Also suitable are Dwarf crayfish, as well as well propagating Dwarf shrimp species and the popular Amano shrimp. It happens that the offspring from time to time spice up the menu of cardinals.

The omnivorous Golden Cardinalfish can be easily fed with commercially available flake food and granulated food for omnivorous fish. They also pluck at algae coverings and eat the microfauna contained therein, which is why they are also given Algae leavesscalded vegetables and also Vegetable chips can be offered to them. From time to time they are happy to eat live and frozen foods such as white, red and black Mosquito larvae, Enchytraea, grindalworms, Artemia and Daphnia.

Our food recommendation: The fragrant NatureHolic Guppyfeed was tailor-made for the requirements of guppies and other viviparous fish in the aquarium. In addition to high-quality animal-based ingredients, it also contains plant-based components that benefit guppies & co. The soft granules protect the sensitive mouth of the viviparous from injuries caused by hard food grains and provide the fish with a natural feeding experience.

Our plant recommendation: For planting, use NatureHolic InVitros. These are free of snails, planarians and other unwanted co-inhabitants. Also free of algae spores, bacteria and fungi.

Expert Tip: We recommend for fish keeping the NatureHolic 3 Phase Liquid. The care set offers the best all-round protection for your animals. It ensures optimal conditions for successful breeding and keeping.