Hi, everyone! It's been quite awhile, but I haven't had any news. Charlie goldfish has been up and down with his new tank setup, but basically pretty stable, and my sister's bettas are doing swimmingly (groan! I couldn't resist!) BUT-

Back when I got Charlie, or even before - so three or four years ago now, I think - she got 6 golden white clouds for our eclipse 6 tank. She has a little anubias in there, and a lot of java fern and a couple of plastic plants. The tank has been very stable - we do a 15 to 20 percent water change every week, and feed the minnows once a day, every day. None of these fish have ever had the slightest sign of illness. All the same, a few weeks ago, we were down to five. Then, two weeks ago, another fish vanished without a trace, and she had four left. Two days ago, I noticed there were only three!

There are a fair number of snails in the tank, but none are escpecially large. Nothing else is in the tank. Are they dying of old age and being eaten; is it cannibalism (unhappy thought!) or could there be another explanation? TIA!

I would guess they are dying of old age. white clouds have an average lifespan of about 2 years. The other minnows may be eating the dead ones which is why you are not finding any bodies.

Thanks! I will pass this info on to my sister - we did not realize that they are now elderly minnows. I suppose we might wend our way to the lfs and get more; they don't have the personality of the goldfish or bettas, but they are very pretty little fish and easy to care for.