Species Profile # 35: The Fathead Minnow (Pimephales promelas)

[@suzannebennett8987]

Good information for keeping minnows. Thanks!

[@melodies2013]

Discovered your video a whilke ago. Well done and very informative. Thanks for uploading!

[@JohnDoeRando]

Glad im not the only nerd that keeps minnows.... actually I have rosie minnows which arevthe feeder fish version of the fatheads.

[@chicky4444]

I'm no nerd BUT I keep Minnows in my community tank ...

[@fishmansf4]

I am planning on getting a minnow from a bait shop to put in my 29 gallon aquarium.

[@sarahdub1007]

Hello, I was wondering if I could use portions of this video for educational purposes?

[@DannyFTP19]

Why does that first pic of the minnow you put on the video have white bumps on its face? Mine has the same thing??

[@Reyma777]

Male Fathead Minnows when in spawning condition develop tubercles on their snout.

[@samsadowitz1724]

MrReyno Tanks Ive bought fatheads that had an all dark pattern while several others had light patterns. Would these darker minnows be males approaching the spawning phase? It just looks very much like the photo of the male in spawn that you showed.

[@StanTheObserver-lo8rx]

They ARE NOT all that hardy. Not close to Goldfish hardy. But,they are nice small fish in the community tank. I would say the equal to Danio's..maybe better because Rosy/Fatheads like to use the WHOLE aquarium..unlike the surface Danio's. They do well with Rainbow fish..both fish into constantly on the move in a big aquarium at full speed. Sad to see them abused as feeders. They deserve better.

[@ZsaZsaUmbra]

I got a dozen rosy reds that I was hoping to keep with some of my smaller goldfish. 4 of them survived the first week of quarantine, and I lost another one the following week. It wasn't a water quality issue so I can only assume the way that they are reared caused irreversible damage. Inevitably they became aggressive. At the same time I had noticed that the danios in one of my community tanks were a bit too boisterous for their tankmates and stressing them out. So, I ended up putting the danios and 2 minnows into a 30G and 1 of the minnows has his own 20G. They are getting along pretty well. I REALLY want to get more minnows but I'm worried about 2 things, the health of the fish I purchase and their aggression. I would love to get healthy fish from somewhere that doesn't treat them according to their price point. I also don't want to end up with a tankful of bullies.

[@ironbloodbismarck562]

Will they spawn with a largemouth bass in the tank

[@Datacorrupter234]

yes i keep mine with my largemouth and crappies

[@fishmansf4]

I just got a female fathead minnow and it is the only fathead in the tank would it be aggressive with the other fish?

[@joyneville5098]

I just had my fatheads lay some eggs!

[@SunfishForFish]

Did it work?

[@JUSTENization]

Is it true that most minnows carry parasites?

[@aarondhermanson]

So I just put some in a 20 gallon tank. What else do I need to do to keep them alive?

[@yehudah.718]

Feed them boiled vegetables like zucchini, peas, and broccoli every once in a while. Also fish flakes and make sure there are plants because algae will grow on them for the minnows to eat.

[@reidgarrison9629]

Would it have to be fall to breed them in a fish tank

[@killer_b7506]

Will they breed if i dont try for them to?

[@EugeniaBonucci1965]

hello i have a question...

[@fishing748]

thanks man

[@crittersofearth9914]

This species love flat slate to hide under, that’s how they spawn and the male guards the eggs,

[@vcentlee-theunexpectedone]

Why does minnows swim like they are dying always and freakouting like crazy? Also why don’t they have cool colors?!?! Why don’t Minnows survive for a long period of time? Also, how many types of Minnows are there out there?

[@Reyma777]

A number of the fathead minnows in the video have scoliosis a condition that causes abnormal curving of the spine. The minnows were very likely moving around "like they were freaking out" due to the vibrations that my body generated while I was filming them. Fathead Minnows are a type of northern cyprinds which generally aren't too colorful, conversely their more tropical cousins are often brightly colored. Some fish species (fatheads included) have inherently short lifespans. While large carp which are in the same family as fatheads can live for decades and in more extreme cases potentially have lifespans of more than a century. The Carp/ Minnow Family has 3,000 + species.

[@vcentlee-theunexpectedone]

MrReyno Tanks oh ok thanks for explaining it for me very much?!?!

[@kelvinmacqueen1325]

I keep have kept the European version of these fish since I was a kid and when fed bloodworm regularly and when males are in breeding condition they often get a nice red flash on their fins and belly. They are a wild fish who is prey for many larger fish so they are a brown colour as it makes them easier to camouflage themselves against the river sediment.

[@tcntv2438]

Would they eat bread at all

[@Craig607]

They are pretty easy to breed. Their young are regularly used in toxicity testing. I personally used to raise them, about 30 tanks.. Substrate for them to lay eggs on is basic. One of the biggest things is to keep a good male to female ratio and we would remove the substrates once some of the eggs were “eyed up”. Searchbculturing fathead minnows and I bet you’d find some more information.

[@jrrryj6536]

TCNtv2 theyll eat almost anything, but if you're asking about feeding them in a tank, I wouldn't recommend feeding them bread because it'll pollute your tank really fast and grow fungus. It could possibly kill your fish if the pollution isn't cleaned regularly.

[@Craig607]

Sorry, I must have been tired. I read “easy to breed”. They feed on tetramin just fine. The other comment states a good reason not to use bread.

[@jrrryj6536]

Shadoe607 hahah happens to me sometimes too

[@bradransom4871]

Don’t think you know much about the spawning, they are upside spawners. No nest per say.

[@kimfroman2023]

What is upside spawners? I just put a bunch in a fish tank and wonder about breeding.

[@crittersofearth9914]

I want some fat head minnow

[@ChristianB-gl5xh]

let me see if I can remember off the top of my head pulls out phone in Google's it LOL

[@Reyma777]

I was filming with my phone...

[@ChristianB-gl5xh]

MrReyno Tanks I was just kidding that's some good graphics if you're filming off your phone though

[@jrrryj6536]

Jack 3339 not really, that's the average low quality picture you'd get from a phone. No offense to the video.

[@shinplayzproductions8107]

I feed this guy to my pet turtle