Denisonii Barbs - Help Please!

[jnw1981]

I've 3 Denison Barbs in a 120Ltr tank and all does not seem right.

Their bright electric red stripe is almost invisible which I guess is a sign of their mood and they hide in the same corner all day long.
They are skittish with the light on and I cant get them to the surface to eat flakes. In fact they never leave the bottom 2inches of the tank.

The tank is fully cycled and the Denisons were the first to be added about 1 week ago. After a few days I added the Corys which stimulated some interest at first but they've now reverted to inactiveness.

Water parameters are all fine. Temperature is 25-26 degrees.
They currently share the tank with 4 juvenile Cory's.


Please Any tips to cheer them up?
I dont think I can make the shoal bigger as its a 120ltr tank. Would dimming the light help?
Do they prefer open swimming spaces or lots of obstacles in the tank? It's currently setup for open swimming.
ive also 2 airstones going which I hear they prefer.

Thanks!

 

[saz326]

These critters get to around 12 cm in length - not sure your tank is big enough. The depth front to back of the tank should ideally be at least 3 times the length of the fish so as to give them plenty of space to move. Thises fish are fast movers hence the name "torpedo barbs".

They like fast flowing water, so maybe you could increase the flow from your filter? What are they feeding on? Are they feeding at all? They need vegetable matter in their diet so you could try a few cooked peas left over from dinner. Simply squish one between your fingers and remove the skin.

The like heavily planted tanks so they can weave around the plants. Leave some open swimming space across the fromt of the length of the tank so they can feed easily and dart around if they want to, but put plenty of plants areound teh edges and middle/back of teh tank.

...ideally they should be in a 200 litre tank minimum. sorry.

 

[jnw1981]

That's what I thought about tank size but unfortunately I'm stuck with it. Tank is 35cm from front to back so maybe not too bad.
I'm feeding them pellets at the moment and they're eating them. Will try the peas tonight to vary things!
Sounds like I need more plants though.
Their colours did look better this morning so something Ive changed must be working.
The Cory's seem to be getting on great and I'm sure their bemused watching me fuss over the Denison's!

Thanks for the help

 

[Curiosity101]

I think the shoal size may ultimately be the problem here...(presuming they're currently still juvies then at the moment I'm guessing they have plenty of swimming space, they're just not using it)
Perhaps you should think about re-homing them and going for a slightly better sized barb, or if you particularly like fast swimmers then danios?

 

[jnw1981]

Thanks for the tips. i spend yesterday visiting 3 different fish stores to get some more advice.

One guy said he keeps Denison's and uses a 5-6 Cherry barbs as a dither fish. So I've added 2 male and 4 female cherry B's and it seems to have worked.
denison's colour is coming back, they're finally eating flakes and generally look happier... so i'm happier too