Puntius Denisonii

[jacob]

I just recieved a puntius denisonii aka denison barb as a gift from my brother, and from what i understand and have read they reach up to 4 1/2", and are peaceful. Other than that I have no clue as I had never heard of them before but the price of $40 makes me want to look into it a little bit. So does anyone have any experiences etc... with this fish? If you do your help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[newfishaddict]

I just recieved a puntius denisonii aka denison barb as a gift from my brother, and from what i understand and have read they reach up to 4 1/2", and are peaceful. Other than that I have no clue as I had never heard of them before but the price of $40 makes me want to look into it a little bit. So does anyone have any experiences etc... with this fish? If you do your help will be greatly appreciated.

I have 5. They are juvenile and about 3-4" long now and I have seen some that were 6" long in a store for 60$ each. I have read an article recently (by a PhD guy) and he said he has seen some 9" long in the wild. I guess that 5-6" seems to be average in a tank. Mine are great fish, they look great and very friendly, at least mine are. I have read that there are different subspecies that have significantly different temperaments.

They should be in a group of at least 5 to be happy and not be nervous.

I had some in a 21g for a short while and they didn’t like it at all, the jumped and were very “nervous”. In my 29g that is long, they seem very happy. I am moving them to my new 55g soon.

 

[Lateral Line]

As with any shoaling fish kept singly or in a group which is too small, it is not possible to predict how it will behave. Some will just hide away and slowly fade and die. Others become aggressive and terrorise a tank. All degrees in that range are possibilities. Whatever applies, the fish will be highly stressed and not live it's normal life span, often turning over fairly quickly.

In a group of 4-5 in an adequate sized tank for a fish that can grow to 6"/150mm it is a peaceful, colourful, moderately sedate fish but does require some open swimming space, it is not as frenetic as some other barbs though. Will eat ordinary food but as with most fish, should be offered a varied diet. They like some vegetable matter, peas are a favourite.

They do not tolerate pollution, so good water quality is important.

Even in a decent sized group, and well cared for, they have a habit of "just dying" for no apparent reason. Gada had 5 I think, but they have slowly died. I'm not sure she has any left now.

Beautiful fish.

 

[newfishaddict]

As with any shoaling fish kept singly or in a group which is too small, it is not possible to predict how it will behave. Some will just hide away and slowly fade and die. Others become aggressive and terrorise a tank. All degrees in that range are possibilities. Whatever applies, the fish will be highly stressed and not live it's normal life span, often turning over fairly quickly.

In a group of 4-5 in an adequate sized tank for a fish that can grow to 6"/150mm it is a peaceful, colourful, moderately sedate fish but does require some open swimming space, it is not as frenetic as some other barbs though. Will eat ordinary food but as with most fish, should be offered a varied diet. They like some vegetable matter, peas are a favourite.

They do not tolerate pollution, so good water quality is important.

Even in a decent sized group, and well cared for, they have a habit of "just dying" for no apparent reason. Gada had 5 I think, but they have slowly died. I'm not sure she has any left now.

Beautiful fish.

I had one that "just died" too, it appeared to be septicimia.....I have read they dont transport well, and mine were jumping like crazy when I got them home in the bag from the store. They didnt seem to like the 30 minute trip....
I have kept my water quality very good (nitrate less than about 10 ppm) and I have had no deaths since being very carfull with water quality....

 

[jacob]

I had one that "just died" too, it appeared to be septicimia.....I have read they dont transport well, and mine were jumping like crazy when I got them home in the bag from the store. They didnt seem to like the 30 minute trip....
I have kept my water quality very good (nitrate less than about 10 ppm) and I have had no deaths since being very carfull with water quality....

Really?? Mine came from an online store, where my brother ordered me him when he got his black piranha. My fish took the shipping just fine and he is in perfect condition

 

[Lateral Line]

>>> I had one that "just died" too

It is odd.

Gada had her group for a few weeks when one suddenly turned over, was fine one day, gone the next. This repeated itself over some months, and now, I don't think she has any left.

I have a friend here that has 5 in a 2m tank with some other Cyprinids and dwarf cichlids. He had 7 and 2 turned over without apparent reason after about a month. The remaining fish seem perfectly healthy and have been there 3 months now. His water is always absolutely pristine, never a trace of pollution, pH 7, low hardness.

 

[newfishaddict]

>>> I had one that "just died" too

It is odd.

Gada had her group for a few weeks when one suddenly turned over, was fine one day, gone the next. This repeated itself over some months, and now, I don't think she has any left.

I have a friend here that has 5 in a 2m tank with some other Cyprinids and dwarf cichlids. He had 7 and 2 turned over without apparent reason after about a month. The remaining fish seem perfectly healthy and have been there 3 months now. His water is always absolutely pristine, never a trace of pollution, pH 7, low hardness.

Interesting, I suspect the ones in my tank that died were bullied and their swim bladder was injured. I think this because the ones that died were bullied a bit, but it was hard to tell because it seemed to happen at night. I guessed that they didnt like my 21g (too small).

Wow, ordering fish in the mail, seems so strange to me. However living in Canada the distances between cities is like the distances between states in the USA, so it is a big difference. Plus, when it is -40 F (= - 40C) here you can immagine the problems with fish in the mail....