Feeding denison barbs

[Skatersav]

Hi everybody! I've got 8 really healthy Denison barbs that I'm extremely happy with, but it's been a long unhappy road for me. I have owned a total of 12 during the process and lost 4 due to gut problems. Three died from emaciation and one tied from bloat. I tried flubendazole but that didn't do anything - I know this isn't the best treatment around but I have concluded that this wasn't a parasite problem. I tried lowering the temperature, and that seemed to improve their overall health a bit, but I still had deaths after that (I was at 25 and dropped it to 23 which I think is a bit better for denisons - they seem to be enjoying themselves now anyway). The thing that ultimately seemed to make the difference was cutting down the animal protein in their diet. I now basically feed them what I used to feed my tropheus moorii - primarily spirulina flake. I throw in a bit of Spectrum every couple of days and I risk some frozen daphnia once every couple of weeks. Growth is slow but I think this is quite a good thing given their large adult size. Any views from fellow Denison keepers? S

 

[bluemoon280]

Hmmm. I must be very fortunate then. I got 6 denisonii barbs about 2" a couple of years ago. I still have 6 and they are now over 4".

They are great fish. The colours are wonderful and they shoal all the time.

I keep em at 25, and they eat anything I put in. Flake, live food, pellets, they have never refused anything.

That probably doesn't help , but they have never been a difficulty. One got a small cut from a rock, that healed is all I can remember.

Cheers

 

[sWozzAres]

I have three. Two of them must be nearly 10 years old.

I had one die from emanciation shortly after buying him and one other died from damage, he got startled and jumped out of the water into the light reflector. Next day he had a big white patch on his side, then lost the ability to swim. I had to put him down.

Anyway, they have always been at temp 26C. I feed them Tetra Prima and very very rarely they get some frozen bloodworm or daphnia.

They are fast swimmers and can easily damage themselves. Over 10 years they have had popeye a couple of times, always down to neglect on my part, this is easily fixed by using Melafix (which is excellent stuff btw).

They also require high O2.

 

[hinch]

mine take flake, tetra prima, bloodworm and even pick on the plec's algae pellets if the plecs aren't quick enough, pretty much anything that goes in the tank they'll have a nibble at.
Keep my temps at 25 and they're all happy

 

[sWozzAres]

Mine are about to go into a bigger tank which has been growing well over the last 6 weeks. It has some MYRIOPHYLLUM MATTOGROSSENSE which I trimmed and put the cuttings into the old tank with the barbs.

Next day they had eaten all the leaves

Now I have to rethink my plants before the barbs go into the new tank!

They also eat snails, and green thread algae. I don't feed them much though so maybe they will eat anything if they are hungry enough.

 

[Skatersav]

Hmm. Maybe it was a parasite problem. I have heard of others losing a few when they are young and I have a theory it's to do with their diet.

 

[awtong]

I have 3 out of my original 4 left and had them a good while the biggest one is now pushing 10cm. The 4th died from an eye infection and nothing diet related. Mine feed on whatever goes in the tank so good quality flake, algae tabs, and massivore pellets will get picked at. They will also pick at the veg and fruit that goes in for the Plec's. They also get fed once a week on frozen offerings. My tank is kept at 26C but I don't run CO2 and have a good amount of surface agitation so it is well oxygenated.

Mine have moved with me from a Juwel Rio 125 to a Rio 180 and are now in a Vision 450.

Andy