# denison barb questions



## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

Big als in Ottawa has these guys on sale for 6.99 each and seriously thinking of picking up 6 to 9 of them.

I have a 90 gallon planted tank with pressurized co2 so the tank is large enough. My current stock is 3 yoyos, 3 clowns 3-5 inches, a variety of catfish and 2 remaining tiger barbs. The Denison barbs would be my main display fish.

Now the possible problem

In the summer I moved and 3 of my 4 boesemani rainbows died before they even made it out of the old house. Moved again recently and the last rainbow also died during transition. All the other fish did just fine, the rainbows just didn't make it for some reason. Maybe they aren't as tough as other fish.

Now I did just move here but I expect to move again probably in the summer or so. Are Denison barbs a tough enough fish to survive a move or are they a weaker fish? I don't want to spend the money on fish that will probably die when I have to move again. But if they are not overly sensitive, I am more than willing to pay this great price.

I plan to get 6 to 9 of them depending on their size, more if smaller and less if bigger. I have seen adults and I love these fish but they were always priced too high for me to consider them.

so, are they tough enough for a move in the future or best to avoid them?


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## zenins (Sep 17, 2013)

Denison Barbs are generally nervous fish.
Like Bala (Tri-colour) sharks, they do better in a group of 3, 5 is better.
The get easily stressed, so frequent moving is not a good idea 
The ones at 6.99 each are probably pretty small,
so they would be even more susceptible to stress because they
do not have the body reserves that the larger fish have.
How large are the yoyo loaches ?
Yoyos are very touchy feely with other fish who might not like the attention 
The denison barbs have to be at least as large as the yoyos or even bigger
so they don't get stressed out as much.

Most times, getting 3 larger Denison barbs is more successful than getting 6 or so smaller ones ...


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

my yoyo's are 4 to 5 inches long, getting pretty mature

So if they are smaller, I would be best off putting them in my lower 50 gallon until they grow up. That tank is stocked with glowlights, neons, mollies, harlequins and such.

the lower tank has no co2 and I run an ac 70 and ac 50 so lots of surface agitation. But the PH is 8.2 in that tank which is on the high side for denisons but should be ok.

the upper 90 gallon display tank looks to have a ph of 7.2 to 7.4, was 7.4 when I tested a few minutes ago but I had played with the co2 last night and it was running a tiny bit low, drop checker was only a little green.

So it sounds like there is a bit of a risk but still not sure.

More info, I have about an hour drive home from the store where I will buy them. I will be putting them in a cooler to maintain temp and letting the store know I have an hour drive and that I will have to drip acclimate them to.

I will be calling the store before I leave to confirm stock levels and the size. Don't want to drive an hour if they don't even have them or if they are only 1.5 inches long or some crazy small size. Really hoping they are at least 3 inches.

Still not totally sure if they are a safe investment or not. I'll be spending close to $100 in total for gas and fish which is quite a bit for me. If I get them, merry Christmas to me.


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## bob123 (Dec 31, 2009)

If the Dennison barbs are three inches you could expect to spend about $30 a piece, at $6.99 they will likely be 1.5 - 2 inch size. As for travelling one hour it would not be a problem I bought 6 and had them in a styrofoam container for about 6 hours with no problems, they are now between 3.5 - 4" size.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

This gives me a lot more confidence in this purchase, thanks!



bob123 said:


> If the Dennison barbs are three inches you could expect to spend about $30 a piece, at $6.99 they will likely be 1.5 - 2 inch size. As for travelling one hour it would not be a problem I bought 6 and had them in a styrofoam container for about 6 hours with no problems, they are now between 3.5 - 4" size.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

Picked up 8 of them, put them in a bucket with the water from the bag and dripping water in from the main tank to acclimate them. Even picked up some frozen bloodworms to feed them regularly to help them grow up a little faster. As long as 6 make it to adult, I am happy, all 8 would be perfect.

So, anyone know how many months for these guys to grow from about 2.25 inches to about 4 inches?


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

36 to 48 months


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## SKurj (Oct 26, 2011)

I've got 10 of these, in a 20g, I bought them not much more than an inch in size for a little more than you are paying. I bought 11 but one passed on. They are now over 2" some maybe close to 3" and I have had them less than a year. I noticed a big spurt when I changed to a small veggie pellet food, the fish freak out over the stuff they will eat a lot in a short period of time and they will eat it until their bellies are visibly stretched. I was going to move the group into a 40B with some cichlids but plans have changed and I am going to trade them in. I will definitely keep them again in the future when I have the room.

I did have a few large 4" ish ones that I put into a 180g CA cichlid community... that was a mistake.. even though they are so fast, they didn't make it.


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