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Thread: denisonii - Puntius or Crossocheilus?

  1. #1
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    denisonii - Puntius or Crossocheilus?

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    Hi all,

    The Denison barb, with its SAE-features, red and yellow stripes, makes for a rather striking addition to any planted aquarium. However, I have read on the Internet that these barbs will feed on soft-leaved plants.

    As a plant enthusiast, I certainly do not want to introduce any fish that are herbivorous or omnivorous in nature. Does anyone have the experience of keeping these Puntius/Crossocheilus denisonii in their aquariums?

    I have seen a few of these fish kept in planted tanks, but I need to ensure that my plants will not end up as feed for them. Are these peaceful community fish as well? It is rather new in the LFS, and I have seen some LFS sell them at $10 each. To me, that is a rather good price.

    Hope to keep them in harmony with my photosynthesizing units...

    Any comments on this fish?
    Yecch!

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    It's a Puntius, how you get the idea it is a Crossocheilus ?
    why I don't do garden hybrids and aquarium strains: natural species is a history of Nature, while hybrids are just the whims of Man.
    hexazona · crumenatum · Galleria Botanica

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    I am not too surprised the mistake can be made..... the fish is really quite atypical, considering the bulkier body profile of most Puntius barbs. But give credit to Desewer, he's getting the hang of generic ID-ing of fish!

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    well to be fair, Puntius is really a lap-sap-thunk genus, any cyprinids with chiu will be a Puntius by default, unless you are even more backward like some of those temperate country fish-book writer who insist on calling all barbs Barbus.
    why I don't do garden hybrids and aquarium strains: natural species is a history of Nature, while hybrids are just the whims of Man.
    hexazona · crumenatum · Galleria Botanica

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    Methinks we must initiate a Systomus drive around here..... have you also seen the revision of the Tiger barb into Systomus (or Puntius) tetrazona and S. anchisporus? According to Baensch Vol 6, ST is noted for an incomplete lateral line, with 22-24 line segments, some other finnage differences and all black colour fins, while SA has a complete lateral line, with 19-23 lateral line segments, and red colour on dorsal/pelvic fins.

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    if you've seen my "simi fish" series in petfrd and the Systomus johorensis in this forum, you'd know I'm a big systomin fan and of Walter Rainboth too.
    why I don't do garden hybrids and aquarium strains: natural species is a history of Nature, while hybrids are just the whims of Man.
    hexazona · crumenatum · Galleria Botanica

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    Let's not stray too far off-topic, shall we?

    Has anyone had the experience of keeping these Puntius denisonii in their planted tanks?
    Yecch!

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    Hi Desewer,

    You can't really find any planted tank fish that's NOT herbivorous, unless you want a pure piscivore. Most species available are omnivores (even 'herbivores' like ottos and SAEs won't refuse bloodworms), and there are of course variations in dietary behaviour depending on the individual fish. For P. denisonii, I see those large ones in Eco Culture in a tank full of large plants.... i imagine fine-leaved plants like Rotala wallichi may succumb to their grazing habits, but it's likely they are as fine (or bad) as SAEs and flying foxes... of course if they are well fed, they may well prefer your fish food to the plants and algae.

    Do note that this species gets rather large, at about 15 cm..... so they look dreadfully squeezed in any tank less than 4 ft.

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    Thanks for the input. I'm running a 48x18x18, so I guess that size should suffice. Planning to get about 5-6 of the fish, to brighten up the tank.

    Thanks!
    Yecch!

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