[jjonesrjc]

So the wife and I were at the LFS a couple of weeks ago working on stocking our 40g tank. We came across what seemed to be uniquely colored Golden Roseline Barbs (Puntius denisonii) in one of their show tanks. They honestly resemble a Showa Koi in coloring. The ones for sale weren't colored up in the holding tank, so we went ahead and selected a couple to see how they turned out. They've begun to show nice coloring however I'm unable to find them anywhere online. Does anyone know if they fall under another name?

 

[cdntanks]

Try Sahyadria denisonii

Here's a Fishbase.org link:

Sahyadria denisonii, Denison barb : aquarium

 

[WaterLife]

Cool find. How much did you pay?
My LFS has gotten in some of the golden variety as well.
Your's would probably be considered culls as the colors aren't deemed as preferred (for regular coloration nor golden form), but nonetheless, the "Koi" pattern still looks neat!

Apparently they are just a selective bred color mutation. So they are the same species as the regular variant.
New fish variety Puntius denisonii 'gold' | News | Practical Fishkeeping

 

[jjonesrjc]

Hey Waterlife. I ended up paying $30 per fish. They had the Golden variety in the tank next to these but I just wasn't as impressed with them and they were asking $40 per golden.

I'm going by the store again today I'll snap some photos of the ones in the show tank as they have magnificent markings.

 

[WaterLife]

Cool!
I'd recommend picking up some more to build a little group for your 2 at home (doesn't matter too much if they are different colors, so you can get the normal ones, they will know they are the same species). They are social schooling fish so they like to be in groups (I always like a minimum of 6 for social fish). I'm sure you know and were just seeing how these two turned out before getting more, but just thought I'd mention just in case, and you are heading down to the LFS anyway.

I think the "koi" patterns make them more unique/identifiable, rather than just look like anybody's regular roseline barbs (some people might think they look ill/in bad shape though).
Might be cool to add in one proper golden to the pack though haha. Would make for another unique specimen and give you "bragging rights"
But I know how it gets with how much we spend on fish

 

[jjonesrjc]

I was planning on adding 3-4 more but wanted to see them color up before deciding if I was going to just grab standard roseline barbs.

There is actually a third in the tank that's albino with only an orange dot on it's nose but it tends to hide in the tall plants and doesn't interact to much with the other two.

 

[Lonestarbandit]

I like the weirdness myself.
Unique.

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[jjonesrjc]

I ended up securing (2) of the standard golden roseline barbs and one of the unique coloring tonight at the LFS.

Here's a shot of the new family. (6) total.

I believe the initial white one I picked up is blind. He has trouble staying with the group and I noticed tonight that during the evening feeding it sources it's food by searching the substrate rather than eating from the water column like the rest of the school.

Has anyone ever experienced that?

 

[bigbadjon]

Cool. I'll bet they look super after they grow out some. I saw the yellow morph on aqua bid once for $75 each. My wife had a hissy fit when I went to buy one though.

 

[jjonesrjc]

Yeah I lucked out my wife saw them and had to have them. So it was a win win for me.

The challenge now is she doesn't understand it can take a couple of weeks to a month to color up fully.

I've switched over to beef hearts and meaty frozen foods to speed up the process.

 

[bigbadjon]

On top of that denison barbs just get more colorful as they grow. Just feed the best you can for the first year when they have the best potential for growth.

 

[Lonestarbandit]

Yes one of my 3 seems obsessed with foraging in the sand the other 2 feed as normal.
Perhaps I also got a crazy one.
He seems to be growing and plump so I don't worry.

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[Betta132]

If one of yours is blind, it should be fine. They can navigate surprisingly well via their lateral lines, and they can usually smell food well enough to get at it. Keep an eye on its stomach to be sure it stays nice and plump, but it should be perfectly fine.

 

[Lonestarbandit]

I doubt he's blind. He schools with the others.
Just at feeding time he prefers to nuzzle through my sand substrate.