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I have redline torpedo barbs!
Not that I know much about them, which is why I am writing.
I just couldn't pass these beauties up, even considering the price to be paid. I bought seven a few days ago, and now I have six, but they seem very healthy and are extremely active fish. Any one know about these guys?

were they expensive? if so, i think another name is a dension barb, in which they can get alittle on the big size, and active swimmers,

make sure to research alittle before buying fishes, just a good fish keeping tip, umm, really they should be fine in reg aquarium fish conditions, just keep the tank covered and make sure u have enough room for them.

The following thread has a lot of great information on these fish: [link=http://fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Cyprinid%20Corner/59916.html?200507040805]http://fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Cyprinid%20Corner/59916.html?200507040805" style="COLOR: #808080[/link]

I think that if you can provide them a tank of decent size (upwards of seventy-five gallons) and stable water parameters, you should be able to keep them happy. These barbs really aren't delicate fish.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

These guys have started arriving in fair numbers in central California, and they are gorgeous fish who attract a huge amount of delighted attention. They are still bloody expensive, though -- about $25 right now. If and when they manage to breed them and knock the price down, they will sell like wildfire.

(They do indeed grow rather large -- Capital Aquarium in Sacramento has several of them about 3 years old in a display tank, who have grown to about 5 inches in length.)

best i can get them for is £12-15 each at the moment but i intend on getting some soon.

just wish someone would reply to my post about them 1st.

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Cyprinid%20Corner/67127.html?200512160937

A good buy, though very delicate. I dont know what the disease is called, but I lost 2 of these fish - one a few days after I got it, a large specimen around 5 inches in length; and another one today afternoon that was one of the smaller two in my tank about 3 inches in length. Both were swimming upside down and the underbellies of the fish seemed slightly bloated with the scales not sticking out like in a big way, but very slightly. One of the fins had a red corner, like it had been hurt, but I could not tell.

The bigger one I euthanized, the smaller one that died today was swimming upside down in the morning and passed away in the afternoon.

Clownygirl, one thought occurs to me at this point reading your post.

Did your Denison's Barbs arrival coincide with a water change?

The BIG point to remember with large cyprinids is that they are MUCH more sensitive to chlorine and chloramines than the majority of other fishes - Tinfoil Barbs, for example, will keel over at the slightest whiff of chlorine in the water. I suspect Denison's are similarly sensitive.

Basically, with large cyprinids, you have to be extra scrupulous in ridding your water supply of chlorine and chloramines.

If exposed to chlorine or chloramines, large cyprinids can exhibit assorted disease like symptoms as they expire. It would require some fairly intricate histological examination to eliminate disease and pin down chlorine/chloramine poisoning in those cases, certainly way beyond the capabilities of a home aquarist (looking for the metabolic byproducts of chlorine or chloramine poisoning in a tissue sample requires sophisticated chemistry and, ideally, access to a mass spectrometer!).

The same applies to goldfish, incidentally. Which is why again, goldfish in bowls maintained by complete beginners who follow bad advice should make everyone here wince. Goldie might be a bit more resilient than a Tinfoil Barb in this respect, but not much, and eventually the chlorine in tap water will kill him off if he's subjected to chronic exposure.


Last edited by Calilasseia at 25-Dec-2005 13:53

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

It is possible David though I dont remember very well. On the other hand, when I bought this Denisonii the person trying to catch it was an amateur and kept going after it for like half an hour. I suspect he stressed the fish out too much.

Oh dear.

Takes real skill to catch those things though - once they're alerted to your presence with a net, they're jet propelled and you need the reflexes of a cat to catch them!

Bad enough at times trying to catch juvenile Panda Corys and transfer them to a new aquarium ... those things can move surprisingly quickly! A Denison's Barb, on the other hand, is rocket propelled in comparison to ANY Cory ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Just an update--and a sad one at that. My initial school of seven is down to 2. Plus, all of my emperor tetras are dead. My kissing gourami, which I had for quite some time, also died. I am not sure, but I am almost certain that a case of ich went through my tank. Some of the emperors and the barbs exhibited the telltale signs. It could be possible that I introduced too many fish at once, or the barbs could have been harboring the parasite when I bought them at the LFS.

Someone above made a point about water changes. I did do alrge water change right after I got these the barbs, in the hope of counteracting any negative effects from my biological filter catching up. Maybe I should have left the system alone.

I still have two of the barbs left, and they are fine. But losing five, as well as most of my other fish, has been discouraging. I a 55gallon, I am now left with a hoplo catfish, two barbs, and a bush-nosed pleco (which rarely shows itself).

Geez, that's really a shame. Those barbs are really stunning fish, as are the emperor tetras. With any luck, you won't have a problem like this happen again. Sorry to hear about it.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Sorry to hear about your loss. I'm eventually hoping to add a few of these guys to my 90 so I will let you benefit from my research. The fllowing is what I have gleaned and I think it is mostly accurate but time will tell (if I ever get my tank stable and find some of these guys).

A 55 gallon tank really is probably a bit small for 7 of them, plus your other fish since they get to be about 5 inches or more and are fairly active/fast swimmers. If the 2 you have left survive, I would maybe add 1-3 more at most if I were you. I have a 90 and I was only planning on adding 3-5.

It's also good to note the these guys like higher temps and as I understand it their colors don't really come out until you get to about 79 degrees.

They do seem to be e to dying as they are often wild caught and very succeptible to stress induced illness. This is even more unfortunate because they also sell out relatively quickly so you can't just wait for them to settle in to the LFS for a few weeks before buying them.