Denison Barbs/Roseline sharks with Arowana

[tiger15]

Here in India, Denisons are around $1 each for 2.5" to 3" sizes...
definitely dont want them as feeders...

Denison is native of southern India, and this is why it’s so cheap there. They are on the endangered species list there because of over harvesting.

Get to Know the Denison Barb Fish Species

Also called Miss Kerala, the denison barb is a handsome but endangered fish. Learn more about the habitat, care, feeding, and breeding of this barb.

www.thesprucepets.com

Price in northeast US is still not cheap, $12 for 1 inch fish in Petsmart. Glad to hear that they are now tank bred, and if so, price should come down soon.

As for training predactor to become non predator, I witnessed it in many of my predatory cichlid. Mine lost the instinct of hunting down live fish if they don’t jerk around like prey. I have never kept arrow, so do not know if they can be tamed like cichlid, but I have observed it in public aquarium as shown in the video in Post #4 where hundreds of cardinal Tetra and other mouth-size fish coexist with a 24” arrow.

 

[Aanand]

Denison is native of southern India, and this is why it’s so cheap there. They are on the endangered species list there because of over harvesting.

Get to Know the Denison Barb Fish Species

Also called Miss Kerala, the denison barb is a handsome but endangered fish. Learn more about the habitat, care, feeding, and breeding of this barb.

www.thesprucepets.com

Price in northeast US is still not cheap, $12 for 1 inch fish in Petsmart. Glad to hear that they are now tank bred, and if so, price should come down soon.

As for training predactor to become non predator, I witnessed it in many of my predatory cichlid. Mine lost the instinct of hunting down live fish if they don’t jerk around like prey. I have never kept arrow, so do not know if they can be tamed like cichlid, but I have observed it in public aquarium as shown in the video in Post #4 where hundreds of cardinal Tetra and other mouth-size fish coexist with a 24” arrow.

oh wow.. $12 for 1 inch...
In Kolkata, we have this Sunday pet market.. It's similar to what you call a farmers' market in the US. Except its full of fish, birds, dogs, plants - gathering of breeders, sellers, importers.. Thats why prices are relatively low... However, there's a big variation in quality...

 

[tiger15]

Even though Denison can now be commercially bred, they require hormone injection, so it is not easy or cheap.. Similar to clown loach, despite success In breeding with hormone, they are still largely harvested in the wild.

 

[andyroo]

Speaking of clown-loaches (& arowana):
I see lots of videos with CL in with large predators, incl silver aro. Might CL get a pass with the bumblebee "warning" patten, or is a choke & two dead fish more likely?

 

[twentyleagues]

Denison is native of southern India, and this is why it’s so cheap there. They are on the endangered species list there because of over harvesting.

Get to Know the Denison Barb Fish Species

Also called Miss Kerala, the denison barb is a handsome but endangered fish. Learn more about the habitat, care, feeding, and breeding of this barb.

www.thesprucepets.com

Price in northeast US is still not cheap, $12 for 1 inch fish in Petsmart. Glad to hear that they are now tank bred, and if so, price should come down soon.

As for training predactor to become non predator, I witnessed it in many of my predatory cichlid. Mine lost the instinct of hunting down live fish if they don’t jerk around like prey. I have never kept arrow, so do not know if they can be tamed like cichlid, but I have observed it in public aquarium as shown in the video in Post #4 where hundreds of cardinal Tetra and other mouth-size fish coexist with a 24” arrow.

Cardinal tetras and denisons barbs are completely different sizes. An arowana would likely ignore a 1.5" fish but a 6" fish is probably going to be lunch. Is this always the case? No I'm surr its not. But you really need to compare like things. A cardinal tetra is hardly worth the effort unless the arowana is starving. Where a 4-6" Denison barb is worth the expended energy.

Even though Denison can now be commercially bred, they require hormone injection, so it is not easy or cheap.. Similar to clown loach, despite success In breeding with hormone, they are still largely harvested in the wild.

There are people who are breeding these here in Michigan without hormones in their tank at home. Local breeders is what I said. I have a total of 6 of them 3 from two different tanks. I was/am not looking to breed as I was setting up a river tank but I may not do that now and maybe I'll try to breed them too.

 

[tiger15]

Cardinal tetras and denisons barbs are completely different sizes. An arowana would likely ignore a 1.5" fish but a 6" fish is probably going to be lunch. Is this always the case? No I'm surr its not. But you really need to compare like things. A cardinal tetra is hardly worth the effort unless the arowana is starving. Where a 4-6" Denison barb is worth the expended energy.


There are people who are breeding these here in Michigan without hormones in their tank at home. Local breeders is what I said. I have a total of 6 of them 3 from two different tanks. I was/am not looking to breed as I was setting up a river tank but I may not do that now and maybe I'll try to breed them too.

In addition to hundreds of cardinal tetra, there are dozens of 3 to 8 inch fish that can become prey for the arro. The erro is full grown, and has a big mouth.

May be the trick to breed Denison is to use Flint Michigan water, lol.

 

[twentyleagues]

In addition to hundreds of cardinal tetra, there are dozens of 3 to 8 inch fish that can become prey for the arro. The erro is full grown, and has a big mouth.

May be the trick to breed Denison is to use Flint Michigan water, lol.

They are not from flint so I dont know if that would help or not. One is from detroit area the other from Kalamazoo or grand rapids I think. At least thats what the lfs are telling me.
I dont find thousands suffering funny sorry.

 

[Ras Haile]

I had small Denison barbs in with small albino arowana and some small Datinoids. Even though the Dats were small, they hunted them with ease. Filament barbs are a better choice. I guess because of their round oval shape, the arowana and the datinoid don’t see them as easy to swallow, so they never bother my filament barbs.

 

[jjohnwm]

Large predatory fish don't forget that they are large predatory fish. If kept well-fed, they are less likely to eat tankmates. And if the tankmates have been living long enough in the tank to become somewhat relaxed, so that they no longer act like a terrified and distressed feeder, they become less likely targets...but this is an uneasy truce and it can't be relied upon to last indefinitely. Anyone who claims to have seen this work simply hasn't been watching long enough to see it stop working yet.

I personally love the look of combining large and small fish. Joey/King of DIY's arowana was kept with tiny fish that were simply not worth its attention; most predators won't pursue prey that provides fewer calories than will be expended in capturing it (although there are exceptions...). If those 1-inch fish had been 3-inchers, it would have been a completely different story, since each would have been a significant meal.

As for the small guys being too fast to be caught...sorry, no. I have rabbits in my yard, and I will never ever manage to catch one by hand. But confine me in my den with a rabbit, and I don't care how fast he is...I will eventually get my hands on him when he has nowhere to run. I have seen feeder-sized fish confined in a tank with predators zig when they should have zagged and practically swim into the mouth of one of the big guys...and somehow the big guys always remembered what to do with that little fish in their mouths.

 

[Fishman Dave]

I think the answer to the question is that it depends.
It depends on type :Silver arrowana get on with tank mates much better than Jardoni do.
It depends on the character of the fish: even predatory fish come in various types from really aggressive to really laid back
It depends on the size of the fish: my 12” silver lives in a 6x2x2 with a whole host of tank mates from 2” skunk botia, 5” filament barbs and 12” tyre track eels all quite happily.
It depends on the setup: my tanks are all natural looking with plenty of hiding places, floating plants etc. To keep the fish happy and “entertained”. A bare box becomes a bore and everyone is always on show.
It depends on proper and regular feeding
It depends how long for: obviously my aro can’t stay in a 6x2 forever so he will move to my pond where my 2ft red tail catfish and 28” Wykii live with 8” synodontis, 10” pims and 12” Jaguar cichlids and have done for around 2 years now.
The above goes for many “predatory” fish in my opinion and there isn’t a one answer fits all, simply because there isn’t a one situation fits all.
maybe 2 years is not long enough to have been watching for someone to get eaten....... I don’t know .......