Discus Tank mates

[Juzza]

Bought these 6 nice fish today :D!!! I was waiting for an oppotunity to buy them for ages. Except i dont know what they're called??? ;) (They have a red band above their eyes, some red on the dorsal fin, two yellow patches on either side of the tail fork and a prominant black band from head to tail).

Im located in Australia, and i know these fish are banned from import into australia, but somehow i found them? They're very hard to breed apparently? Also they were a but pricey =\ but the cheapest i could find.

What do you guys think of these fish?
Well this is a discus forum :D are they compatible with discus?

Right now they are undergoing drip acclimatization in the tank. Cant wait to put them in! Hope they like their new 150 gallon home!



Justin

(these photos dont do the fish justice, maybe ill take more when i put them in)

[Solo707]

Look like siamensis or a flying fox....red band on the eye throws me off a bit though.

[Juzza]

Sorry this is in the wrong section, put the images in form for everyone to see.

[IMG]http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m153/Juzza88/DSC03593.jpg
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m153/Juzza88/DSC03595.jpg

This one here is a true siamensis that i have in my tank

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m153/Juzza88/DSC03589.jpg

Justin

[Juzza]

They're in the water!!! there was a small accident, they're very jumpy....you can imagine what it did =\ BUT its all good, they're schooling together with my true siamensis under the MH already + searching for food..

Here are some pictures i have taken, hope you like them as much as i do!!! :D


http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m153/Juzza88/DSC03635.jpg
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m153/Juzza88/DSC03630.jpg

Justin

(they're a hard fish to take pictures of..very twitchy and fast swimmers)

[Solo707]

So did ya figure out what they were?

btw: do they eat algae like the siamensis? If so they would be a nice alternative the the otherwise plain lookin siamese algae eater.

[plecocicho]

They are called Puntius denisonii and they come from swift mountain streams. Not very suitable for discus aquarium. But they are nice fish . Here more information:
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/416.htm

[Solo707]

Nice one plecocicho! Been buggin me all day about that one...

Juzza: How much did you pay for them?

[geleen]

They are called Puntius denisonii and they come from swift mountain streams. Not very suitable for discus aquarium. But they are nice fish . Here more information:
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/416.htm

Correct. I have a school of them in a 90 gallon. They like the cooler temps (low 70) I have found they need some green food like spinach or crushed peas once a week or so. The only thing in common with discus is that they are pigs when it comes to food.:D
They are being artificially bred in Asia now (hormone injection), but only very recently. In Canada these captive bred are still bringing around $35.00 each. Mine are wild caught (I believe) and cost almost double that 1.5 years ago.
When mature the red band in males will extend to almost half the body...the lone female I have is lighter in color and the red band is not as prominent.
J

[Juzza]

They were about $50 aussie...except you're not allowed to import them in...so i guess it was pretty cheap?

Justin

[Juzza]

$50 each that is

[saroberts]

My LFS sells them as torpedo barbs. I can see in the http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/416.htm link that the is a common name for them.

They keep them in higher temp water and have on occasion included them in a discus tank when they set one up.

At one time, I wanted to include them with mine, but the cost (around $35 each) caused me to look at other fish.

Steve

[Juzza]

Well, i am still thinking of keeping discus... but if not, would ou suggest anyother species, the tank has been raised to 27 degrees in the past week from 26......Planning to go up one more

Would you guys suggest any other possible compatible species?

Justin

[Juzza]

Heres an article which i thought was quite helpful, but does anyone have any personal experience?

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Puntius&species=denisonii

[Heiko Bleher]

Hi,

this is Heiko Bleher, a collector of fishes (for some years...).

The fish shown hier (and also on the website mentioned) is NOT p. denisonii, it is P. chalakkudiensis, described only recently (1999), grows larger than the former and is ENDEMIC to only the Chalakkudy river in Kerala. Just last year I collected them again. This species is only found in this (very) fast flowing, steep river. P. denisonii, which is much brighter in colour and does not grow very large, is wide spread in Karnataka and Kerala stat of India, in slow running rivers and in bays.

This just for your all information.

But more important is, that none of the two should ever be associated with discus. It not only has NOTHING to do with discus (India is far from the Amazon, and as far as evolution is concerned was never connected to each other), but they (both) will take room from the discus and discus will hide from them. I just had a friend in LA, who has had this trouble, because he did not listen to me...

Discus should be kept ONLY with mates they live with - extensively explained in my book. People should read more... and not only in the net...

Best regards

Heiko Bleher
www.aquapress-bleher.com
PS on this website you will see P. chalakkudiensis under Interzoo 2008 biotopes

[ShinShin]

Excellant advice, Heiko. Why learn when I can ask someone else? ;)

I have always subscribed to the importance of books and well written papers and articles on a subject.

Mat

[Juzza]

Thanks Heiko for the advice, looks like i need to buy myself a few reliable books. If we move off the topic of co-habitation with discus, if i were to create a community tank (non biotype). What suggestions would you have..i was looking maybe rainbow fish??? (Melanotaenia praecox, parva). These are not from the same continent, but i only have 1 tank and can only do so much with it (which means, unfortunatly, i cant have all the fish in the world).

But yes i agree, discus and these fish are not meant to be, besdies being on either ends of the earth, these fish are quite agressive feeders, fast swimmers...

Your website is great, fantastic read, your work must be very rewarding! Had a look at the P. chalakkudiensis in the Interzoo 2008 biotopes. Just wondering what other fish species are in that tank and how big do P. chalakkudiensis grow?

Ah, so many more questions, guess that means more reading for me! Time to look for more books, your Bleher's Discus looks like a nice start :D

Thanks for your wealth of information

Justin

[IAMTHOMAS]

interesting and EXPENSIVE FISH well yeah don't keep em with D?iscus cause their hyper I like them though... do they do well in a community tank?

[Justshoe]

My LFS sells them as Roseline sharks. I have one in my angelfish community. They do get fairly sizeable. LFS has a few in the show tank over 7" Mine seem mildly aggressive but for the most part passive. dont know about with discus though i think i would stray away.

[vera]

Hi Justin
i kept Denisonii in a discus tank for abt 1.5 year in T 29-30 degrees they grew to abt 15 cm , as they grow they start compete for food and their robust movement stress discus too much especially if there are less then 3 denisonii (just like SAE) ..and they jump!! i lost 3 to that habit even if there is only ltl opening in the lid of the tank in the end i had only 2 out of 6 left and had to remove them
im sure they will do great with any type of rainbows , but NOT with discus:)
hope this helps

[Juzza]

I would just like to say...P. Denisonii, i think, is this fish. Notice the yellow on the anal fin? and a tad of yellow on the others...

Incomparison my fish are a bit duller, but ohwell, i still like them =D

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sakichin/190799199/

Justin

[vera]

dont worry , all the brightness will come out on yr fish as soon soon as they acclimate with a good feedings

[Juzza]

Sad and unfortunate loss today during dinner time, when my dad came home he didnt see it there, but after dinner when i went to have a look at the tank there was one of them on the ground. It looked pretty dried up when i got there, its tummy was nice a plump from the hikari brine shrimp feeding :(
Quite unfortunate when a fish goes carpet surfing...because you havnt really killed it due to your tank paramaters, stress etc.

This one is the smallest of my P. chalakkudiensis, 5 left...ofcourse i know they're acknowledged jumpers...hence the cupboard i have been setting up which encloses the top section, so i guess you could call it a hood =\ The rest of the cupboard was finished about two days ago, but the doors uptop didnt look too great when viewed from the other side (in wall tank). They needed to be cut some more, so we got them taken down and sent away to get fixed! Just wished i didnt take them down. Anyway i hope they come soon, i dont want anymore jumping out.

RIP...
hope it had a good 1 month in the tank...

Justin

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m153/Juzza88/DSC03690.jpg
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m153/Juzza88/DSC03686.jpg
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m153/Juzza88/DSC03688.jpg