Roseline sharks

[tedr108]

I talked to a guy at my LFS recently about Roseline sharks (Puntius Denisonii). He told me that Roseline's are very sensitive to water changes and that you shouldn't change more than 10% of the tank water at one time. I did not find any information verifying this on the internet (though quite a few fish owners do lose their Roselines).

Does anybody with any experience with these fish know the real issue here and what can be done about it? I know Roselines need high O2 content in the water.

This LFS is quite knowlegible in most areas, so I wanted to research this some more.

[Gerryd]

I know Tbarr has them in his 300 gallon. That is EI so I bet he does a 50% WC weekly, but he can confirm.

They were there when he changed the substrate and per that thread he did many large 50% WC over several days.........

[jeremy v]

I have had 5 roseline sharks in my 75 tank for the last 2 years or so. I change 75% of the water weekly sometimes, but usually it is only 50%. When I first got them it was a fish only tank, and now I am running it as a reduced EI tank and I have done it with and without CO2, with and without aeration, with a canister filter, and now with aquaclear HOB filters. They did fine in all combinations. I have always had brilliant coloration from the roseline sharks, and their behavior seems very consistent and healthy during and after any water changes, fert dosing, adjustments in kH or gH (I have never increased it by more than 2-3 degrees hardness at any one time), etc. My tap water is very soft with a kH of 1-2 and a gH of about 2-3 seasonally out of the tap. The temp of the tank fluctuates with the house as there is no heater in the tank. It is usually 72 in the morning and 74 in the evening as a result of the light's heat output during the day. During the summer the tank can get up to 78-80 since the house doesn't have A/C, but I have never had it any higher. I feed the fish mysis shrimp and bloodworms mainly, and all of the fish are very active and if they lose a scale, tear a fin, or get hurt somehow they heal within a few days. The only problem I have had is that occasionally the roseline sharks pick on each other a little, but never on the other fish in the tank. It usually only lasts a few days and I am not sure why it happens exactly. It might have something to do with mating behavior, but I don't know as I have not tried to breed them to know much about their behavior when breeding.

I have heard that roseline sharks are actually a member of the Koi family, and that's why they have the slight whisker on each side of their mouth like Koi do. I have not verified that though. I have a large Koi pond outside that also has goldfish in it, and I can tell you that the Koi are much more sensitive to water quality, oxygen levels, etc. than the goldfish are by far, but it is by no means hard to keep them all happy and flourishing. I hope it helps.

-Jeremy

P.S.- I figured that I would add that the roseline sharks were about 1.5" long when I bought them, and they are between 4-5" long now. They might be more sensitive initially if you buy them when they are smaller. I have seen them at the LFS as small as 3/4" long or so.

[tedr108]

Thanks Gerry and Jeremy. The whole "water change" thing didn't seem right to me -- glad I asked here.