Why are Bengal Danio so hard to find?

[Seshia]

I am looking to get a small school of Bengal Danio to finish stocking my first tank. I've seen websites say that they are very common in the hobby and that they are easy to breed, but I don't see any stores selling tank raised and the only local store to me that even lists them as something the will stock is the Wet Spot. Is there some sort of problem with them I am not aware of? Online resources that list them say that they are very peaceful and fairly hardy.

[nabokovfan87]

I've never even heard of them! They do look pretty cool though and I like that they are a larger danio compared to others.  For whatever reason a lot of cypranidae fish seem to be just a little bit harder to find.  Maybe it's the coloration and things not really selling, but my gut tells me that it might be due to availability in nature or space on fish farms.  If they are lower in demand, then they aren't bred as often, which would then mean it's harder to get them.  Maybe aquabid or getgills has some?

[Seshia]

Unfortunately no. I had checked Aquabid but had not hear of getgills. Thank you for that resource even if it didn't have what I was looking for!

[Guppysnail]

On 11/29/2023 at 2:07 AM, Seshia said:

Is there some sort of problem with them I am not aware of

My best guess would be they lack the intense eye catching color that most folks look for. That would make them sell not as fast s what most fish stores would want. 

[madmark285]

On 11/29/2023 at 6:20 AM, Guppysnail said:

That would make them sell not as fast s what most fish stores would want. 

Low price and low sales volume would also be a negative factor for commercial breeders. 

[Odd Duck]

I’ve never seen them in any of my local stores and I’ve got a lot of local stores.  I’ve seen pics on line before - had to google them to remind me what they looked like.  So saying they’re common in the hobby may be a local thing to those writers but certainly isn’t to my location in the biggest metro area (7.76 million people) in Texas (population 29.53 million) which is full of big metro areas.  🤷🏻‍♀️ 

[Lonkley]

They could be known by a different name, or just be more seasonal. It's probably a matter of patience.

 

[MattyM]

My LFS hardly ever has danios, when they do, they go pretty fast. My hunch is either they are hard to get or the owner not happy with the quality. Hitting up a local breeder/event may be the way to go. Glad I got my choprae danios when I could! 

[Biotope Biologist]

Bengal danios are extremely uncommon in the trade. Giant danio are common as they are sold at most chain petstore 

Devario aequipinnatus vs Devario devario

 

occasionally I have seen misidentified Devario being sold as giant danio, but rarely have I seen other Devario species (properly labeled).

 

If you aren’t looking for those specific ones, might I recommend the Barilius genus? Otherwise called hill-trout. They are not trout and becoming very popular as creek/river biotopes have gained traction in the last few years.

 

My Orange-fin hill trout- old photo because they are very hard for me to take photos of

Edited November 29, 2023 by Biotope Biologist

[Seshia]

While hill trout are gorgeous, they are unfortunately too big for our 29 gallon tank. Plus we have cherry barbs and do not want to mix in anything that big and semi-aggressive. We are very much looking for that specific species, and are willing to wait and pay a premium to get some. 

Thank you for the suggestion though!

Are there any issues with the species that has caused them to be uncommon? Or is it just kind of a loop of no-one knows about it so no-one breeds them so no-one is exposed to them?

[Biotope Biologist]

They are relatively new to the hobby the larger danio species. And unlike other danio they do need the higher water quality and dissolved oxygen to be healthy. 
 

While I wouldn’t consider any danio species aggressive they are extremely rambunctious and high energy. So that also limits their compatibility to tanks with barbs, larger tetra, and larger gobies that aren’t so timid at feeding time.

Good luck in your search!

[Seshia]

I'm commenting here to answer my own question in case someone else has this question because I stumbled across someone who has actually kept and sold Bengal Danio before, and they had some answers.

Apparently they are more expensive, typically between $10-15, because they require more time on infusora than other danio species. Additionally, they take a long time and a lot of care to color up, so people see a pale green/silver fish with nothing notable in a pet store for 5X the cost of a gold colored leopard and understandably ignore it.

Edited December 8, 2023 by Seshia