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Harlequin Rasbora

Red Rasbora ~ Harlequin Family: Cyprinidae

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Trigonostigma heteromorpha Photo © Animal-World: Courtesy Courtesy "Yvonne"

   Harlequin Rasboras are ideal for people usually bored with fish because these fish are always on the move and often have an endearing fiery persona that just radiates attitude!

  The immensely popular Harlequin Rasbora is a small, elegant looking fish. In ideal conditions, the fish will be deep maroon pink and their black marking will be dark and appear smooth, though they rarely appear quite so vibrant in aquariums. They are agreeable fish and do fine in most community settings and even better with other cyprinids

   They aren’t aggressive per se but lean towards being a bit boisterous. A school is a must, and the more individuals the better. They like to have some buddies and the more you have the more they curb their egos. You really haven’t seen the Harlequin Rasbora until you’ve seen a school of 10+ individuals in an established tank. They are often popular in planted aquaria because of how the plants set off their color.

   The Harlequin Rasbora has two close relatives with which it is often confused, the Glowlight or Hengel's Rasbora and the Espei Rasbora To identify them notice some subtle distinctions. The Harlequin Rasbora is pale pink to bright red, and is much stocker than its cousins. Harlequin’s black mark is much closer to a triangle shape and will have a noticeably blue tint. The Espei rasbora should be bronze pink in color and be more elongate. Hengel’s rasbora should be yellow cream with a thin black side marking toped with a sweep of neon orange.

For more Information on keeping freshwater fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Freshwater Aquarium

Distribution:
   The Harlequin Rasbora was described by Duncker in 1904. In the wild, the Harlequin Rasbora is found in sluggish moving water bodies in South East Asia; specifically Thailand and Indonesia.

Status:
   These fish are not endangered.

Description:
   The Harlequin Rasbora is pale pink to bright red. It is much stocker than its cousins, and is rather 'tall' with a convex belly area. It has a black triangular shaped marking on the back half of its side, parallel to the gills and with a noticeably blue tint.

Size - Weight:
   This fish will reach about about 1.5 inches (4 cm).

Care and feeding:
   The Harlequin Rasbora is an omnivore and should be given a balance of prepared and fresh food. Although live foods are an important part of their diet, don’t over indulge them or they may refuse prepared foods.
   These fish are fairly hardy and will adapt to most aquarium conditions. They will do best in a spacious aquarium of 30 or more gallons, and more importantly in a long aquarium (36+inches) to allow them to swim freely. They need room to swim around and a tight cover to prevent jumps. Use of hardy floating plants to create shadows and a dark substrate will make them even more stunning.

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom:
   The Harlequin Rasbora is well adapted to swimming through open water in about the middle or upper regions.

Acceptable Water Conditions:
   Temp: 73-82° F (23-28° C)
   pH: 5.5-8.0
   Hardness: 2-20° dGH

Social Behaviors:
   Although they have big personalities, they are generally good community fish. They will get along with most fish, but some less active tank mates can’t tolerate the fast moving lifestyle of the Rasbora. A school is a must, and the more individuals the better. The Harlequin Rasbora's may chase each other about a bit, but without consequence. They are small and easily eaten by bigger tank mates.

Sexual Differences:
   The females will be plumper. The black triangle is slightly more rounded on the males, and the tip will extend further. Females are plumper than males.

Breeding/Reproduction:
   Breeding the harlequin Rasbora can be a bit challenging. The water conditions must be optimal, namely soft and acidic for them to be willing to spawn. The male will direct the female to his selected location, almost always the underside of a broad leaved plant. The two will spawn and eggs will stick to the leaf and fry will emerge in a few days. Although they seem to take so much care in depositing the eggs, they seem to forget all of it and will eat their eggs and fry if not removed

Buy Harlequin Rasbora From LiveAquaria.com

Availability:
   The immensely popular Harlequin Rasbora is available basically anywhere, both in stores and online. For this reason, be sure you are buying quality stock. Prices range about $.50 - $4 USD per individual.

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Latest Comments
I have had four of these fish in my ten gallon tank, they are very beautiful fish! They are very peacful to the other fish, and they are not very shy if you have plenty of plants in the tank. These are definitely some of my Favorite fish! Allean 2008-03-05

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Author: "Yvonne"
Additional Information: Clarice Brough, CFFS.