Pregnant Rasbora?

[Invader Xan]

Hello!
So I noticed not long ago that some of my harlequin rasboras were getting a little frisky (at least I figured two fish doing a little dance together and then swimming close side by side and rubbing up together looked a lot they were getting it on). I noticed last night that a couple of my females look slightly fatter than normal... (Just FYI, I have 3 male and 3 female).

Could they be pregnant? Are there any good ways to tell?

For that matter, I'm totally clueless about breeding these little guys -- are they livebearers or do they lay eggs? If they lay eggs, where would they be laid? Do rasbora fry have any special requirements? Any answers are much appreciated, so thanks in advance.

Oh, and please excuse my ignorance... Most of the animals I keep have shells instead of backbones.

 

[emma12321]

i'll remove my incorrect post then

 

[Lateral Line]

The above post is incorrect. Whilst it may apply to general egg scatterers, Harlequins do not fall into that category.

Harlequins pair up and a good pair select horizontal plant leaves. When happy, the male wraps his body around the female and they move under the leaf, the pair roll and the female lays an egg on the underside of the leaf, which the male fertilises at the same time. This process continues under this or several leaves until the female is replete. The parents largely ignore the eggs, but will eat newly emerged fry.

Unless your water is very soft, the eggs will not hatch. Like most soft water species, calcium ions in the water react with the egg shell making it too tough for the fry to emerge.

 

[Invader Xan]

Ok cool, thanks.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to raise the babies then -- I keep my tank water quite hard for the shrimp I keep. I do have a couple of big java fern leaves, but a couple of my larger shrimp like to spend their time under those. I'm guessing a shrimp would probably make a meal of rasbora eggs.

I'll bear it in mind for the future though, thanks!