Raspboras

[Tempestuousfury]

I believe I have three harlequin raspboras. I tried searching for info on them on google and came up with nothing.

I need to know:
Size of Schools
Foods they eat (they spit the flakes back out for some reason)
Temperaments
Max. size
Light requirements

 

[Lateral Line]

>>> Size of Schools

5-6 or more.

>>> Foods they eat

They'll eat flakes when they're hungry. They are omnivores, will eat pretty much anything, but they are not a large fish and have consequently quite small mouths so don't expect them to swallow a whole pea for example.

>>> Temperaments

Peaceful, there are no really aggressive Rasboras. There are some big ones that will swallow very small fish, but that is the same as any large fish.

>>> Max. size

40mm would be a good size.

>>> Light requirements

Fish do not have a light "requirement", they do not photosynthesise. R. heteromorpha is a shallow water species, but lives in heavily planted areas, thus bright open areas, and shaded plant areas are their natural environment.

Search for "Rasbora heteromorpha" or "Harlequin Rasbora" not RasPbora, or "Harlequin Fish".

 

[Tempestuousfury]

I was wondering why google didn't correct me. I though I was saying it incorrectly... Thanks.

By light requirements I meant preferred lighting. I wanted to know if they needed shade in the form of driftwood, caves, plants, etc.

 

[yhbae]

I wonder why it didn't return any results @ google.com - are you sure you looked for "harlequin rasbora"? (I noticed you misspelled it as as "raspbora")

Anyhow, mine are in a low light tank (about 1w/g) with a large piece of drift wood. In general, I see them in the open, never seem to hide behind any objects. They seem to like some open space as well.

As for food - they really do eat just about everything except what I feed to pl*cos (fresh vegetables). Considering their size, they seem to have a surprizingly large mouth - I see them gobble up a fat piece of freeze dried blood worms very easily.

So far, super easy fish to keep.

 

[knutty]

rasboras are a wonderful fish to keep. i have brilliant rasboras and pristella tetras and they all love to school together. they can really add some wonderful activity to a tankl and they are completely docile. mine like to take frozen brine shrimp and even blood worms. overall, of all the fish i have kept, the rasboras are my favorite.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

It turns out that the rasboras are eating rather big flakes now that they have become accustomed to their new home.

Question: Why is the shorth form of plecostomus spelled with anasterisk? I.e.: pl*co?

 

[Lateral Line]

>>> Why is the shorth form of plecostomus spelled with anasterisk?

Don't know - I don't spell it like that.

 

[EddieW]

TempestuousFury,

There is an old(ish) wives tale that if you spell the name out in full your fish will die shortly afterwards, why I have no idea.

People got used to replacing the 'e' with an asterisk.....

From PlanetCatfish.com:

Pl*co?

With the advent of email, the internet and particularly newsgroups, aquarists at all levels began talking about their plecos with an interesting side effect. According to on-line lore, an incident occurred when someone discussed their pleco in a newsgroup and the fish promptly died. The discussion group surmised there was an online curse and the pl*co superstition was born. The belief is that if your star out the "e" in pleco when you write pleco, then your beloved suckermouth will be delivered from all aquatic evils.

Cheers, Eddie

 

[Lateral Line]

Thanks for that Eddie - never heard of this. I shall not be adopting this superstition. Alternatively, if I spell out the full name of certain board members, will they suddenly turn over as well?

 

[Tempestuousfury]

Hm. I'm not superstitious and don't believe that my pleco will die anytime soon, so I won't pick up that habit.

 

[yhbae]

On the other hand, you will never know - life works in mysterious ways...

Just kidding...