All About Harlequin Rasbora: Pretty in Pink Nano Fish!

Harlequin rasboras have been incredibly popular in the aquarium hobby since the early 1900, and while they did fall out of favour for a while they have made quite the comeback thanks to people looking for small fish for small tanks in put in their small houses!
Harlequin rasboras are supremely gentle fish that are perfect for a community setup or if you are looking for fish that is nice to look at, but wont steal the show from your aquascape.
My favourite fishy stuff! (yes these are affiliate links :) )
Lights
Nicrew Classic LED - amzn.to/3fG3Uv6 - Traditional led light that's got a nice high output in a white/cool colour range. Makes plants look extra green.
Nicrew SKY - amzn.to/3Ktn45U - really nice light for natural looking tanks, also the one I use for filming.
Filters
Pat Mini - amzn.to/3fE1u0k - popular for a reason, just a superb little filter thats great for shrimp tanks and fish alike.
ASAP - amzn.to/3nBuytp - the old favourite and the one i return to most frequently.
Air Pump
AP-3 Kit : amzn.to/34UMA3q - Great little air pump, not a silent runner, but has been very reliable for me.
Tanks
Scaper 45 - amzn.to/3KBxG2H - a lovely high quality tank that comes with a super strong light, and a decent enough hang on back filter - perfect for newbies and scapers alike.

[@Davey333]

Very good

[@jasonpeculiar]

First view so had to leave the first comment too. :) Great wee video. Thanks Lauren.

[@tinymenagerie]

Thanks 😊

[@abarnswell]

Love your videos! I love your voice. Your videos are very entertaining. Please keep them up.

[@qpqp2339]

took me awhile to appreciate the beauty of these fish i think. im looking into getting a school for my new 65 gal i feel like the purpleypink colour would look really nice in the set up . glad to hear theyre hardy too!

[@kimp7160]

I love seeing the rasboras with cherry barbs in your tank. I have 6 cherries in a 29H and I am picking up 6 or 7 harlequins today. After they are done their quarantine in a few weeks I will be adding them to my red, little bachelor crew.

[@JonVlogs123]

Excellent quality video. :)

[@rodneywalat8956]

Thank you for another 10 star video (5 stars is not good enough). Also liked the shots of their tankmates. Great macrophotography. Did I see Norman's Lampeye killifish swimming in the background?

[@tinymenagerie]

Thanks Rodney! Yes there are a few Lampeye fry swimming about at the surface. They are so prolific they end up in all my tanks 😅

[@kpNov23]

Top quality 👌

[@amazingaquaticsandexotics3030]

awesome fish

[@teresahandley6632]

Great video

[@Eldhocj]

Super video

[@johncameron4194]

I love your videos

[@bwicked3059]

Thanks 🤜🏻🤛🏻

[@apss5736]

great video

[@RudyDwiHandoko]

Nice ❤

[@no-knickers-emma1112]

Hi Lauren, I recently rewatched your video Hikari first bites. Just a little tip, use a cocktail stick to feed your fry. Anyway another nice video. It's a fish I have never kept but would like to. Seeing your cherry barbs want me to get them again. Had them many years ago. They look stunning.

[@tinymenagerie]

Thanks Emma. The cherry barbs are a strain from Czechoslovakia and a hopeful future breeding project once I have a tank free 👍🏻

[@ramblingimbecile2295]

Harlequins are bomb proof. I've only lost 2 in 2 years and that's through them jumping out of the tank

[@chrispeters2645]

Hi Lauren 👋. Another great video, featuring another of the species on my would-like-to-keep list. More than 1,200 subscribers now, the channel is growing 😀. I remember seeing the CPD video about a year ago (subscriber 716). Nowadays, I share on Fb for my fishy friends, hope it helps.

[@tinymenagerie]

Cheers Chris, that is actually a great help, shares are something KZbin looks for in videos. I can’t believe it’s been a year 😳, time flies and boy do I need to get more videos done 😅

[@kenjiro2676]

I kind of figured they were middle aged, their hump and body shape says it all. I might pick up some harlequin rasboras or lamb chop rasboras, they seem way more hardy and longer lived than ember tetras.

[@johncameron4194]

I will be getting some

[@barbaroserman4232]

Hello Lauren, thank you for the great video, have a question tho, my tank is about 70liters, will that be good enough to have HQ Rasboras ? (only HQ rasboras around 10 of em)

[@ejbrinegar]

Dear Lauren: I was under the impression that this fish, Trigonostigma heteromorpha, was difficult to keep. That’s probably because I’m usually interested in keeping fish in ideal conditions where they will breed and my water is hard and alkaline. I didn’t realize that these they so hardy and yours look very healthy and happy in your, beautiful setup. I searched your channel but was unable to find a species profile on ricefish (Oryzias latipes), which I believe I noticed in your tank. I’m referring to the white fish with blue eyes, which stays close to the surface. I’m interested in this species as I’m moving towards small scapes, which don’t require a heater. I want to keep tiny fish in scapes with lush plants about an attractive hardscape (with a black background and substrate) to make them stand out. Hiding a heater in such a scape is difficult. Here is my, latest attempt at this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o52ZfaGordZ3a6s Thank you for sharing your, interesting and informative, species profile on this, terrific, little species. All my best, Sincerely, E. J. Brinegar

[@hakman239]

Ottocinclus next?

[@lewashcliffe]

I just recently purchased 8 Harlequin rasboras from a local aquarium store with the intention of putting them into my 29 gallon community aquarium. I set up a quarantine tank with a 5 gallon plastic container and to cycle it I used a 2nd sponge filter that I keep in my larger tank along with a bag of ceramic media that was in my HOB filter. According to all the information I've seen, this should have created instant cycling. I even added some Fritzyme for added nitrifying bacteria. Temp was right at 79 Degrees F. I drip acclimated these new fish for about 45 minutes before adding them to the new quarantine tank. I fed them a small amount right away and they ate voraciously. Sadly, within 2 days all but 1 were dead. Checking water parameters showed 0 ammonia, 0 nitrates and nitrites, but very low GH and KH with pH around 6.8. This was very different from the parameters of my 29 gallon which always shows hard water, high buffer, and a pH around 7.2. Finally I removed about 30% of the water and replaced it with water from my larger aquarium. And now parameters are better and the remaining fish is still alive and relatively active. I am still very confused about what went wrong, especially since these fish are reputed to be so resilient. Any thoughts?

[@TeamFuzzy3]

I think you did it.

[@abigailm8280]

What substrate should be used?

[@LucianC137]

Pea Gravel (preferably darker ones).

[@christinecho779]

My harlequin rasboras seem quite lazy! They like to float about and rarely swim around the tank much. Is that normal? They are most active when I put food in the tank.

[@tinymenagerie]

Yeah they are pretty lazy, mine swim less in smaller tanks, like if they can see everywhere then they are not bothered about exploring. 😃

[@christinecho779]

@@tinymenagerie yeah, I have 9 of them In a 15 gallon (square shaped tank) heavily planted! They like to float about and entice me to feed them by swishing their tails when they see me. Once food is in the tank though, I’m So glad I have a lid on the tank!! They are zippy and fast once there is food..

[@stationaryobsessive]

What do you think of 6 harlequin rasbora in a 22l? A pet shop is telling me 6 harlequin rasbora in a 22l is ok... That seems too small to me.

[@tinymenagerie]

I'd say your instincts are absolutely right, 22L is a small tank that's ideal for shrimps but not for fish long term. I have a Scaper 45 that's got 5 harlequins in at the moment and i'd say that was about as small as I would go.

[@stationaryobsessive]

@@tinymenagerie Thank you so much. It's worse than I thought. Well, the pet shop got the sale of the 22l *facepalm* lol. I'm about to upgrade before even bringing fish home. Haha. Thanks for the vids and interaction 😊👍