# Harlequin Rasbora ?



## Regenesis (Apr 12, 2011)

It's probably the fish stores water quality thats making them have the 'no orange' coloring. I remember when I first got mine they barely had any orange, but once in my tank I, within a few hours they colored up. The aggressiveness you are seeing is probably just a territorial dispute, Mine did is all the time; Nothing to worry about.


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## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

its more than likely an issue with being in a tank in a shop. there are always nets in there and kids banging on the glass, all these things tend to stress fish out and they don't show good color. The store I work in gets rummy nose tetras all the time and they never have the red nose, but after they are sold and in a more mellow setting they color up super well. Pet stores are never going to be able to have fish show full color, there is just too much going on, and they never get to really acclimate to their new environment.


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## latnem (Apr 10, 2011)

I guess a more accurate question would be, Is there such a thing as a strain of these fish that have less color? Or should all show nice orange color when in ideal environments? *wondering if I should buy some there or buy some from an online source that shows them as having more orange color


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## Regenesis (Apr 12, 2011)

There is a Golden Harlequin rasbora (Has some orange) and a Black Harlequin rasbora (has little orange).


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

I would say that almost every fish at the LFS is not going to show it's full color due to stress. After you get them home and settled they get better food, better water, and if it's a planted tank with lots of hidding places they get even more relaxed and all these things plus age equal better color. However I have seen posts here from people asking "how come my fish hide in the corner" if you one of these people that can't keep your hands out of the tank and you are constantly cleaning and re-arranging you may never see better color, these little fish are not used to looking a human in the eye and want to be under a rock in a nice little stream.


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## Master Se7eN (Aug 23, 2010)

I like the lambchop Rasboras, a little smaller and more color


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## latnem (Apr 10, 2011)

Regenesis said:


> There is a Golden Harlequin rasbora (Has some orange) and a Black Harlequin rasbora (has little orange).


Okay I'll try to look for these different types.



150EH said:


> I would say that almost every fish at the LFS is not going to show it's full color due to stress. After you get them home and settled they get better....


I'm aware that stress causes a loss of color. I just want to make sure that I am not getting a strain that simply don't have good color.

Doing a google search you can see many differences in color. 




























I just want to ensure I get some that have vibrant orange color or I'm really not interested in them.


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## astrosag (Sep 3, 2010)

Although I would say nearly all fish are subject to this coloration issue, I know that rasboras are particularly susceptable to it.

Stressed Rasboras, whether Chilis or Harlequins or what have you, lose coloration quite significantly. When I was taking my Chilis back home, they lost nearly all their coloration. With an a couple of hours in the tank, their deep red settled back in.

Most fish stores, because of the way they keep fish, are going to have somewhat stressed fish. If you go to one that is heavily into the planted "market", you'll see more coloration probably because many tend to have their stock in planted setups, more natural setups.

As long as their Harlequins, color should settle back to normal.


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## Regenesis (Apr 12, 2011)

The first two pictures are both the same species of rasboras same color, It's just that the camera and/or lighting is different in each picture.

The 3rd and 4th picture are pictures two different species of rasboras, not a different color tone.  I'm Believing they are Hengel Rasboras and Espei Rasboras


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## fresh.salty (Jul 2, 2010)

Check out the espei rasboras

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/t...ewingalot-loooook-meeeeeeeee-i-will-make.html


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

Those in your first post look just like my harlequin before I got them in my tank. Once they got used to being there (a few days) they really colored up.

First ones I got were Rasbora heteromorpha. Later I got 3 trigonostigma hengeli and they schooled with and colored up to match the Rasbora heteromorphas already in my tank.


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## Ben. (Mar 29, 2011)

I bought 6 yesterday and during aclimation they lost some of their color, but once they got into the tank, their color came back with a few hours.


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