Any Experience In Breeding Harlequins?

[TheRedDarren]

Just want to know a reliable way of sexing them, what foods to bring on condition, will they spawn in my community tank, are they scatterers....?
Any info helpful, and if you've successfully bred them in the past, any tips or advice, cheers, D.

 

[littlelegs]

That would be interesting to know.

I have some harlequins and would love to know more about them.

 

[TheRedDarren]

ok, done extensive googling and found little info but...

Sexing: the black "hatchet" marking in the males extends all the way to the bottom of his belly, the females cuts a lot shorter. I knew of this already but until i went to a large retailer i hadnt seen a female one, so I imediatley bought 6 females, as it appeared that all of mine were males! its really quite an obvious difference once you get the 2 sexes side by side.

Spawning: Egg depositers, they spawn on the undersides of broad leaved plants, although i couldn't find more info here ie if they are monoganous (spelling?) care for the fry etc.

Was chatting to the guy in the shop who was very knowledgeable, he suggested they were unlikey to spawn in a community tank, and if they did the fry were even more unlikley to survive, apparently a fairly hard fish to breed, although mine are definatley showing signs of interest now, will keep you posted.

 

[Lateral Line]

I've bred several Rasboras, Harlequins amongst them. What you have written is true, the female lays her eggs singly or in very small groups, on the undersides of leaves while the male does a contortionist act and wraps himself almost completely around her to fertilise the eggs. The process continues over quite a period, the adults ignore the eggs whilst spawning, and don't really go made looking for them to eat afterwards, although I always remove the breeders.

In excellent water conditions, well conditioned fish may try to spawn, but the eggs/fry don't stand a chance in a community tank.

It is certainly true that Rasboras are a demanding group to breed, much more so than most Barbs or Tetras. Water must be right, in terms of chemistry and quality. The fry will quickly sucumb if the breding tank water quality drops even slightly.

I've not bred them for about 20 years, then, I fed the fry on cultured infusoria and then brine shrimp. I expect the many specialist fry foods available nowdays would be okay, but I can't comment further.