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I went to my lfs to day a got 6 glowlight rasbora is wat i was told they where which i later found there proper name to be Trigonostigma hengeli. I would like to no if any one has any info on them. Any comments on this fish would help thanks

I have come across Trigonostigma hengeli also known as Glowlight Rasbora and previously, Rasbora hengeli in my books - looks very similar to Rasbora heteromorpha (harlequin) but does not have such a deep body. I don't know whether this helps?

thanks has any one had any experiances with this fish

juwel,

Trigonostigma hengeli is a cousin of the regular Harlequin Rasbora. It has less orange color on its sides. The fish also is smaller in general and the black triangle is smaller as well. Otherwise, they have the same requirement when it comes to food, water conditions, and what not.

They also have another cousin, named Trigonostigma espei, my fish . If you go to the FP profile for this one you will actually see an image of a Hengeli. When you click on the view additional photos (or something like that) link then you will see a picture of my espei. That should give you a clear indicator of what fish you may have seen at the LFS. Hengelis are not very common in the Western Hemisphere.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

thanks

At least in America, they're usually called "Lamb Chop" rasboras -- distinguishing them from Harlequin Rasboras, which are very often known here as "T-Bone" Rasboras -- in both cases because of the shape of the black patch on their flank. In Lamb Chops, as you might expect, the black patch is somewhat smaller compared to the total size of the fish. They're starting to get quite common here in California. (I don't know if these are the Espei or Hengeli species, nor do I know yet whether they've become commoner in the stores because the fish farms are starting to breed them in large numbers.)

They're actually among my four or five favorite fish, because their red-orange color is a lot deeper and more fiery than that of most Harlequins -- a school of them in a tank with a black backdrop can be spectacularly beautiful. But in my experience they're also a good deal more delicate than regular Harlequins, which are fairly tough little guys. They definitely require clean water.

There's a very nice picture of one at http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=27073 -- and I can assure you that most of them really ARE that brightly colored, which should explain why I like 'em.

Bruce,

I don't know if these are the Espei or Hengeli species ...

Espei, all the way

Given that you like them so much (something we have in common), I think it would be worthwile for you to skim through my 125G Log in the Planted Aquarium Forum, if you haven't done so already. You may find my experience with this fish interesting.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Even though i have only had this fish for 3 days it has grown a lot on me and is now in my top 5 P.S keep comments coming