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I admit between the new tank and just being busy I haven't paid much attention to the 29 gallon Angel tank. Although, as long as I do my water changes and regular maintenance, it does just fine on it's own. But, as I was doing my water change tonight, I noticed that some of my Harelquin Rasboras are just huge! I mean huge! Then as I started to research the FW profiles here at FP, I noticed that false Harlies also exist and this I did not know. So I have two questions. First, how do I tell if these are false or not? After comparing the pics on FP, I truly think they are true Harlies, but i'm not sure. Second, whether they are false or not, do I need to be concerned about them getting hurt by those belly's? They don't appear to be in any distress, they're just huge This is an old pic when I first got them, it's the best pic I have. What do you think?



Jessnick attached this image:

bump

The black patch on True Harlis (hetromorpha) has a more squared off front section. It looks more like a triangle. The false harlequin (espei)has a more tear drop shape. Yours are true harlequins.
Harlequins have a body shape that begins with a pointed mouth, has a slight bump under the gills, and a unced curve down to the bottom of the black triangle, and then curves back up following the triangle. They will have a thin body when viewed from above or the front.

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

Do you think you can post a more recent pic?

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

Here's one.



Jessnick attached this image:


Last edited by Jessnick at 19-Jan-2006 20:02[/font]

and another...see how fat they are?




Jessnick attached this image:


Last edited by Jessnick at 19-Jan-2006 20:02[/font]

How do they look from the front. they should be skinny.

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

Jessnick and weird22person,

First of all, I am ever so slightly offended when calling the Espei false harlequin, I happen to think there is nothing false about them .

Now, for real – there are 3 kinds, normal (or you call it true), Espei, and Hengeli Rasboras that are of the basic same group. The latter two are smaller than the standard Harlie, their black marking is also smaller (and the Hengeli has no orange coloration in the front of the body).

Without a doubt, these are regular Harlequin Rasboras. And I agree that some of them seem to have a rather large belly. Now, if you don’t feed them like mad, then there are basically two options left:

a) they are sick
b) they are pregnant and for some reason don’t lay the eggs (which isn’t good either)

Actually, there is another option which would be that I don’t know what I am talking about. How long do they have this shape already? How old do you think they are? And, why does your Angel look like Groucho Marx ()?

Ingo

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