# weird harlequin rasbora behavior...help?



## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

so i have six harlequin rasboras in my 15 gallon tank. i believe i have 3 females and 3 males. (3 of them are longer and thinner, 3 are shorter and fat little things)

the females have been engaging in the weirdest behavior ever! they get chased around by the males, and then they stop and flip COMPLETELY upside down and rub their bellies on plant leaves!

are they trying to mate? i mean, any fry would be quickly devoured by my krib, but how can i encourage it? should i add more of either sex? the pH was 6.8 but it swung back up to 7.6 due to a malfunction in my co2 system. 

the fish have been doing this ever since the pH went wonky. is this something to be concerned about or is it just the good ol' fashioned birds-and-the-bees at work?


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## oliesminis (May 7, 2007)

could either be a problem or eggs being layed on the leaves, if they are doing it very regulary then it is probably a problem, however i arent 100% sure about this so you need to check what im saying


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

they are doing it very regularly, perhaps every five minutes. everyone's still eating and everything


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## oliesminis (May 7, 2007)

could be normal breeding behavior, i dont know if they are doing it on lots of different leaves try cutting one of to see if ytou can see any eggs


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

they're fairly small leaves, i can see the underside. no eggs! then again, the females keep getting harrassed whenever they do it. i think i've actually narrowed it down to one female. she'll flutter upside down with her belly on the leaf, then she swims out and around a male, then she goes back and does it again. i think she's trying to entice him to mate with her, but he's not having any of it.


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## The Tick (Jan 14, 2008)

Trashion, you lucky dog you! This is typically breeding behavior for rasboras. I've never cared to breed fish but I've always wanted to see this happen. Not because I'm a pervert or anything, but a fish flipping upside down! That's just plain cool! Keep checking for those eggs, chum!


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## Clerk (Nov 22, 2006)

Usually while they are 'in the mood' you will generally see a pair of them swim next to each other and rub bodies and shake their front half of their bodies back and forth. Then swim apart then repeat, although I have not seen them do any leaf behaviors.


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

yeah, a pair keep swimming around rubbing together, but then i did a waterchange and i think it threw them off  they stopped doing their little sexy dance :\


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Harlequins most definitely spawn by swimming upside-down and laying their eggs on the undersides of leaves. In fact, they're kinda famous for it.


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