maggie

I recently purchased some harlequin rasboras. at feeding time these little guys can eat! i was just wondering if its safe for them to always be fatties after eating. i try and not over feed but they live with guppies and tetras so i have to make sure everyone gets their share, which ends up in some fat little bellies.

Isabella

When you have lots of small fish, some will always eat more than others, ending up with their bellies bulging out. This is not healthy for them. The fattest of my Neons died of Dropsy once. It would just eat and eat without any constraints, until it became extremely fat and got Dropsy. Though I never overfed my fish. It was just that the fat Neon would eat fastest of all fish, snatching up whatever the food she could and as fast as she could.

I guess there is not much you can do about these occasional glutton fish, lol. But as with any fish, overfeeding is not healthy. It's best to feed all your fish very small amounts, 2 - 3 times a day, that's it. Some people feed only once a day.

How many Harlequin Rasboras did you get? They're beautiful fish

Beeboy

The best way to feed is to feed several times a day in small amounts. Do not overfeed!!! If you do your fish's health will decrease and the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate will increase. It is natural for them to work themselves into a feeding frenzy but even with many fish a small pinch several times a day is enough. As for making sure everyone gets their share you can't really do more than split up the feeding session so they have multiple chances a day.

I hope this helps.

Beeboy

maggie

thanks for the help. i guess i'll just have to split up the feedings then.

its sad though, to answer the question of how many i got. the answer is only 2. when i purchased them i asked several times if they were shoaling fish and the "experts" at petsmart assured me more than once they weren't. i even went so far as to check the signs they use to label shoaling fish and found none. and if i buy any more fish my tank will be overcrowded so now i have to wait until i have the funding and room to get a bigger tank so i can put more in. they seem happy so far though, its been about three weeks since i got them. and they have plenty of tank mates who seem to have made shoaling buddies with them.

Isabella

Don't worry If you'll be getting another tank, then your 2 Harlequins should be fine until then. Just keep your tank water very clean. Anyway, how many fish and what fish do you have in your tank right now? (Including the 2 Harlequins.) What size is your tank?

When you get a bigger tank, get at least 6 Harlequins. You'll be AMAZED how wonderful they look in groups. They will show more beautiful colors and more interesting behaviors when in a larger group. Of course, you can have even more than 6 of them, if you'll have the space for that in your next tank. The larger the group of a shoaling/schooling species, the better the group looks I currently have 6 Harlequin Rasboras but I think I'll even get a few more of them (not 100% sure yet, but I am leaning toward that idea very much).