harlequin versus chili rasbora - which is better?

[clownbaby]

Hello! I've been doing some general research for stocking of my 30gal tank. I'm stocking it pretty much only with nano fish, right now I have four pygmy cories but soon I will be increasing their numbers. I also have a mystery snail and a bladder snail hitchhiker! I love em though. 

I really love gouramis, and want some honey gouramis for my tank eventually, once my tank grows out a bit more and is more densely planted. With pygmy corydoras and honey gouramis being a bit shy, I now realize I need dither fish to make them more comfortable. After some research and consultation, I've decided to get an otocinclus and some rasboras. A very nice & educational user (@/lennie !!) mentioned how otos and pygmy cories love each others' company, and some great folks told me that rasboras are great dither fish that are super hardy, plus of course they are an itsy bitsy nano fish that I cannot help but love.

But now I am faced with a question: what rasboras should I get? I really like harlequins, but I adore chili rasboras for their coloring. Red fish swimming in and around lush green plants is genuinely mesmerizing. That being said, I am a bit of a beginner, and really value the advice I've gotten from more seasoned hobbyists & professionals... I genuinely appreciate you all so much! I do spend a lot of time near my aquarium, as it's in my school room, and I put a lot of effort into it. I would just like to know any tips/advice and some input from more experienced fishkeepers, especially if you've kept chili rasboras or harlequin rasboras. Are there any massive pros/cons to one species versus the other?

Water Parameters & Notes

• pH 6.8 - 7.4
• dKH 6 - 8 range
• dGH 8
• temperature 73 degrees fahrenheit (about 23 degrees celsius) 
• four pygmy cories & a mystery snail
  • eventually to stock with honey gouramis & otocinclus 
• 30 gallons (114 liter)
• sponge filter
• planted tank, currently only baby plants but eventually I plan to let my tank run wild and overgrow so it is densely planted
• I am a beginner but I am willing to put in a lot of time
• unable to change my water parameters that drastically, a little is fine but my current ranges seem to be thriving so I'd rather not mess with anything

Thank you all so much!

 

[Tony s]

I like my harlequins. very tough fish. almost nothing bothers them. They live with one of our bettas. very peaceful. they do more of a shoal instead of a school. swim mid to upper level, so substrate is a non-issue. about an 11\2 long deep copper and black. they have a related fish. the lambchop rasbora, slightly smaller, slenderer bodied. but behavior is close. haven't done chilis yet 

[macdaddy36]

I would personally go with harlequin rasbora, they are more bold. They are also larger and more deep-bodied so they will be much more visible than a tiny chili rasbora and you would be able to see them from across the room. 
 

There is also the espei rasbora, which I also have, they are basically a smaller version of a harlequin with brighter colors. That could be just what you are looking for.

[macdaddy36]

On 4/6/2024 at 3:03 PM, Tony s said:

I like my harlequins. very tough fish. almost nothing bothers them. They live with one of our bettas. very peaceful. they do more of a shoal instead of a school. swim mid to upper level, so substrate is a non-issue. about an 11\2 long deep copper and black. they have a related fish. the lambchop rasbora, slightly smaller, slenderer bodied. but behavior is close. haven't done chilis yet 

Just realized you said almost the exact same thing… Lambchop rasbora is another common name for espei rasbora

[PithyUserName]

Harlequins are tough, chill, meandering fish with a taller side profile. The copper color they have is very striking against a planted tank so don’t worry about that. They aren’t picky eaters, and do good in wide parameters. They get my vote.

[Tony s]

On 4/6/2024 at 3:36 PM, macdaddy36 said:

Lambchop rasbora is another common name for espei rasbora

yes, nbd. I only used the common name to make it easier. there's three very close species here. only differ by a bit of coloring and size. so close in fact the local petsmart has them in the same tank and just label them as trigonostigma rasbora.

[knee]

I currently have espei and emerald eye rasbora. From my experience they’re not good dither fish. I’m actually trying to get some gold ring danios to be their dither fish. I’ve kept them in a 20 long then upgraded to a 40 breeder and they’re still skittish. 

Maybe it’s because my tanks are always heavily planted and they have lots of hiding places. I also keep them with honey gourami, CPD and emerald dwarf danio. They’re all skittish but the danios are braver which surprised me. Very pretty fish but I only see them during feeding time 😂

 

I keep them in this tank and they all stay mostly in the shadowy areas towards the back. You can see them if you zoom on the right side. I think they’re better kept in a more open setup but I don’t mind them being skittish as long as they’re all healthy and have amazing color. 

Edited April 6 by knee

[Odd Duck]

Chilis are very tiny and if you haven’t seen both in person you might not realize how different they are in size if you’re only looking at their length comparisons. They are great in a good sized group with appropriate tank mates but most gouramis have a large enough mouth to eat a chili easily.  Harlequin rasboras are both longer, thicker, and deeper bodied and should be safer with a honey gourami if the harlequins are not too small when put together.  Adult chilis are probably just a bit less than 1/4 the body mass of an adult harlequin to give you a better idea of size.

You might get crazy lucky and raise a honey gourami with chilis but chances are your chilis would gradually disappear at some point.  The risk to harlequins would be minimal even if you got the slightly smaller species. 

[Lennie]

I wouldn't expect a shy fish to dither other shy fish. 

Adding bold fish with fairly high activity but not in a level to compete other slower eaters like honey gourami and pygmy cories should be a better choice. 

In terms of the look, I think chili rasboras are much better looking. But they wouldn't really provide the dithering you are looking in a 30g tank, especially compared to hq rasboras.

[Lennie]

On 4/6/2024 at 7:02 PM, clownbaby said:

I've decided to get an otocinclus and some rasboras. A very nice & educational user (@/lennie !!) mentioned how otos and pygmy cories love each others' company, and some great folks told me that rasboras are great dither fish that are super hardy, plus of course they are an itsy bitsy nano fish that I cannot help but love.

Ive just seen this part. I wanted to mention it as in my experience they loved to school randomly but not constantly. 
 

however, first, I would encourage to find tankbred ones if you want otos. Secondly, be careful, if they constantly eat pygmys food, as they shouldnt be consuming high animal protein diet. It can be problematic. Third, otos need a school themself, but they need constant grazing. So it can be hard to fulfill their schooling needs and provide constant natural growth in the tank so people gotta limit their numbers to not make them starve. I wouldnt recommend to get only one tho.

I think otos are very cute, but not great fish to keep in home tanks unless it is a very big tank. Personal opinion

[clownbaby]

On 4/7/2024 at 12:45 PM, Lennie said:

Ive just seen this part. I wanted to mention it as in my experience they loved to school randomly but not constantly. 
 

however, first, I would encourage to find tankbred ones if you want otos. Secondly, be careful, if they constantly eat pygmys food, as they shouldnt be consuming high animal protein diet. It can be problematic. Third, otos need a school themself, but they need constant grazing. So it can be hard to fulfill their schooling needs and provide constant natural growth in the tank so people gotta limit their numbers to not make them starve. I wouldnt recommend to get only one tho.

I think otos are very cute, but not great fish to keep in home tanks unless it is a very big tank. Personal opinion

I genuinely appreciate this advice so so so much. All of you are so helpful, I am just a beginner so receiving advice like this is so valuable as I start out... research can only go so far, and often time experience helps a lot in this hobby (which I am lacking.) Thank you so much for this.

[doktor zhivago]

Harlequins are only shy until you get more than 10 of them. I will say that they are greedy little piggies and they give my platys as good as they get when it comes to feeding time. Harlequins won't seem very interesting or active until you get a bunch of them. After that you can't get them to chill out 😂

I've found my harlequins won't eat food off the substrate so I won't think they'd be a problem with any bottom feeding species. Unlike the platys they really only hit the food when it's falling and won't hunt for it on the bottom at all.