10 gallon Endlers Livebearers Tank

[Aspencer]

I don't think you have to worry too much. I have Aquaclear 50s & 30s on both my tanks and have swordtail and shrimp babies without them going into the filter. They are both turned up to full. Although when I cleaned out my filters today, I did find a RCS in one but he was healthy.

 

[Loraaf]

Following! They are beautiful fish! Are they compatible with other fish?

 

[George9]

Following! They are beautiful fish! Are they compatible with other fish?

I think they are really peaceful fish and get along with other fish.

 

[Tropical]

I'm expecting a drop within the next few weeks, a few females have gotten big, and the gravid spots are dark. I took the cover off my filter intake and added some hornwort. The fish seem to like it, they peck at it and hide in it.

They are compatible with peaceful, small-ish fish. I wouldn't put them with fish larger then 3 or 4 inches. Tetras, cory cats, platys, maybe small dwarf cichlids, guppies, ect., should be fine. Anything that can't eat them, really.

 

[George9]

That's awesome! I really like hornwort, its one of my favorite plants(although I never really understood the name )

 

[Tropical]

That's awesome! I really like hornwort, its one of my favorite plants(although I never really understood the name )

Haha, same. Do you have some? The needles are falling off mine and floating to the surface and I can't figure out if there is something wrong with it, if the fish are pecking at it, or it it is just fragile.

 

[George9]

Sometimes the needles come off mine when the fish swim through it alot or I hit it during a pwc. I think they are kinda fragile.

 

[Tropical]

Sometimes the needles come off mine when the fish swim through it alot or I hit it during a pwc. I think they are kinda fragile.

Ok, thanks, just wanted to make sure it was ok.

 

[George9]

Ok, thanks, just wanted to make sure it was ok.

I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Tropical]

Pictures! I put two females in a breeder box, I'm expecting fry this week or next. They are all doing pretty good, although my hornwort is a mess. They must be sleeping in it or something, when I go to check on them there is always a few stems that became uprooted and are floating at the top.

 

[Tropical]

A lot of the males are getting great colors, some blues and yellows. They are mostly red and black, with green, orange, and yellow. Some have a black spot on their tale, like the peacock strain. Others are black bars. I have a few really young males (a month or so old) that are starting to color up. For everyone who PMed me, they should be ready in a week.

this picture isn't the best, I zoomed in a bit to focus on the male. You can kind of see the red, black, green and blue spots.

 

[toddnbecka]

Hornwort is a floating plant, never will root. If you "plant" it in the substrate it will simply rot and float loose anyway. If you want something similar that will root in the substrate I have loads of Najas indica. It's also a floating plant, but does root itself over time, though nothing like the roots pf Crypts of water sprite.
Endler's won't eat their fry (one reason I have hundreds of them) so if there aren't any other fish in the tank that will eat the fry a breeding box isn't necessary.

 

[jetajockey]

One thing I do to keep hornwort down is wrap plant weights on it. If the soil is well aerated it won't rot, given enough time it does put down some small roots but it's not a real root structure like you'd see in crypts or swords.

 

[Tropical]

Thanks for the info on hornwort, I'll just let it float, or tie it to weights. I realize a breeder box isn't necessary, but I think it will be helpful for keeping track of the fry.

 

[Tropical]

One of the females gave birth! I counted 5 fry.

 

[alLexX]

One of the females gave birth! I counted 5 fry.

awesome

 

[GuppyLover]

One of the females gave birth! I counted 5 fry.

Awesome!! Before you know it you'll need a 50g for all of them

 

[Tropical]

Awesome!! Before you know it you'll need a 50g for all of them

Haha, yup. I have a 30g in storage if I need it.

 

[toddnbecka]

I had a 40 gallon tank actually crowded with endler's last year, they breed sooo much faster than I can sell them. I picked up a baby Carapo knife fish at a fish club meeting and dropped it into the 40. You'll never see one this small f/s, one of the club members actually went collecting in Peru and brought it back in his suitcase. Commercially imported fish are always at least twice this size, often larger.

After about 4-5 weeks in the endler's buffet there were less than 2 dozen remaining, and the wee Carapo, more than doubled in size, looked like this:

The surviving endler's were moved into the 30L with my super red BN breeders, and the Carapo was switched to a diet of cichlid fry.

 

[Tropical]

Hi guys! Everything's looking good! The breeder box got a little loose last night and started tilting, and some of the fry swam out. I spent about 2 minutes collecting them back up again. They are very easy to catch compared to the adults I took the females out of the box and just decided to net the fry up after they are born instead of keeping the females in that little box for days. I did the math today, and I think I'll start selling and shipping by Monday the 11th as long as no problems show up. I'll only ship Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays to make sure that they get to their destinations before Sunday. I still need shipping supplies (boxes, prime, bags, insulation), I'll probably buy/order that stuff this weekend.