When to let fry out of the breeder box? (Endlers)

[MymonkeyMoue]

Mid-December we were astonished to fine 5 teeny tiny babies in our tank! Turned out our Endler's had babies! We were able to scoop the little guys into a breeder box and they have been growing really well.

6 weeks later, are they ready to be introduced into the community?

Tank has peaceful fish, Endlers, small tetras, a few gold barbs and mollies, some algae eaters, 2 loaches and a rio negro Pleco.

Their color hasn't developed yet (or it has and they are all female.) Just concerned that once we let them free, we won't be able to see them again.

Many thanks for any contributions to the discussion!

 

[Fdsh5]

Once they are big enough to not fit in any fishes mouth, it is safe to release them. I keep my endlers in the breeder box until they are about 6-7 weeks old and then I put them in a 5 gallon tank until they color up. I only put the males I want back in the main tank. The others get sold or donated.

 

[MymonkeyMoue]

Thanks for the response! It was encouraging and left me somewhat reassured when I let them out of the box. I am happy to report that all 5 little guys (or, I'm still thinkin' gals are doing great!) I still count them about 20x a day just to make sure they're all okay.

I'm fairly certain the mom is set to have another round of babies soon, so I have to start to seriously consider setting up a breeder tank. I've already talked to my LFS and I can bring the babies there, but this is the first time my fish ever had babies, so its a bit hard to part with them, lol.

Thanks again!

 

[BBradbury]

Your Endler Fry

Thanks for the response! It was encouraging and left me somewhat reassured when I let them out of the box. I am happy to report that all 5 little guys (or, I'm still thinkin' gals are doing great!) I still count them about 20x a day just to make sure they're all okay.

I'm fairly certain the mom is set to have another round of babies soon, so I have to start to seriously consider setting up a breeder tank. I've already talked to my LFS and I can bring the babies there, but this is the first time my fish ever had babies, so its a bit hard to part with them, lol.

Thanks again!

Hello My...

If you set up the tank ahead of time and prepare it for fry with lots of floating plants like Brazilian water weed, Hornwort, Water wisteria, Water sprite or Pennywort and feed the adult fish a little more and a little more often, you don't need to isolate the female fish or her fry. As soon as they're born, the Livebearer fry go to the surface for a quick breath of air and into the all the surface plants. They'll stay in the mess of plants at the top waiting to be fed. The female, well fed on a good diet of mostly frozen foods, will show little interest in the fry, as will the other adult fish that are well fed too. Trapping and moving fish can be stressful and can cause injury. With a little tank prep in the beginning you'll have a very high fry survival rate and a healthy female.

B

 

[henningc]

You can jsut leave them in the tank unless you have other fish in it.

 

[mjs500doo]

When the ladies show "square" I move them to the breeder box. They birth in the box typically overnight (about 85% of my births happen once the lights go out). In the morning I move the fry to my 2 gallon infant tank. They learn to eat and get stronger & bigger here. Once they start getting larger 2-3 months and can eat small flakes, I transfer to a 10G transition tank. This the tank I decide who to keep/sell/donate, etc.

But-before I had two tanks, I just housed all fry together in the 10G. The babies seem to do better with the 2G. It's smaller, less current, and the sponge filter is great.

 

[MymonkeyMoue]

Thanks for all the help! I appreciate it!

Another mom just gave birth, and we were able to find 3 fry. We check the tank for babies a few times a day, but since we only found 3 I'm afraid some of the bigger fish may have had a little sushi appetizer before we fed them.

@mjs500doo, what do you mean when the ladies show square? I look at some of them and think any day now.. but I always seem to miss it!

 

[mjs500doo]

Right before they give birth, their body literally will look like this:

\ __ /

 

[preyas1207]

kinda late but if it was only the endler's i heard that endler fish wont eat their fry unless really hungry but to be safe i suggest keeping them in there until a length of about one inch or 3 cm

 

[Fdsh5]

kinda late but if it was only the endler's i heard that endler fish wont eat their fry unless really hungry but to be safe i suggest keeping them in there until a length of about one inch or 3 cm

Some will eat the fry some won't. My red chili endlers hardly eat the fry while my green lightning endlers will chow down. Plus when you take them out of the tank you can closely monitor their growth and health