Endler's livebearers???

[new2betas]

About 6 months ago I went to the lfs and bought some feeder guppies for my fire bellied toads to eat....well, they haven't eaten them and I am in the process of re-doing the toad tank this weekend. I caught the four small fish that were in the toad tank and put them in one of my 2g tanks I had sitting around. I have wondered about these fish ever since they got big enough to really see....lol....they are so very colorful, not like most guppies I see in the store. They have MANY colors that are irredescent in quality also. Could they possibly be endler's???? They were EXTREMELY hard to photograph as they are so small and fast. The biggest one is probably doing good to be 1/2" long. Hope the pictures help identify them.

 

[neilanh]

Yes, they appear to be endlers. Hard to say which type, but definately endlers.

 

[new2betas]

Cool!! I did notice in the toad tank that they bred pretty prolifically (sp?)...lol. How long will they fare in the 2g tank. Like I said before, the largest is pushing 1/2" right now if not a little smaller.

 

[neilanh]

Not sure - they bioload equivalence is very small, but like you said, they're extremely prolific, so they're population will increase very fast. I went from 9 as my original set (4 males, 5 females) to over 100 inside 5 months.

 

[new2betas]

Well, as I said before, I had them in my toad tank and I am not sure if they ever ate any or not, but at one time I noticed a total of 7 in there and have seen babies at times also. But, today when I broke down the habitat I only caught 4 adults and saw no babies at all. Is there a way to tell the males from the females? I will be in big trouble if I have 100 inside of five months....geez....If I could separate the males from the females I would put a couple of one sex in my 29g.

 

[Purrbox]

They could be Endlers or even Endlers crossed with Guppies. My guess is a cross since they were sold as guppies. The markings definately look like my Endler Males. Males are MUCH more colorful than the females. The one in the picture looks to be a male. The females tend to be larger and drab colored.

 

[new2betas]

Thanks Joy....I will go look closely at them and see if I think there are any females...

 

[new2betas]

Well, if I go by coloring, I think I have three males and one female. Also, the one I think is a female is getting kinda harrassed by the males. Do you think I could take her out and put her in my red cherry shrimp tank and she would be okay and leave the shrimp alone?

 

[neilanh]

The harrassment is... well, let's just say the males want to get to know her better.

 

[new2betas]

oh boy....should I go ahead and take her out then? I really don't want more babies. Would she be okay in my 10g shrimp tank? I think she is too small to mess with the shrimp.

 

[FishEggs]

i'm sure SHE would be ok but any tiny shrimplets might become a snack if they could fit into her mouth.
do you not have any toads to feed any more? looks like they were balancing out the breeding by eating the fry.

 

[new2betas]

i'm sure SHE would be ok but any tiny shrimplets might become a snack if they could fit into her mouth.
do you not have any toads to feed any more? looks like they were balancing out the breeding by eating the fry.

Matt...I do have my toads, but I am in the process of rebuilding their habitat this weekend and they can't go back in there for 48 hours due to some sealant I am using in the rebuild. I just thought they were kinda pretty and maybe I wanted to keep them instead of using them for food, as the toads really didn't seem to be eating them very often.

 

[FishEggs]

well if you want to keep them instead of using them for food i have lots of extra endlers you can have for food if ya want. their markings are a bit different than yours. you can see what they look like in my album pics.

 

[Alaris]

Oooh Endlers! I'm wanting Endlers for my tank. Are the males aggressive to each other like guppies are?

 

[FishEggs]

not that i've noticed. they spend most of their attention on the females which is why it is suggested that you have more females than males.

 

[new2betas]

Matt,
Yours look like true endlers....mine definitely look like a hybrid, but they are still pretty. I will keep them in this small tank until I see I need to move them and will probably take out the female before long...so as not to have more of them.

 

[Alaris]

not that i've noticed. they spend most of their attention on the females which is why it is suggested that you have more females than males.

So it would be okay to get just one or two males by themselves?

 

[FishEggs]

well i have a 5.5 gal tank with about 20 males in it no females and they seem to do just fine. there is some flaring at each other and a pecking order but nothing dangerous to their health that i have witnessed. they dont go at it like bettas and i havent seen any damaged fins. they'll just chase each other a bit.

 

[Alaris]

Thanks, Matt! ^_^b

 

[new2betas]

I am still trying to decide where I am going to put my lone female endler....