omnitheforsaken

Okay,

So I bought some endler's not too long ago because I loved the way they look.

I read about how their natural habitats are being destroyed and how endlers should be preserved and not bred with guppy's in some people opinion. Trying to do the noble thing I guess, I decided to do that.

So now my endler's are breeding like crazy... now what?

I don't know what I was thinking. It's not like I can go somewhere and let them go free to hopefully populate another area. In retrospect, I now can't see the harm in crossbreeding them as eventually their lives will start and end in my aquarium and have no impact whatsoever on the endler's in the wild.

Am I missing something?

Lucy

Ya, but a lot of people have that view pont and eventually there won't be any oure strains.
Can you sell the fry to your LFS? They'll fetch more $ than hybrids.

omnitheforsaken

Naw, they say the buy but they never have room, even when I'm giving them away. I'd like to just give them to fellow hobbyists when they get older but I don't know many around here and don't know how to ship them. I think I'll study up on shipping livestock and then offer them for free on various websites. I don't really want to get money for them, I just want them to be plentiful and live in good homes, you know?

Amanda

Well, keep me in mind if you begin shipping. I was considering endlers for a while, but they're not available around me.

MissMTS

Do you have a fish club in your area? That might be a great place to pass them on to other hobbyists

omnitheforsaken

I definitely will

omnitheforsaken

Don't know. I'll look around though. Thanks for the advice.

Meenu

I want endlers and can't find any *sigh*

iloveengl

I agree that it's definitely worth it to keep them pure if only for the preservation of a species; if you decide to ship, let me know.

omnitheforsaken

They breed like crazy and I am estimating that I'll be shipping some time in January. I'm thinking I may only want to ship 1 couple to who ever asks since they reproduce the way they do. Do you think that'd be too few for those who want them?

By the way, I bought them from AdrianHD @ Swampriveraquatics.com. I'm stating that so people can decide for themselves whether or not my Endler's are pure, but I will be giving them away since people seem interested and will almost certainly start shipping in January.

omnitheforsaken

Don't worry, I'll send you some too.

iloveengl

It gets way way way too cold to ship fishies to these parts before late April, but I'll definitely pm you then. Can't wait to see the first batch of babies!

Meenu

This is so exciting. Do you have pictures?

omnitheforsaken

Naw... I just tried to take some for you but all I get is blurry streaks. I don't know how you all get your fish still long enough for a photo. The fact that they're significantly smaller than the swordtails that rush to the front whenever I approach the tank doesn't help either.

iloveengl

It literally takes me 25 pictures before I can get 1 or 2 in focus. I'm just obnoxiously persistent. Everyone getting along well with the newbies?

omnitheforsaken

Guess I forgot about the whether being a factor. Duh? I'll have to consider that. The first batch is pretty much grown now. I went from having 1 male and 6 females to at least 3 colorful males and who knows. Apparently it takes some time for the colors to show on the males but not long. I'll keep trying to figure out how to get a good picture.

omnitheforsaken

Very much so. I always hear about livebearers eating the fry but I have Molly's, Swordtails and Endlers all in the same tank (after verifying they couldn't crossbreed) and I never see them even chase the fry, and most of the fry (not all) have stopped hiding from the adults despite their small size. I don't doubt that it happens to people... it may be happening to me, but I can't tell.

And I just LOVE my male Molly. He's a Sailfin "Dalmation" according to the store I bought him in but he has like 1 white spot on him and the rest is jet black. They didn't even sell him as a Sailfin and I'm not sure if he's a true sailfin but he definitely has one that's much bigger than your normal shortfinned molly. He's the feeder's pet.

Okay, I'm clearly off topic and I could talk about my tank for hours like I'm sure we all could, so I'll stop there.

LetDiceFly

If you raise the ISO to about 800 on your camera you can take the pictures with a faster shutter speed (prevent streaks) and higher F-stop (wider field of focus).

Morgan111

I just saw endlers for the first time a while ago, if you ever have any you dont want I'd like to try the breed out n see how well they do for me... I'll gladly pay shipping and packaging costs.

Butterfly

Good for you for making the effort to keep them pure. If you got them from Adrian then you got quality Endlers. As you can see theere is a demand for them.
The thing about buying them from LFS is you can't be sure their pure bred and not mixrd with guppies.
Usually you mix 1 male and 2-3 females. Just so you know when you ship
Carol
Carol

ctclee

Good for you keeping the strain pure. I have a LFS by me that sells a cross breed in one tank and orig in another. I bought mine from a breeder that supplies to most the stores in my area.

I took home 6 or 7 just to cycle a tank with and now ..... i have over a dozen with 2 more females that look ready to burst ! this is too easy i'm going to have a population explosion in a few months.

My LFS has said that we can work something out when I have too many.

But I have to admit the half breeds are some of the most stunning guppies/endlers I've ever seen

I might have a purebred tank and a mix tank just for giggles.

Good luck with the shipping.