Endler Questions.

I am considering getting some n class orchid endlers in the future and placing them in a 10 gallon for themselves. I was wondering if a pair or trio of them would be a good enough to start a small colony and not need to add new blood at all (considering if I cull any deformed looking fry)? I heard that if you start off with quality stock and cull off any weak offspring then there would be no need to add new individuals. I was also thinking about letting the females get pregnant then moving them to a separate unheated 5-10 gallon tank where they will give birth ( If it turns out they require a heater I'll get one). . Any fry that turn out to be male will be placed in the heated 10 gallon tank before they have the chance to mate. Bottom line is I only want the females to mate once and live out their live out the rest of their lives along with their virgin daughters in a separate tank from the boys. When I need more fry to start a new generation or when the end of their lifespan is near( I think it'll only be a yearly thing though), ill just bring two of the offspring together but I want them separated for the most part. By the way, how would I sex the young males and females before they become sexually mature? endlercollector Can you give me your opinion on this? Any other input or advice from endler pros out there would be greatly appreciated too!

 

Your not going to have very good genetics if you do this. Yes it can be done and many people do it, but your going to have weak fish prone to health problems. As for sexing, you can look gravid spots on the female. She will be longer and be less colorful. She might develop a rounder siloute The male is more slI'm and more colorful.

 

They will make babies. When you inbreed them, the males tend to lose color and also deformities plus early life fatalities will occur--just like with humans. I would advise getting closer to a dozen for a healthy colony to avoid inbreeding.

Sexing them is easy, the males will show color after a few weeks and females almost never do.

unrelated to your question but if your intention is to breed, 10 gallon and 5 gallons are very small. With livebearers, the fish don't stop coming for a long time.

 

Male endlers will have a pointed/folded up analfin, while females' analfin will stay in a triangle shape. And yes, the females do require a heater just like the males.

 

No I don't want to breed I just want a good number of males for my display tank and females in a separate tank just to be there when I need newer individuals (since I heard there lifespan is only about a year or so). But I've seen someone claiming on a different forum (I forgot which) that he had a healthy black bar endler population that's been running for about 11 years and he never needed to add new ones to the tank

 

Ok. That should work. My females give birth to as little as 1 and as many over a dozen depending on several things. It takes a few weeks but the color begins to fill in on the males--sometimes deceptively longer.

 

I've heard of males who are late bloomer so they can end up getting the females pregnant before they are recognized. Also do yours ever live longer than a year and do you think I'll be able to avoid inbreeding issues if I cull and euthanize the deformed ones. That way their genes won't be able to be passed on and thus cause more issues. I might decide to breed IF my lfs accepts them but if not ill just stick to my plan.

 

The females should be in at least 10 gallons at a temperature of about 74 degrees F. They will stay pregnant and keep reproducing for some 6 months, but once it gets a little crowded in there they will eat all the fry. Once it gets to be that full, you can get another small tank and keep just one or two females in there to allow some fry to make it. Since you only want some for a display tank, you should be fine with your plan of only occasionally letting some fry survive.

 

Ive only been keeping them for about 6 months. Haven't lost an adult yet.

 

endlercollector do you think is trio will provide good enough genetics? or will I have to continuously add new blood every once in a while?

 

endlercollector do you think is trio will provide good enough genetics? or will I have to continuously add new blood every once in a while?

You should be fine. Just cull any deformed and/or weak fish. Scoliosis is definitely something to keep an eye out for because they tend to survive and breed in home tanks whereas such fry would get eaten in the wild. You could trade fish with other people from time to time, but it shouldn't be necessary.

 

One more thing are Endlers compatible with cherry shrimp or will they end up as snacks?