New endlers being bullied

Before I got my new fish today, the fish I had in my 10 gallon planted tank were 9 ember tetras and 1 male endler's livebearer. The new ones I received today and joined everyone in the tank are 4 more endler's livebearers. I guess my original guy, named Hierophant Green, was used to being the only endler because he immediately started flaring at all of them and causing trouble. The four new males have been pretty much completely peaceful with one another though. Hierophant had been bullying them all day and it's stressful to watch honestly. As mentioned he's been flaring a ton, nipping, and aggressively chasing all the new guys. Only a couple of them have stood up for themselves but that doesn't keep them safe. I know this is probably normal because Hierophant sees the tank as his territory and was alone for so long, but I don't know if this behavior is going to last, I really hope not. I just want to know what to do. I don't know if I can wait it out, because these are aggressive displays of dominance, not just them figuring out their pecking order. Maybe it'll calm down after a few days? The fish have plenty of cover to hide, but should I maybe keep him in quarantine alone for a while, then reintroduce him? I don't know, I would love some help and advice.

 

It’s normal for male endlers to flare at each other , perhaps a bit of what looks like chasing as well?
Nipping is not normal for endlers, unless they have a guppy bloodline ? Then they could bite the tail off each other if they are full of guppy blood.
I believe the only true endler is a Black Bar Endler. But even these have been crossed often unless you paid a fortune for pure endlers?
Anything that does not at least look like a black bar is not a true endler ( I am told ?)

If you have a breeding box now is a good opportunity to use fishy jail.( 24 to 48 hours perhaps?)
Changing the ornaments is often done with other species to give them new territory. I see no reason not to try it with endlers?

I would hope they settle down as they decide who is the boss.?

 

On aggression in all male tanks with Endler's | 169224 | Endlers Livebearers

here is a post on an endler aggression issue that you may find insightful.

As far as true endlers go—and I only know this because it’s been my point of research this week—there are several varieties of “true endler”, while the black bar was in fact the first original endler brought back. But, it is possible to have a pure endler not exhibiting the black bar—they are not likely in fish shops though.

the likelihood of finding a pure endler in a pet shop would be slim to none. Most all of them are hybridized.

 

It’s normal for male endlers to flare at each other , perhaps a bit of what looks like chasing as well?
Nipping is not normal for endlers, unless they have a guppy bloodline ? Then they could bite the tail off each other if they are full of guppy blood.
I believe the only true endler is a Black Bar Endler. But even these have been crossed often unless you paid a fortune for pure endlers?
Anything that does not at least look like a black bar is not a true endler ( I am told ?)

If you have a breeding box now is a good opportunity to use fishy jail.( 24 to 48 hours perhaps?)
Changing the ornaments is often done with other species to give them new territory. I see no reason not to try it with endlers?

I would hope they settle down as they decide who is the boss.?

I'm fairly sure they're true endlers, I bought them online from Aquatic Arts and were about $8 each. I like the breeding box idea, I may try it, but it might be easier to keep him in quarantine alone for a while.
I hope so too.

 

I'm fairly sure they're true endlers, I bought them online from Aquatic Arts and were about $8 each. I like the breeding box idea, I may try it, but it might be easier to keep him in quarantine alone for a while.
I hope so too.

I’m sure they are endlers too. I learned here lately over the past month or so that endlers come in classes: N, P, and K.

N class endlers are considered pure bred”and can be traced to native waters In Venezuela through a paper trail.

P class endlers appear pure, but you can’t prove it.

K class endlers are hybrids—things like japan blue endlers and cobra endlers can only be a result of hybridization.

I hope your endlers settle soon. I hate when there is discord in the tank. It makes me super tense. I know with bettas, introducing a betta into an established tank can sometimes help with the aggression that it would otherwise show. I don’t know if this is true for endlers as well, but may be taking him out for a while and then re-introducing him would work.

 

I’m sure they are endlers too. I learned here lately over the past month or so that endlers come in classes: N, P, and K.

N class endlers are considered pure bred”and can be traced to native waters In Venezuela through a paper trail.

P class endlers appear pure, but you can’t prove it.

K class endlers are hybrids—things like japan blue endlers and cobra endlers can only be a result of hybridization.

I hope your endlers settle soon. I hate when there is discord in the tank. It makes me super tense. I know with bettas, introducing a betta into an established tank can sometimes help with the aggression that it would otherwise show. I don’t know if this is true for endlers as well, but may be taking him out for a while and then re-introducing him would work.

I've heard about those classes but never did extra reading to fully understand, that's really interesting!

Thanks, I hope they do too. I remember reading that about bettas since I'm planning on trying to add a betta to this tank in the future, so I'll try that for my feisty little guy. He won't give the other endlers, or himself, a break . Thank you again for the help and responses! I'll probably be following up with an update on whether or not this works, to hopefully help others facing the same sorts of problems.

 

Not enough space in my opinion. A planted 10 gallon isn’t a lot of room for 14 fish even though they’re small, they need room to swim and not feel cramped.

 

I don’t think I have an issue with 9 embers and 4 endlers in a 10 as long as water changes are done religiously. I think it’s more of a bio load issue than a space issue. But I would likely not add the betta for a variety of reasons- I think 14 are at your absolute max, but only adding an extra endler. I would keep just the 13.
That’s just my ten cents.

 

Before I got my new fish today, the fish I had in my 10 gallon planted tank were 9 ember tetras and 1 male endler's livebearer. The new ones I received today and joined everyone in the tank are 4 more endler's livebearers. I guess my original guy, named Hierophant Green, was used to being the only endler because he immediately started flaring at all of them and causing trouble. The four new males have been pretty much completely peaceful with one another though. Hierophant had been bullying them all day and it's stressful to watch honestly. As mentioned he's been flaring a ton, nipping, and aggressively chasing all the new guys. Only a couple of them have stood up for themselves but that doesn't keep them safe. I know this is probably normal because Hierophant sees the tank as his territory and was alone for so long, but I don't know if this behavior is going to last, I really hope not. I just want to know what to do. I don't know if I can wait it out, because these are aggressive displays of dominance, not just them figuring out their pecking order. Maybe it'll calm down after a few days? The fish have plenty of cover to hide, but should I maybe keep him in quarantine alone for a while, then reintroduce him? I don't know, I would love some help and advice.

You can get a breeder basket and but the original endler in it and that should tell him to stop being mean. lol. Keep the breeder basket in the tank and don't leave him in there for more than 6 days. I would reccomend 2 days you keep him in the basket.