# Emdlers livebearer colony?



## philipboucharddavies (Jan 27, 2010)

Hey all! 

I got a delema :-? so here it goes i want to get endlers and if i get some i would buy two sets of pairs which would come out as 2 males and 2 females and these fish breed quite a bit apperently sooo i was wondering could i get a colony in a 5.5 gallon?

Phil


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## kelly528 (Aug 31, 2009)

I would say no. Reason being is that in order to have a colony, you either need to have enough space for all the babies they will have OR at least enough room for some of the babies to mature so you can sell them.

I started a colony in a 10g, thinking that I would just sell the offspring as soon as they hit maturity. Problem is, the tank filled to the brim with fry and they didn't mature fast enough to be cleared out for room for the next batch of babies.

If you must have a colony in a 10g my best suggestion is to sell the females when they start to get bigger and older. Older females drop more fry in a batch (20-40 usually) so obviously you want them gone and just keep the younger females who may drop 3-10. Usually how it goes is that on a female's very first batch they drop 1-3 fry, second drop will be somewhere around 10-20 and after that they start putting out batches of 30 or 40 fry.

I hope that all made sense... in short I think the minimum you can reasonably keep a colony in is 10g.


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## Mikaila31 (Dec 18, 2008)

I once had a just over 100 endlers in a 15 gal. Yes they do breed a lot. I started with 6 fish (2m/4f) and hit over 100 in about 2 months. I would say no to a colony in a 5.5 gal. Though a group of males would work, or if you plan to move all the young out. I currently have a unknown amount in a 20 high. It can be quite difficult to deal with all the young, even with this less common livebearer. I've sold quite a few, and made much more than I spent on the parents. I also gave away about 100 to one person for free, cuz I needed them gone. He said he needed some new blood, though I doubt he needed 100 of them. Good thing he was also a cichlid keeper;-).


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## philipboucharddavies (Jan 27, 2010)

Thanks, that was the original plan just to get rid of the females but I have no way of doing so I was thinkingi could just give the babies to my lfs it's a less common fish and I don't see why they woulnt want them? 

Phil 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

I had two pair in a 5.5g. Lots of fry, but these got moved to other tanks pretty quickly.


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## Mikaila31 (Dec 18, 2008)

philipboucharddavies said:


> Thanks, that was the original plan just to get rid of the females but I have no way of doing so I was thinkingi could just give the babies to my lfs it's a less common fish and I don't see why they woulnt want them?
> 
> Phil
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Its not that they don't want them, it is just some stores may not buy from you(hence I normally don't buy from these stores, cuz they won't even give me credit for my fish. Some BS that it might make their fish sick.) Stores that will buy from may not always do it. When I do sell endlers I usually call and the store tells me they have room for 1-2 dozen. Then they may not need anymore for about a month. So I had a 15 gal overflowing with 100 of them, its nice to get rid of 2 dozen of them. In the long run though it does not do much. Especially since endlers start breeding at about 2 months. They do not normally eat their young either. I was estimating when I gave away the 100 I raised they were producing about 20 fry a week. 

It may just be the area I live in too, we have a large club here. Endlers are common, though stores will still give you $1.25 each for them. My advertisement for free ones out of a group with over 200 members only one person wanted them, which is why he got all of them. I sold 5 young adults at last auction and they went for less than what the store would of given me in credit:roll:. I still keep them, because they take no effort to breed and its too much effort trying to catch every last one of them out of a planted tank. I finally did get some large angels in another tank so I have some means of population control over them.


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## philipboucharddavies (Jan 27, 2010)

Is there another fish i could put in,ie platy or a male betta or something that would keep the population down? Also do shrimp help with that cause im gonna have either 5 red cherry or 5 amano not sure yet, anyways thanks for the help.

Phil


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## Mikaila31 (Dec 18, 2008)

philipboucharddavies said:


> Is there another fish i could put in,ie platy or a male betta or something that would keep the population down? Also do shrimp help with that cause im gonna have either 5 red cherry or 5 amano not sure yet, anyways thanks for the help.
> 
> Phil


in a 5.5gal I wouldn't. Platy I doubt would do anything and the betta will possible go after all the fish. Cherry shrimp are harmless to fry, I've got lots of them in my endler tank.


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## philipboucharddavies (Jan 27, 2010)

UGH this is terrible i really want the endlers because i could have about 4 in that size tank but they only sell them in pairs!!!!!!

Phil


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## kelly528 (Aug 31, 2009)

Wait you're in Alberta.... have you signed up for the forum abaquaria.com? It's an alberta based fish forum with classifieds--- I'll bet you $20 someone has an endler colony and can spare 4 males for cheap or free.


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

That, or just set up a second 5.5g with a single Badis badis. It would eat all the Endler fry you could feed it.


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## philipboucharddavies (Jan 27, 2010)

The Alberta only thing would be sweeet! its just the guy online has pure endlers and Ive done some research and such, and i don't want them mixed with guppies. And I only have enough room for 1 tank at the moment.

Phil


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