Looks like I didn't think this through...

When I got my female endlers, the guy said that I would have to put the fry in breeding nets if I wanted to raise any, because the females would eat them. I also thought the badis would go for them.

But...I've seen the badis catch one fry - mostly they are born too big and zippy for them. The female endlers ignore them completely. They only started showing up about a week ago and now I have ....lots. Lots and lots. I was figuring just a few would make it through!

They are just regular pet shop endler/guppy crosses, so I doubt I can sell them on. I might be able to give a few to a pet shop but I don't think that's a viable long-range solution.

So...I'm trying to think of a fish I could get that would help me control the fry epidemic. It has to be happy in a 25-gallon tank, willing to eat fry (not necessarily every single one, I just can't have this many) and compatible with my current fish:

- adult endlers
- clown killies (they are very small!)
- threadfin rainbows
- kuhli loaches
- bulldog pleco
- scarlet badis
- cherry shrimp (I know everything eats baby shrimp - I want something that won't take down all the shrimp)


Does anything like this exist? A small gourami? A peacock gudgeon?

You know what I used at one point when I needed population control was bumble bee gobys. Now I don't know if they would be compatible with your current fish but i had 2 in a 15 gallon and they ate a lot of fry. I say they were eating 85% of the fry. Bumble bee gobys love live food mine got big and plump. This is just what I did I am sure there might be a better fish solution.  

I really like the look of the bumblebee gobies, but in a lot of places they say that it is actually a brackish water fish. Did yours do well in fresh water?

Orlon11 wrote:I really like the look of the bumblebee gobies, but in a lot of places they say that it is actually a brackish water fish. Did yours do well in fresh water?

They were in freshwater but I did have one tablespoon of aquarium salt for every 5 gallons. So fresh but slightly salty. It does not hurt the endlers. Actually some endlers live in brackish water. But the Gobys did very well.

Bumblebee Gobies are weird fish. In nature, they will be found in freshwater, altho in aquaria, they do better in low salinity brackish water (SG of between 1.002 to 1.005) a bit like Mollies..

Tetras would eat everything they can see. Maybe you can go with these?

After thinking of this.. No so sure about tetras.. Maybe a small population of CPD, depends of your water parameters..

I think CPD would be too small to eat endler fry. They're even smaller than the badis (unless the ones I've seen are all juveniles)

Would a sparkling gourami bother cherry shrimp? They are so small...

Conversely, would they be big enough to eat guppy fry?

I expect that any fish that would eat endler's fry would eat any fry, and shrimp. Predators aren't picky.
 
The salt you would need for a bumblebee goby would be challenging for your rainforest threadfins - in fact for everything you have in there. It's not comaptible water wise.
 
I think you'lll need a new home for the endlers.

GaryE wrote:II think you'lll need a new home for the endlers.

I keep some Endlers at the office in a low tech tank. No heater, no lighting as it is facing a window, just an internal filter and weekly water changes. It is a small 5 gallon that I picked up at the LFS for less than $15.

True that. CPDs are defenitively too small. Heck, they barely are able to eat Bloodworms. (Mine are at about 1.5 inches..)

I'm thinking I should just set up my ten gallon and stick the females in there with a few gobies or something similar and only a few plants. Then I can save some fry when I want to keep the colony going. Would it be overstocked? I have 9 adult females.

Orlon11 wrote:I'm thinking I should just set up my ten gallon and stick the females in there with a few gobies or something similar and only a few plants. Then I can save some fry when I want to keep the colony going. Would it be overstocked? I have 9 adult females.

9 female endlers in a 10 gallon. That is lots of room.

Once I set up the tank and the dust is settled, can I add the fish right away if I move my smaller filter from my main tank to the ten?

Also, I am thinking of collecting some rocks from the woods in the big park by my house (mt royal) for the hardscape. Do I just need to wash them and check if they fizz when I put vinegar on them?

Orlon11 wrote:Once I set up the tank and the dust is settled, can I add the fish right away if I move my smaller filter from my main tank to the ten?

Also, I am thinking of collecting some rocks from the woods in the big park by my house (mt royal) for the hardscape. Do I just need to wash them and check if they fizz when I put vinegar on them?

Yes be careful when collecting rocks. Make sure there no where near roadways or peoples lawns or anywhere chemicals could have been sprayed. If you have pink or black granite around you they are safe rocks. I use those a lot collected by my uncle for me who lives in northern Ontario. Make sure there clean and there is different ways to do it. But the vinegar test is a good way to test rocks.

Anything I put into my tank as a hard scape, I disinfect before using it. When I am abroad I wash stones or wood first and then let them sit in a low chloride solution for at least the night.

Here I have started to use hydroxyperoxide in the same way.

So now that I won't have to worry about keeping my clown killies and shrimp safe - what are some fish likely to eat fry that would be happy in a ten gallon tank?

A betta! Or some yellow panchax killies...

I've heard its not good for bettas to over eat, so I dont know if it would be a good idea to put one in with a constant food source