rm
Passport
- Family
- Guppies
- Grows to
- 2.5 cm (1")
- Lives
- 2–3 years
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Care
- Beginner
- Swims
- Near the surface
- Keep
- In a group of 3 or more
- Water
- 24–30 °C (75–86 °F)
Venezuela
Care requirements
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On record for Endler's Livebearer: adult size, lifespan, minimum tank, temperature, ph, hardness, minimum group, diet, care level, swim level, tank length.
A figure that is not on record is left out rather than guessed. One marked Suggested comes from keeping knowledge rather than a page.
- Minimum tank 38 L / 10.0 US gal
- pH 7–8.5
- Hardness 15–35 dGH
- Diet omnivore
- Tank length 45 cm minimum
Care notes written from general aquarium knowledge, not from the cited sources.
About
Endler's are what guppies looked like before a century of selective breeding. Smaller, neater, with hard-edged blocks of metallic green, orange and black on the male, and none of the enormous trailing fins that make a fancy guppy such a poor swimmer.
They come from a handful of coastal lagoons in Venezuela, several of which have been damaged or lost, so the wild populations are genuinely precarious.
The important thing to know is that they cross with guppies and produce fertile offspring. Keep the two together and within a few generations you have neither — just hybrids. If you care about having actual Endler's, they need their own tank.
Tank setup
Keep your Endler's away from guppies. That's the one rule that matters, and it's the reason "N-class" pure lines are tracked and traded so carefully.
Give them hard, alkaline water. Their lagoons are mineral-rich and often slightly brackish, and soft acidic water suits them poorly.
Plant densely. They're small, they're constantly active, and cover is what makes them confident and lets fry survive.
Keep the tank warm and covered. They're small enough to be lost through a gap.
They're comfortable in a small tank, which is unusual and useful — a well-planted nano suits a colony perfectly.
Feeding
Endler's are tiny omnivores that graze constantly and eat almost anything of the right size.
Grade the food down. Crushed flake, micro pellets, baby brine shrimp and cyclops all work; standard flake is often too coarse.
Include vegetable content. Like all the livebearers here they graze algae and biofilm and they need plant matter in the diet.
Avoid: large foods, and avoid overfeeding a small tank with a growing colony in it.
Filtration and flow
Gentle flow and a guarded intake, or a sponge filter. Fry appear constantly and they're minute.
Keep the water hard and clean. Regular small water changes suit a small tank better than occasional large ones.
They're hardy and adaptable beyond that, and they tolerate a wide temperature range.
With plants
Endler's are entirely safe with plants and belong in a densely planted tank.
Moss and fine-leaved plants matter most. They're where fry survive, and in a well-planted colony tank a good proportion make it without any intervention.
Floating plants give cover and shade and encourage the males to display.
Health
They're hardy and long-lived for their size, and problems are uncommon in hard water.
The shimmying and fungal issues that affect other livebearers turn up here too, and the causes are the same: water too soft, too cold, or too dirty.
Watch the colony rather than the individual. A group that has stopped breeding is telling you about conditions before any single fish looks ill.
Breeding
Endler's breed relentlessly and need nothing from you. Broods are small but frequent, and females store sperm to produce successive batches from one mating.
Fry are born fully formed and take crushed flake and baby brine shrimp immediately. In a planted tank with no other fish, a colony grows steadily until food or space limits it.
Adults do eat fry, but far less determinedly than guppies do, which is why an Endler's colony often builds up faster than people expect.
Tank mates
Avoid12
- Convict Cichlid Convict Cichlid grows to 15 cm against Endler's Livebearer at 2 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Jewel Cichlid Jewel Cichlid grows to 15 cm against Endler's Livebearer at 2 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Kribensis Kribensis grows to 8 cm against Endler's Livebearer at 2 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Panda Garra Panda Garra grows to 9 cm against Endler's Livebearer at 2 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Pictus Catfish Pictus Catfish grows to 12 cm against Endler's Livebearer at 2 cm, big enough to eat it.
Only with care19
- Chinese Algae Eater Chinese Algae Eater is aggressive and Endler's Livebearer is peaceful.
- Agassiz's Dwarf Cichlid Agassiz's Dwarf Cichlid is a risk to Endler's Livebearer: guppies and sth american cichlids - dwarf are a pairing to watch.
- Bala Shark Bala Shark is a risk to Endler's Livebearer: guppies and sharks are a pairing to watch.
- Bolivian Ram Bolivian Ram is a risk to Endler's Livebearer: guppies and sth american cichlids - dwarf are a pairing to watch.
- Cherry Barb Cherry Barb is a risk to Endler's Livebearer: barbs and guppies are a pairing to watch.
No conflict is recorded with the other 75 species in the database, so nothing to flag. 2 species are not covered at all, so they could not be judged either way.