75g outdoor endler tank

[Littlefish]

This morning we went for a walk and discovered these beauties in a roadside ditch.

Here our intrepid botonist gets a closer look.  He loves plants, leaves, twigs and cones.  He just waded right in.

This ditch is normally mowed and will be as soon as the rainy season ends.  My hope is to get my 75g setup outside and grab some of these before they disappear.  I'm thinking of going bare bottom and setting up a rectangular windowbox plantar hanging in the back of the tank, filled with potting soil and collected plants.  Maybe I'll use sts on the bottom and do some lillies or a sword, too?

Here is the stand I rigged with leftover (cheap!) lumber and landscape blocks I found thrown along the creek behind the house.  Just need to get the tank on there, finish level, and fill.  Maybe this afternoon.

It gets full sun from 9 to 12, then dappled shade.

No filter or pump is planned for now. Just a heater this winter. This pond beside it has a million endlers and clear water, I think from all the lettuce. 

I harvest half weekly, just to have a place to put their flake food.  There is also an elderly black neon tetra and juvi cory that were put in there this summer when the 75g was emptied.  It will be interesting to see what happened.   The fencing across the top is temp to keep my dog out.  He'll spend all day trying to catch them if i didn't block him.

The plan is for a trouble free tank, like this pond has been.

 

 

Edited August 29, 2021 by Littlefish
Too many pics

[CalmedByFish]

I've very often thought of putting endlers outside! Super cool that yours are thriving in the pond. 

I love your tank idea, but I do see a red flag, and a pinkish flag. Even 1 hour of direct sun could crank the temp on the tank. I'd say to have a plan in place for how to fully shade it, if it turns out to be needed. And the pink flag is just this: I don't know whether sunlight degrades the glue and/or silicone. Sun breaks apart most things, so that'd be something to research. 

But again, totally sounds fun! 🙂 

[Patrick_G]

I’ve been thinking experimenting with dwarf water lettuce and I’m sure it needs a fairly high humidity. It looks like you’re in one of those climates. 

[Littlefish]

On 8/29/2021 at 11:36 AM, CalmedByFish said:

I've very often thought of putting endlers outside! Super cool that yours are thriving in the pond. 

I love your tank idea, but I do see a red flag, and a pinkish flag. Even 1 hour of direct sun could crank the temp on the tank. I'd say to have a plan in place for how to fully shade it, if it turns out to be needed. And the pink flag is just this: I don't know whether sunlight degrades the glue and/or silicone. Sun breaks apart most things, so that'd be something to research. 

But again, totally sounds fun! 🙂 

The black pond has been there for over 2 years, actually right where the tank is.  Endlers like warmer temps than most livebearers.

I never considered the sunlight degredation of tank silicone.  I know it happens quickly here (FL), been in construction or nursing 35 ys.  Good point, will have to see what happens.

[CalmedByFish]

On 8/29/2021 at 2:20 PM, Littlefish said:

The black pond has been there for over 2 years, actually right where the tank is.  Endlers like warmer temps than most livebearers.

Hey, since I'm hoping to eventually have endlers outside, do you happen to know what temp yours maxed out at? If so, I'll make a note for the future.

[Taco Playz]

Super cool! I have Endler/Guppy crossbreed pond outside and it’s so fun to watch the fish thrive outside.

[Littlefish]

On 8/29/2021 at 4:01 PM, CalmedByFish said:

Hey, since I'm hoping to eventually have endlers outside, do you happen to know what temp yours maxed out at? If so, I'll make a note for the future.

Sorry, I don't know the water temp, only the air temp, and we rarely get above 92 here on the coast.  I do know when the air temp dropped to around 40 I lost most adults in a jiddie pond I had setup next to this one before I got a turtle heater in there.  A number of juvies survived for some reason. 

[Littlefish]

Mr Endler said the lagoons were 82° water temp with green hard water.

[Littlefish]

Got it levelled and filled.  I filled it about 1/8 with water to see what true tank position was, but I could still lift it with a 2x6 to shim.  Needed a strong 1/8 shim on one leg.  I'm sure it will need more as it settles.

Treating it and letting it set will help get green water, algae, and mosquito larvae before I put the fish in.  It will be strange looking through it from the top.  Maybe I will put sts in as a substrate.

There may be a leak.  I keep getting water in this corner, and the tank is level.  It was washed and wiped down inside and out before placing it on the stand, so it may just be leftover water in the braces.  If not, I'll have to ditch the tank shut this thread down 👎🏽

I'm pbly not repairing it, they were so cheap before the pandemic, and will be before too long again. 

 

[CalmedByFish]

I hope it's not actually leaking. That'd be a bummer!

FWIW, I have a bare-bottom 20 gallon. Being able to look up at it from underneath helps me know where babies are hiding, piles of poop collected, etc. There's some use to it.

[Littlefish]

It poured rain Sunday night but by now it is dry and I can see it is not leaking.  

Does anyone think that using stainless metal to hang pots of planters over the back edge in any way is harmful to the fish?  Being a reefer, I know better than to do it in sw, but I'm thinking fw would be ok?  No sensitive corals.

[Littlefish]

Some water lettuce was moved over to get some bacteria, etc. into the new setup.  Turns out there was a baby in the roots.  I pull out 3x this much lettuce on a weekly basis for nutrient export and to have an opening to place food in the little pond.  How many babies have I thrown away!? 🤔

 

 

[PineSong]

It will be neat to be able to see the fish from the side and above, and endlers are so great. It will be a fun tank. Is there any possibility it will overflow in heavy rains, or is it sheltered from the rain?

[Scrum Fish]

This idea is exciting.  Should be fun to watch this grow!  Been thinking of digging a little frog pond at my house (we already have frogs and toads hanging out, why not make them a pool?), but I'm not ready for outdoor fishkeeping.  It's fascinating to me, though!

Handsome dog, btw!

Edited September 3, 2021 by Scrum Fish

[Littlefish]

On 8/31/2021 at 7:43 PM, PineSong said:

It will be neat to be able to see the fish from the side and above, and endlers are so great. It will be a fun tank. Is there any possibility it will overflow in heavy rains, or is it sheltered from the rain?

The tank is in about 2" from where the drip edge drops water(no gutter on the sides of the house), so it should be okay.  The ponds do overflow.

Edited September 3, 2021 by Littlefish
Clarification

[CalmedByFish]

On 8/31/2021 at 6:23 AM, Littlefish said:

Does anyone think that using stainless metal to hang pots of planters over the back edge in any way is harmful to the fish?  

I'd be concerned about the (slight) possibility of them falling and busting the tank. I don't know of other potential problems, unless harmful plant ferts fell into the water.

I'm glad this is coming together. 🙂

[Littlefish]

Saturdays I trim the parents landscape and while tearing out areca palm clumps I stumbled on old fiji live rock from last century I guess I had dumped for decoration. 😄  My hope is to keep the hardness and ph up by adding it to this tank.

I went ahead and added half the endlers and water lettuce from the pond to the tank.  The other half will contine to hang out in the pond just in case...

 

 

Here are the endlers I want to breed for, nice black bar, chromatic red/green/yellow.  These were bought at a local lfs and the store owner claimed the local seller had gotten pure ones, but there is no way to know, so they are P or K class.

 

 

Here is an example of the ones I will cull.  3 had excellent colors with minimal black. They are all fully developed adults.  The juvies show black bar (dots) 1st.

 

 

Developing for color is impossible in the pond.  I love endlers, think they are stunning little fish.  It's sad to think they may be extinct in the wild.  Makes one wonder how many types we have already extinguished without knowing.  Another example is the recent discovery of Suluwasi shrimp.  Some of the river variants could have been wiped out in a few years due to logging, etc if they hadn't been brought to our attention.

Anyway, 3 cheers for Endlers!

[Littlefish]

The outdoor tank is greeeen.  Supposedly this is very good for the Endlers, according to Dr Endler.

 

Something has laid a gelatinous goop across half the surface, with black comma shaped dots which don't move.  I've never seen this in my ponds or anywhere, does anyone know what this is?

 

 

Edited September 15, 2021 by Littlefish
Clarity

[Tihshho]

Looks like frogspawn.

[Littlefish]

That's interesting, I must have never seen them at this early stage in the ponds.  My indoor betta and gudgeon will eat well 😎

I used to feed tadpoles by the pint to my angels but they are traded in...

 

[CalmedByFish]

I don't know about the goop.

Someone on here warned me, when one of my tanks turned green, to add an air stone. They said the algae uses the oxygen when it's dark, so the fish would need extra aeration. So maybe add some water movement.

[Brandon p]

I don’t think you will have any issues. I have 125 outside that have been there for 12 years and never had any issues. Not sure where I’m Fl you are but I’m in SWFL and have platys and  endlers in a pond. The originals were from the canal across from the street. You might have some tadpoles soon. They may be to big when they hatch it depends on the species of frog. I have 2, one is about 3/8 when an adult and the others are the Cuban tree frog that a pretty common. They dont cause a problem. You may also see mosquito larvae, I look as them as free food. The only I take out if I see it is dragonfly larvae. They will eat small fish. It’s very unlikely they with destroy a fish population they seem to prefer mosquito larvae. Even so you may see one with a fish at some point. There heads look like the jaws of the Alien in Alien. Here is a pic of what I see most of the dragonfly larvae. Also a video so you can see the mouth in action. https://www.kqed.org/science/1915435/a-baby-dragonflys-mouth-will-give-you-nightmares
Good luck

[Littlefish]

This is the frogspawn I am used to seeing

 

😉

On 9/15/2021 at 7:09 PM, Brandon p said:

I don’t think you will have any issues. I have 125 outside that have been there for 12 years and never had any issues. Not sure where I’m Fl you are but I’m in SWFL and have platys and  endlers in a pond. The originals were from the canal across from the street. You might have some tadpoles soon. They may be to big when they hatch it depends on the species of frog. I have 2, one is about 3/8 when an adult and the others are the Cuban tree frog that a pretty common. They dont cause a problem. You may also see mosquito larvae, I look as them as free food. The only I take out if I see it is dragonfly larvae. They will eat small fish. It’s very unlikely they with destroy a fish population they seem to prefer mosquito larvae. Even so you may see one with a fish at some point. There heads look like the jaws of the Alien in Alien. Here is a pic of what I see most of the dragonfly larvae. Also a video so you can see the mouth in action. https://www.kqed.org/science/1915435/a-baby-dragonflys-mouth-will-give-you-nightmares
Good luck

I found 2 of those in my ponds, they couldn't keep up with the endler's mating!

Edited September 15, 2021 by Littlefish
Spelling

[Brandon p]

The Enders grow wild in the canals here. If it can live in the wild they can handle a pond or tank. They survive at higher temps that people think. They with live in ditches an water temps can be 85-86. 

[Littlefish]

I'm in Sarasota, lived and fished here all my life.  I've never seen endlers.  We live on a creek and do see "dalmation" male mosquito fish.  Next county South and below we have seen a steady increase in exotics over the decades.  Maybe you are below me?  Not sure how I feel about endlers in the wild here.  Kind of cool, but I despise the way FL and the Everglades have been ruined with invasive flora and fauna.  It is what it is, no going back 🤙🏽