Lonely Endler in 5gal setup?

[Jawjagrrl]

A few weeks ago I ordered some Male Endlers for my shrimp setup, knowing I'd have too many and would spread them around all 3 of my tanks.

I added the 3 largest to my Endor tank, which already had a plakat betta, kuhli loaches and a nerite snail. Parameters have been stable for a long time and everyone seemed healthy.

I lost 1 endler the next day - despite drip acclimation I think the stress wa too much. The remaining two did great and were always together.

I mysteriously lost one yesterday - no sign of distress... and no body. Everyone else is fine, water tests good.

Soo... the remaining endler is alone. He doesn't interact with the betta ot loaches. Should I move him into one of the other tanks with more of his kind?

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Just to clarify, the Endlers weren't QT'd prior to putting into your established tank? If so and with the others not making it, I might leave this one here for a few weeks before I transfer in case they are sick. You don't want to infect 2 tanks if this is the case. 

[Jawjagrrl]

On 12/11/2021 at 9:57 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

Just to clarify, the Endlers weren't QT'd prior to putting into your established tank? If so and with the others not making it, I might leave this one here for a few weeks before I transfer in case they are sick. You don't want to infect 2 tanks if this is the case. 

They were QTd for two weeks in the shrimp tank all together before moving 3 each to the two 5 gallon setups. If I were to move this one, it would be back to the shrimp tank which has virtually identical water chemistry, just cooler.

The other 5 gallon tank is quite a bit more acid (7.0 vs 7.6) and is home to another betta that was slow to accept the endlers there despite having chili rasboras already.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Oh I gotcha. If you think it'd be happier there and showing no signs of illness and you're comfortable moving them I'd say go for it- they were already in there. 

I recently treated a tank for illness and had 1 Oto left in there. I'd planned on putting them back into my Oto tank since I didn't want them to be solo. I waited until after the illness cleared and there were no signs of trouble- which was about 3 weeks. 

It's definitely a judgement call. 🙂 

[Jawjagrrl]

On 12/11/2021 at 10:47 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

Oh I gotcha. If you think it'd be happier there and showing no signs of illness and you're comfortable moving them I'd say go for it- they were already in there. 

I recently treated a tank for illness and had 1 Oto left in there. I'd planned on putting them back into my Oto tank since I didn't want them to be solo. I waited until after the illness cleared and there were no signs of trouble- which was about 3 weeks. 

It's definitely a judgement call. 🙂 

These are my first endlers, so I wasn't as sure about their need to be with their own kind as highly important. He definitely has a lot more room in the current tank. Could also move another from the shrimp setup, which still has 4.

Really perplexed about his buddy, which was almost 2" long - gone without trace! Gorgeous el tigre that was more likely an endler/guppy hybrid. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

That is odd but fish do eat other deceased fish so that's always possible. Sometimes bodies surface later too. 

I just recently started with Endlers. I think they are definitely more fun in groups. I started with 4 and lost 2 to the mystery illness in above mentioned tank- the remaining two would do NOTHING but chase each other. I felt when I added 4 more that let some of the pressure off and they take turns- but still a lot of action in the tank. They're pretty fun. I'm not sure if it's highly important like you said but they seem awfully social. 

[Jawjagrrl]

On 12/11/2021 at 11:01 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

That is odd but fish do eat other deceased fish so that's always possible. Sometimes bodies surface later too. 

I just recently started with Endlers. I think they are definitely more fun in groups. I started with 4 and lost 2 to the mystery illness in above mentioned tank- the remaining two would do NOTHING but chase each other. I felt when I added 4 more that let some of the pressure off and they take turns- but still a lot of action in the tank. They're pretty fun. I'm not sure if it's highly important like you said but they seem awfully social. 

I am enjoying them as well - I got assorted males from AH and got an interesting mix, some were just a lot larger than I was expecting. Both bettas objected at first but now both ignore them. The ones with the rasboras often hang out with them, which is a bit like my dog that pretends she is one of the cats. I've had to rename this sunbeam "pet ray" for species inclusivity. Quite effective at immobilizing anything under 25lbs.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Hahaha aww that's lovely. I COMPLETELY get the dog hanging with the cat analogy there. These Endlers would probably totally annoy my Harlequins lol. They're in a tank with 5 Ember Tetras and I'm not sure if they even know what's going on- sometimes they participate in the antics but  most of the time they are sitting there staring at them. Yeah I got my selection at my LFS, I let them pick my first batch of 4 (aka just whatever they catch which I'm totally cool with) and the 2nd batch of 4 were literally the very last 4 they had and I still got quite the variety, one is entirely white (haven't managed a good pic of them yet)