Explosion of less than desirable accidents

[Luciferkrist]

My biggest tank, 210Gal, has reached a year of maturity now... and I still haven't completed my stocking. When I was planting it, I noticed a few tiny fry a day or two after, and thought nothing of it. Now I have probably a few HUNDRED common guppy/endler hybrids and the few other fish in there simply do not care.

Right now all I have is the world's lowest-IQ Bichir (about 12 inches), 1 blue gourami, and 1 bristlenose pleco. I have debated SO many different options to put into it, but never get the feeling that it is what I want. Since it is planted I want to avoid most cichlids as I want to keep those plants, and are not a fan of most of them. But I need a... natural form of population control. I used to have a silver arowana, but they sadly passed away from unknown reasons a while back and the TWO other ones I tried to introduced got eaten by my bichir - Who has absolutely no reason to be at the top of the tank and eating anybody only about an inch smaller! Yet he won't even chase the guppies.

I have almost caved in to getting an oscar or two, but I know I would be unhappy with them. I debated on getting something like a peacock bass, but knew it would be bordering on abuse after a few months/year in that size of a tank.

So, TL;DR - I need a medium to large size predator capable of controlling an out of control guppy colony, but want to avoid the more popular cichlids, and am looking for recommendations. I would just throw a few hundreds of dollars of tetras in there and have quite a display, but I fear my water-puppy would gobble them up, so I need something that has some size to it eventually.

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/8/2023 at 12:17 AM, Luciferkrist said:

Who has absolutely no reason to be at the top of the tank and eating anybody only about an inch smaller! Yet he won't even chase the guppies.

I think this is probably more common that most people are aware of. It's not seen as "big enough" to provide a meal and so they ignore it. It's like a great white avoiding sardines and trying to hunt a seal.

 

An interesting dilemma though. Hm, what would fit. There might be some crypranidae. Black sharks or Bala sharks even that work. Pecktec keeps some rainbows with his bicher, maybe he's got something in his big tank update video that sparks some ideas.

[JettsPapa]

Some of the larger rainbowfish, like Boesmani or turquoise, may be effective on small fry.  I don't think they would bother larger guppies.

[mynameisnobody]

@Luciferkrist if I were in your place, I’d add a small jewel or convict cichlid. Don’t add more than 1 because then you’ll have a load of other problems. If they aren’t breeding then they aren’t digging. Specifically hemochromis exsul will likely eradicate your endler problem and then if it doesn’t fit your scape, you can always keep it in a much smaller aquarium. Arowana’s probably wouldn’t even register an endler fry as food. Exsul also have the added bonus of being beautiful. Also after a couple of weeks of it being in the aquarium, I’d stop feeding that aquarium for a week and just spot feed the bichir. This should alleviate your problems dramatically. Good luck 

[TOtrees]

what about african butterfly? or a golden wonder killi?

[Lennie]

You have a huge tank but you aren't happy with what you have due to your stocking. If I were you, I would change the things that would make me happy spending time with my tank.

 

Rehome or sell all the fish you don't like and have a tank you will like to spend time to watch everyday. That would be my suggestion. I got a feeling the tank has a feeling of a chore rather than joy for you while reading your post. Maybe I'm wrong

That would be my suggestion

[PineSong]

I know you said no cichlids, but... my angelfish allows zero guppy fry survival in a VERY heavily planted tank. See photo. Although it is not going to be instant pudding, you can eliminate the guppy overpopulation by selling them off/giving them to the LFS or by removing all the females to a tank with an angelfish in it for the next 8 months. 

That said, I think Lennie's point is a good one--what kind of fish would you love to have in the tank, just for their own sake, not because of fry control? 

[Luciferkrist]

 

 

On 9/8/2023 at 10:33 AM, mynameisnobody said:

@Luciferkrist if I were in your place, I’d add a small jewel or convict cichlid. Don’t add more than 1 because then you’ll have a load of other problems. If they aren’t breeding then they aren’t digging. Specifically hemochromis exsul will likely eradicate your endler problem and then if it doesn’t fit your scape, you can always keep it in a much smaller aquarium. Arowana’s probably wouldn’t even register an endler fry as food. Exsul also have the added bonus of being beautiful. Also after a couple of weeks of it being in the aquarium, I’d stop feeding that aquarium for a week and just spot feed the bichir. This should alleviate your problems dramatically. Good luck 

I actually kind of like the look of the H. exsul and never saw or heard of that particular one, but my water isn't alkaline enough to safely keep one. I was also considering a handful of electric blue acaras, but worry about them getting sniped since all of the places near me only sell them as juveniles.

I may just try to collect some native species before the as they should be pretty... effective for the issues I am having.

[mynameisnobody]

@Luciferkrist I wouldn’t let the hardness of the water deter you from getting one. They only prefer slightly alkaline conditions. I would purchase from a store that has softer water and you should be good to go. I will pm you a place that has a huge selection and also has soft water. Just beware that if you get a group, they will be a bit more aggressive, although can be kept in planted tanks, they will go after your gourami once breeding commences. However, as an individual, they will murder endlers and fry. 

[PineSong]

Oops, posted in the wrong thread. Mods can remove this, please.

Edited September 9, 2023 by PineSong

[Otto]

On 9/8/2023 at 7:21 PM, PineSong said:

I know you said no cichlids, but... my angelfish allows zero guppy fry survival in a VERY heavily planted tank. See photo. Although it is not going to be instant pudding, you can eliminate the guppy overpopulation by selling them off/giving them to the LFS or by removing all the females to a tank with an angelfish in it for the next 8 months. 

That said, I think Lennie's point is a good one--what kind of fish would you love to have in the tank, just for their own sake, not because of fry control? 

I thought about an angelfish for the same problem in my 40B but thought it might not be deep enough for the angel. What size is the tank in your picture?

[PineSong]

On 9/9/2023 at 5:33 PM, Otto said:

I thought about an angelfish for the same problem in my 40B but thought it might not be deep enough for the angel. What size is the tank in your picture?

It is only a 20g tall. Not big enough for the angel when he is full grown. I also have a 29 gallon I can move him to while he is growing, but eventually I think I will end up with a larger tank.

[Luciferkrist]

So Update!

I decided to keep an eye out last weekend when I was out fishing for some small/micro fish, and managed to catch some tiny bluegill - one exceptionally beat up and with obvious bite marks - I called him sharkbait.

Less than one week later and the two of them have taken me down to maybe 15 guppies. Only fry and a few of my more shy adults are still around! So I guess I am going to go mostly full native species now! I am probably going to get a school of golden shiners or sticklebacks and instead of having a bowfin, I have my bichir.