Livebearer population checks

[Kirsten]

After a grueling, messy 30 minutes to catch 20 stressed out endler juveniles from my livebearer tank and barely making a dent in their population, I'm getting a little worried that I'm massively overstocked in my 36g or soon will be. Current plan is to set up a smaller, bare bottom tank, go back in a couple days and catch as many fry as I can to help isolate them and sell them off since my local pet store isn't offering any money or store credit for them, then starting again with more population controls in check.

Current thoughts are to feed less and not work so hard to harden up the water, just enough keep the plants happy. But are there some good fish out there who'd be happy in a 36g livebearer tank who'd snack on some fry but leave the parents alone? A single angelfish? A pair of dwarf gourami? Something else?

[H.K.Luterman]

Golden wonder killies will eat fry, I have heard. Just make sure to have some rock piles for the newborns to land and hide in so some make it. 

[Daniel]

I have 3 tanks with angelfish and endlers in them.

No adult endler has ever disappeared or been eaten, but on the other hand, no fry has ever survived.

[Kirsten]

6 minutes ago, Daniel said:

No adult endler has ever disappeared or been eaten, but on the other hand, no fry has ever survived.

Oh boy! Not sure I want total fry annihilation lol, just enough to keep the population from exploding like it already has. Would something like a betta or opaline gourami be a little slower? Maybe a single angelfish raised from a small size so it's less likely to view all fish as food?

[Brandy]

Just a suggestion... Remember that half inch tubing I suggested on the multi tank tools list? Don't net juveniles. Siphon them with a larger hose, then calmly pour thru a large net. Easy peasy.

The angel fish and golden wonders will work the same, if you want some fry to make it you just add cover that is predator proof.

[Kirsten]

23 minutes ago, Brandy said:

Just a suggestion... Remember that half inch tubing I suggested on the multi tank tools list? Don't net juveniles. Siphon them with a larger hose, then calmly pour thru a large net. Easy peasy.

The angel fish and golden wonders will work the same, if you want some fry to make it you just add cover that is predator proof.

That is brilliant!

As I was standing there, sopping wet, fingers pruning up, holding two nets and on the verge of tears, I was thinking "why is it so easy to accidentally suck up fry while gravel vacuuming but so hard to do this?"

I recently got this halfway decent siphon hose along with a tank off craigslist and if I take the grate off I think it'll do the trick nicely (assuming they don't get stuck in the squeeze ball! aye!) Is this the kind of thing you'd recommend?

[Brandy]

I use just plain tubing. Can the squeeze ball be removed? Or if you have a medium gravel vac, the hose pops off and you can use it. 

If you don't want to start the siphon with your mouth, you just stuff the whole thing in the tank (or a bucket of clean water, or use a sink) fill the tube with water put your thumbs over both ends, then put one end in your tank and one in the empty bucket and boom, siphon.

[Biotope Biologist]

Bumblebee gobies and desert gobies come to mind as well, they are a bit on the slower side. I am not sure if you are salting the tank for your livebearers as well as keeping it hard? There are a plethora of goby species now in the hobby, but these 2 species have been the easiest for me to find in any locale.

[Jayci]

Hi, I have the same problem in my 20 long. I wanted something that could pick off a few Endler fry every now and then, but not too aggressive that it would attack my lone Amano shrimp. I also wanted it to be a single, showpiece fish because it had Endlers and Hillstream loaches.

I settled on a Betta, but the boy is relaxed as heck. I've seen fry swim right up to his face, and he does nothing. That is to say he ISN'T eating any, I just haven't seen it happen yet, and I've only had it for a week so it hasn't been too long for him to make a dent in the population. In fact, the only change I have noticed is that the Amano shrimp rarely ever shows up, at one point I thought the betta had killed it.

In hindsight, I think faster fish would have been a better choice, but I really wanted a showpiece fish.

[Kirsten]

6 minutes ago, Jayci said:

Hi, I have the same problem in my 20 long. I wanted something that could pick off a few Endler fry every now and then, but not too aggressive that it would attack my lone Amano shrimp. I also wanted it to be a single, showpiece fish because it had Endlers and Hillstream loaches.

I settled on a Betta, but the boy is relaxed as heck. I've seen fry swim right up to his face, and he does nothing. That is to say he ISN'T eating any, I just haven't seen it happen yet, and I've only had it for a week so it hasn't been too long for him to make a dent in the population. In fact, the only change I have noticed is that the Amano shrimp rarely ever shows up, at one point I thought the betta had killed it.

In hindsight, I think faster fish would have been a better choice, but I really wanted a showpiece fish.

Hmmm good to know. Yeah my betta in another tank seems pretty passive, too. Decimated the ghost shrimp I put in there but doesn't even chase the pygmy cories. Since my 36g is pretty tall, I think I'm going to take the plunge into a single angelfish if I can find a "pet quality" one remotely nearby. All the pet stores sell out of angels as soon as they get them in lol.

For your situation, what about swordtails? One male would be fine on their own in a community 20 long and they're really active and fun to look at and are good at eating babies without being a dedicated hunter like a pea puffer.

I'd do swordtails in my endler tank except that I have platies as well and I don't want them to cross-breed.

[Jayci]

3 hours ago, Kirsten said:

Hmmm good to know. Yeah my betta in another tank seems pretty passive, too. Decimated the ghost shrimp I put in there but doesn't even chase the pygmy cories. Since my 36g is pretty tall, I think I'm going to take the plunge into a single angelfish if I can find a "pet quality" one remotely nearby. All the pet stores sell out of angels as soon as they get them in lol.

For your situation, what about swordtails? One male would be fine on their own in a community 20 long and they're really active and fun to look at and are good at eating babies without being a dedicated hunter like a pea puffer.

I'd do swordtails in my endler tank except that I have platies as well and I don't want them to cross-breed.

Good luck with the Angels if you go that route! I would've done the same if my tank was taller.

And good call on the swordtail; I wish I had thought of that before buying the betta! If I get a chance to re-home the betta I'll think about the swordtail, but until then I'll just stick with my current setup. I can always manually remove fry and the betta is really growing on me.