How to Breed Endlers

April 5th, 2021 

I got over a dozen Blue Star Endlers livebearers.

Buy Endlers locally on Craigslist: 

https://newyork.craigslist.org/search/sss?userpostingid=7391919122

 Initially I put Endlers in a couple well established tanks I keep ready with plants, snails and scuds for emergency situations. 

Up to 3 cm long adult Blue Star Endlers are in the same size range as my dwarf Guppies (that grow up to 2.5 cm long at the age of 2 years old). 

Blue Star Endlers males are easily recognized by bright colors and stick shaped anal fins. 

Female Endlers have a plain appearance and spade shaped anal fin. 

Female Endlers look the same as female guppies. 

Endlers and Guppies are relatives and they can cross breed easily. 

I want to check how well Endlers are suitable for small size sustainable aquariums I had my dwarf guppies in. 

Here you can see groups of Endlers in 3 liter jar aquariums.

 I put 1-2 females with 2-5 males in a group. 

Notice that I keep more males than females in each group of Endlers. 

All my adult Endlers seem to be young mature fish. 

In the following month I spotted new born babies in each aquarium. 

1-2 babies in the first drop of each group. 

And 1-2 babies in each following drop!

Basically, Endlers naturally give birth to 1-2 babies every other month or so. 

This breeding pattern makes Endlers even better suitable for sustaining aquariums of small size than dwarf guppies! 

I feed my Endlers every other day. 

Give them live food at least once a week. 

In this example, I give Springtails and Grindal worms to my Endlers. 

Temperate Springtails grow up to 2 mm - making them perfect bite size snack for fish fry. 

And Grindal worms grow up to 1cm long - making them more suitable for adult Endlers. 

High protein food helps grow healthy fish.

 I keep all new born baby fry fish in the same aquariums with adult fish. 

The adult Endlers do not chase full speed after swimming away babies. 

The only sick slow moving babies may and get eaten by adult fish.

 That is the way adult fish keep the population healthy and safe from predators. 

The colorfully bright Blue Star Endlers males look very pretty in any aquarium. 

Growing live plants serves multiple purposes in aquariums. 

Plants provide spots for babies to hide and for adults to rest. 

Plants help to keep aquariums clean, competing with algae for nutrition. 

And Endlers as many other fish feed on plants. 

Fast growing Guppy grass and Elodea one of the best plants for all those purposes. 

About once a month or as necessary, I remove old parts of the plants. 

 And I use the old bottom parts of the plants to make fish food flake.

 Never run out of fish food :) 

That is the big part and the beauty of sustaining aquariums with Endlers. 

Keeping baby fry in aquariums with adults allows for the fish colony to self regulate their population.

 The fish colony breeding rate slows down as the density population grows to the limit of the aquarium size.

 Endlers stop breeding when there is not enough space, food, etc. 

Well, the same stands true for any and all living organisms - except humans :) 

Male Endlers are naturally more active and playful all the time. 

Though, female Endlers are dominant in Endlers society. 

I will explain more in detail about it in another video. 

Endlers are schooling fish.

 And so Endlers should be kept in groups - the larger the better. 

The Endlers thrive in large aquariums with simple care. 

I don't use man-made filters or air pumps at all. 

Dashing through water, Endlers make spectacular views when they are in numbers. 

My Eastern newts don't eat Endlers if you wonder about that :) 

Endlers are great fish to keep and simple to breed. 

Have fun and happy aquariums :)