Endlers

I hope you don't mind me tacking my questions on to your thread, but here goes:
 
I bought six Endlers (three male, three female) from my LFS. At $12.50 per three, I figured this was a cheaper alternative to buying a large quantity. The LFS have offered to take any off my hands if I end up with too many (as long as they're not all females). I have a fairly large (130l) tank for them so at the moment space isn't an issue, but I guess it might be fairly soon. I know this because in the past month my six have turned into 36 and two of the females are squared off (still, or again, not quite sure).
 
So to the questions!
 
The third female is very thin, and I saw her this morning swimming vertically and then sinking to the bottom. From what I have read, birthing can be hard on them, and I have absolutely no way of telling how old she is, could it just be the natural end of her life? Maybe she was quite old. Should I remove her from the tank and euthanize, or should I let nature take its course?
 
Also, the babies (who are now verging on a month old, well, the oldest ones anyway) are starting to show a hint of colour (or maybe my eyes are wanting to see that). How soon will they develop enough colour to identify males vs females, and how soon before they are fully grown?
 
And thirdly, does anyone living near Brisbane want a small (or large) colony of Endlers?  From what I've read, the female babies may be able to breed before Christmas and I reckon my 36 could become 136 before the new year!
 
What sort of endlers are they Gruntle?
 
I think they were sold as just Endlers. Males are 1.5cm - 2cm long, one tiger and two red and black ones. The females are plain silver, and about 3-4cm long. If the little darlings stand (swim?) still long enough I'll post some pictures tonight.
 
I have a tiger endler colony, beautiful fish
 
True endlers are easy. They are just add water fish, much like guppies are. I have a 50 gallon tank that has a breeding colony of several dozen pure endlers. They have been self sustaining for many years now. I feed them daily, do water changes as needed and sell off my surplus at local club auctions. Things like tiger endlers are guppy/endler crosses. I have never kept such in my tanks.
 
OldMan47 said:
True endlers are easy. They are just add water fish, much like guppies are. I have a 50 gallon tank that has a breeding colony of several dozen pure endlers. They have been self sustaining for many years now. I feed them daily, do water changes as needed and sell off my surplus at local club auctions. Things like tiger endlers are guppy/endler crosses. I have never kept such in my tanks.
Yep they are crosses, never stated they werent.....the colony does breed true though, so are now just called tiger endlers as they stay the sizes of endlers and look like endlers males not guppy males
 
That came across as a bit snobbish lol "I have never kept such things in my tanks"
 
Tiger endlers are easy too.................pure endlers are very hard to get and should come with certificates of their origins, if you dont have that then chances are they are not totally pure.
 
I just bought a bunch of tiger. they look awesome. 
 
Another question. If I have a tank with 3 different males and a pregnant female, are the fry going to be the product of just one male, or potentially all three males?
 
What about per birthing?  Essentially is the same male responsible for fathering all fry in a batch, or can there be multiple fathers? I know it's possible for a dog's litter to have multiple fathers, I was wondering whether it's the same for Endlers. The reason I ask is I bought 3 pregnant females in the hope of having a different mix of colours along with the 3 males I also bought. I guess time will tell.
 
I may be able to answer my own question in a couple of months. I have a tank with 3 males (different colour morphs), and loads of fry, and two females. I have moved the two now clearly pregnant females to another (empty) tank and when they drop fry, I should be able to identify if the same male (or two males) are the father/s. If I get three different morphs I can probably assume the three males have shared the fatherhood duties.
 
This is quite fascinating to read as I have just purchased some endlers for the first time :) I bought 2 males and 2 females. The males were a beautiful mix of black, bright orange and bright green.  I was told these were pure endlers and not a guppy cross from the breeder....would that be correct?
 
Unfortunately, my favourite male - the most colourful one - died a few days after putting him in the new tank. Don't know why.  The remaining male and 2 females are extremely healthy.
 
One of the females gave birth overnight. I have only been able to see 4 tiny little fry.  How many do they give birth to at a time?  Do endlers eat their young like other live bearers?  They are in a tank with neon tetras, ember tetras and some cherry shrimp.  Would any of those tank mates eat the fry?
 
Thanks :)
 

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