# male endlers only?



## snail (Sep 22, 2010)

I can't find solid info on keeping male only endlers in a small aquarium. I have 7 CPDs in an 8 gallon tank but they have taken up residence at the back of tank out of sight. They are not exactly shy as they readily come out to be fed and don't mind me watching but the rest of the time it looks a bit like an empty tank, lol. I'm thinking about adding 5 or 6 endlers as I've read that can help bring out the CPDs and if not at least the endlers will be visible when the CPD are not around. Will 5 or 6 male only endlers be happy though? I've seen a lot of people suggesting it but others seem to suggest that male endlers will be unhappy and grumpy with eachother and other fish if they have no females to entertain them. Not much of the advice seems based on real experience though. People seem to keep large tanks of males fine but I'm not sure if keeping only a few would be the same. I could do 2 males and 4 females but I'd only get two of the colorful males and that puts my stocking limit pretty high because females are so much bigger, and of course there is the issue of fry, which I could home in another tank but I'm not sure how many 100 endlers I want, lol.


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## amcoffeegirl (May 26, 2009)

Unsure of the compatibility of cpds with endlers however I am familiar with keeping only males or only females or mixing them.
I have kept a single female guppy in a 5 gallon tank alone she did drop fry- must've mated at the store. She was a beautiful blue moscow. Never showed aggression or fear.
I have kept 3 male endlers together about 2 years now. They don't mind that there are no ladies around. They chase each other around all day and flare their fins.
Having said that they are very fast swimmers and may upset the cpds.
They won't hurt them but may try to breed with them which could stress them out.
Keeping 2 females together or more is a bickering fest with one female usually chasing away everyone else. I think females are more aggressive together than males.
I don't know if your tank is big enough to keep everyone happy.
A 15 would be big enough for this set up.
Maybe a very lush 10. But it's pushing it IMO.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Endlers are OK in a male only tank, and are compatible with CPD.


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## Knotyoureality (Aug 3, 2012)

Ditto to the male endlers being fine. When I was doing a lot of planted vases/bowls, they were my fish of choice; the females stayed in a 10g tank to breed and I scooped the males out to furnish the nano/pico tanks. 

If you judge by body weight, the bachelor pad males are happier than those in with the females; the males I transfer from the breeding tank to male-only display schools grow larger, faster than the males that mature in the breeding colony. They're also more active and engage in more, and longer, male to male displays.


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## snail (Sep 22, 2010)

Thanks for the help. I think I'll give 5 males a go. I would have had doupts there was room for them all but having had the cpd for a while now I'm thinking it would work as they are using so little of the tank. They only swim at the bottom and mostly hang out at the back behind the driftwood. As far as bioload its a lot of fish but they are all so tiny they don't add up to much. If it doesn't work out I have a 7 gallon tank that is set up and cycled with only a few shrimp in they can move to if there is a need.


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