starting an endler livebearer tank

[megan1194]

hey guys! so i'm starting a new tank with endler livebearers but i have one problem. i'm ordering everything online and i ordered the fish, shrimp, and a snail. the problem is that my shrimp are arriving way earlier than my fish are. the fish are gonna take 2 weeks to arrive and the shrimp are arriving saturday. i know shrimp don't really have a bio-load so now i'm trying to figure out what i'm gonna do when the shrimp get here. i will most likely be using media from my cycled tank but what should i be feeding the shrimp until the fish get here?

 

[megan1194]

i should also mention i got six fish (3 female and 3 male), 10 shrimp (blue dream), and one pagoda nerite snail (i think the snail is arriving with the fish cause they're from the same company and were part of the same order).

 

[ClownLurch]

Should really have more female than male. They’ve only got one thing on their mind those boys.

 

[megan1194]

Should really have more female than male. They’ve only got one thing on their mind those boys.

i plan to get more. they just didn't have much in stock so i got what i could. they come in "packs" and that was the only pack available

 

[megan1194]

Should really have more female than male. They’ve only got one thing on their mind those boys.

any ideas how to handle the shrimp situation?

 

[emeraldking]

i plan to get more. they just didn't have much in stock so i got what i could. they come in "packs" and that was the only pack available

Well to be honest, endlers will be okay as well with a 1m:1f ratio. I've got several kinds of endler strains overhere and it's not specifically more females than males in my tanks and no problems because of that overhere.

 

[OnlyGenusCaps]

Disclaimer: If any of this is contradicted by a more experienced aquarist, ignore what I have said below.

I have a low-tech, planted tank with Endler's and shrimp. First off, I pay zero attention to the sex ratios of the fish. They do fine.

Also, the Endler's seem to have have very low bioload as well. What size tank do you have? Is the tank planted? I'd say if your filter media is in the aquarium (e.g. sponge filter), just stop the filte and keep the air stone going outside of the filter. If the media is external, you could potentially lose bacteria by doing that though. But if you are lucky enough to have an internal filter and plants, just turn it off and monitor the water. As long as the tank is cycled and you aren't getting N values going up that you don't wat to see rise, I would think you'd be fine for a few days. That's what I'd do.

 

[Essjay]

Do you have any fish food ready and waiting? If you do, crush that up small and use that to feed the shrimps. Once the enders arrive, it will be pointless trying to feed the shrimps with a special shrimp food as the endlers will eat most of it, so you may as well use fish food for both. But try to feed all the future occupants on a variety of food - a good quality dried food, daphnia, brine shrimp, even blood worms. Frozen are easiest with a small number of fish as you just need to chop a chunk off the cube, thaw it in a bit of tank water and add to the tank. With frozen bloodworm you can cut slivers off the cube so there are no extra large worms for a small fish like endlers, just bits of worm.

I have shrimps and nerites in both my tanks. The shrimps in the small tank do get shrimp specific food because there are no fish to feed. But when they were in the main tank, they just ate fish food and algae, as do the shrimps still in there which I couldn't catch.
My tanks do have a tendency to grow algae but with the shrimps and snails in there they are currently algae free.

 

[Fish4dawin]

Have you checked your water is suitable for the guppys? They like a ppm of over 250ppm to be happy. Just chekc on your water company website if you aren't sure on what it is.

 

[Naughts]

Shrimps ideally would have a mature (6+ months) aquarium. Transfer the mature media to maximise the water quality. Try and grow some biofilm by leaving the lights on for an extra few hours a day. Shrimp do not need feeding daily. Mine like a pellet of Crab Cuisine or a corner of an algae wafer.
My Endlers are males and they can only really manage small food, bloodworms are too big, they even struggle with bug bites. Flakes or powdered food is easier for them.

 

[megan1194]

UPDATE: unfortunately my shrimp didn't survive in the temporary tank and i was able to delay my fish shipment for a week.

 

[megan1194]

Do you have any fish food ready and waiting? If you do, crush that up small and use that to feed the shrimps. Once the enders arrive, it will be pointless trying to feed the shrimps with a special shrimp food as the endlers will eat most of it, so you may as well use fish food for both. But try to feed all the future occupants on a variety of food - a good quality dried food, daphnia, brine shrimp, even blood worms. Frozen are easiest with a small number of fish as you just need to chop a chunk off the cube, thaw it in a bit of tank water and add to the tank. With frozen bloodworm you can cut slivers off the cube so there are no extra large worms for a small fish like endlers, just bits of worm.

I have shrimps and nerites in both my tanks. The shrimps in the small tank do get shrimp specific food because there are no fish to feed. But when they were in the main tank, they just ate fish food and algae, as do the shrimps still in there which I couldn't catch.
My tanks do have a tendency to grow algae but with the shrimps and snails in there they are currently algae free.

i have plenty of food ready but unfortunately my shrimp didn't survive and my tank is still cycling but it's making progress. i have nitrates at least. also, i was able to delay my shipment of fish for a week so they'll be arriving next monday.

 

[megan1194]

Have you checked your water is suitable for the guppys? They like a ppm of over 250ppm to be happy. Just chekc on your water company website if you aren't sure on what it is.

a ppm of what?

 

[ClownLurch]

Magnesium and calcium.
It possibly won’t be listed in ppm units. I’m not sure which units are used by US water providers. There’s five or so in general use.

 

[Fish4dawin]

a ppm of what?

From your water company? I'm with @ClownLurch here as I don't know how the US water chemistry and such works