# Can't wait for babies cause I'm fustrated with the adults!



## RavenSkyfire1 (Nov 23, 2011)

I can't wait till these Endler's of mine start having babies. Mainly because it seems like the three little babies that were born in this tank seem to be the only ones that don't get all stressed out when I do a water change. Everytime I've done a cleaning the adult Endlers either hover at the bottom of the tank or hover at the top. When they are at the top, they don't gasp or anything like that, they just float there in place. 

I always make sure that the water going back into the tank is the same temp and I always use Prime. The tank is cycled. I'm just really fustrated by their behavior when I do water changes. It's making me think that they'll never adjust to the water here at work. Usually takes them a day to get back to where they are free swimming and acting normal (except the babies, they coem out of hiding as soon as I stop messing with the tank). My only other thing to try is to bring water from home to do the water changes since the fish I have at home have never acted like this after water changes.

I don't know what else to do. The water readings check out fine. Ammonia is at 0, nitrites are 0 and nitrates are around 10ish. I haven't tested the PH cause well, I can find the damn test that I had bought. 

Everyone told me that these were easy fish to keep. For me, they seem to be easy to keep alive but not easy to keep them happy (atleast when it comes to changing the water). 

Sorry, it's been a fustrating day and this doesn't make it any better!


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## skiffia 1 (Oct 3, 2012)

how often do you do water changes, how much water do you take .


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

I found with endlers they will act like that untill they get used to you doing the water changes. Mine got to where they would play in the water flow as it was going in.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Fish at the top means nothing. Every tank and nearly every fish I own fish act this way for a little while after the water change.

You could possibly have some ph issues. A possible theory.....your tap water starts at one ph but after it has been in your tank for a little while it starts to drift. You add fresh water and then causes the ph to be all over the place. I would get a ph test kit. Test water from your tap and then leave a sample out for 24hrs and test again. See if the two values have changed or not. If they do, that may be your problem. Again, a possible theory. I don't think fish at the top means anything. Bottom is different.


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## Hbird (Jan 7, 2012)

Agreed with Susankat, my Endlers LOVE the water changes, they frolic in the new current, even the new babies do. I tried Prime once, in one of my other tanks but the fish acted a little 'shocked' for an hour or so afterward, so gave it up. Our pH is high here, water is super hard, am finding that keeping fish that like our water is a lot easier than battling it. I do 30% water changes weekly and temp is 78-80 degrees, tanks planted with java fern, hornwort, subwassartang & duckweed.


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## dalfed (Apr 8, 2012)

My endlers were terrified of water changes now i have to watch carefully or they swim right in to syphon.


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## RavenSkyfire1 (Nov 23, 2011)

They have no problem when I'm taking the water out, I actually have to be careful of them cause they are very curious about what I'm doing, it's after I put the new water back in. 

The tank is 6 gallons and I take out roughly 2 gallons once a week. I'm gonna try doing smaller water changes on Monday and Friday with water brought from home to see if that makes any difference. I've never had any issue with fish hovering either top or bottom after doing a water change until I got these little guys. Do you guys think that getting an airstone would help matters any? I lowered the water level a little bit so that the water coming out of the filter would agitate the surface more than it was before (I can see air bubbles under the cascade but not sure if that's a benefit or not).

Other than the behavior after a water change these are some of the neatest little fish that I've owned. I can't wait until I get more babies so that I can take them home and put them in the big tank. Gonna have to put a sponge on the filter intake tube but that's not an issue. Or maybe I can convince my husband that I need to set up another tank for the babies...... Hmmmmmm wonder if he'll fall for it or not! LOL

Here's a pic of the tank. It's not the best and comes up fairly dark on my monitor (which is really old and POS) but it'll give you an idea of what I got. All plants are live but the stump thing is fake since I'm tired of driftwood making my tanks look like someone peed in them! The light is a regular desk lamp with a 10w 65k bulb. I do have a lid for the tank but I leave it off during the day and put it on when I leave work.


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## RavenSkyfire1 (Nov 23, 2011)

Well, today I did a water change. Only did a one gallon change and it seems that this method will work. Only one is hovering at the top but that may be because she's tired from the males chasing her. So I think doing more frequent smaller water changes may be the trick to this particular group of Endlers. 

So the new plan is Monday, Wednesday and Friday I'll change out one gallon. Then every two weeks or so I'll do filter cleaning. Next thing I really gotta get is a timer for the light but that's a project for another day!


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## seaecho (Jan 31, 2012)

Hi Raven. I, also, have hard, alkaline water. Is that wisteria on the left of your tank? Your plants look so healthy! I love endlers, but they are very hard to find for sale anywhere here. I wonder if endlers ship well? Would you consider shipping me some babies that you don't want to keep? That is, if you're fairly near California. Your tank looks very nice.


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