10g tank with 7 male blue star endlers, plants (including amazon sword, dwarf sag, lemon bacopa, pearl weed, guppy grass, jungle val, crypts, water lettuce, duckweed), some pink ramshorn snails
For aquarium fish, I wanted to draw the only fish I ever owned (and even then by accident), Endler's livebearer (Poecilia wingei)!
While I bought my first cherry shrimp, some young Endler's livebearers had also snuck in the bag with them (hard to avoid fishes when they're so small) and I ended up raising these four tiny fishes for a month or so! I eventually gave them away, since I hadn't prepared to house fishes at all and I figured that they will start producing tons of babies soon enough, something that I didn't really want in what was meant to be a shrimp-only tank. When I did have them though, they were such fun! It was lovely seeing them zoom around the tank, and once the colours of the males started coming in, boy were they a sight :D
The Braincells! The Aquarium Related Frivolities! Look at how much they lack thought!
Poecilia wingei "El Tigre", a locality of endler's livebearer from the El Tigre stream in Campoma, Venezuela
endlers are so fun to feed bc they have such a varied diet ! I try my best to feed them both store bought dry food, frozen and fresh stuff. So far they like:
Varied pellets/insect based dry food/flakes/algae-protein wafers (always crushed in tiny pieces to accomodate their tiny mouths!)
fresh plums and raspberries -> they eat it but don't seem all that crazy about it tbh
Dried daphnia -> eh. idk if mine are a subpar brand or something but my fishes all seem underwhelmed by them. they will eat it but it doesn't look that good
Frozen bloodworms -> always a hit. slurp those right away
Freshly caught fruitflies -> absolutely delectable. The can and WILL fight over those while i'm struggling to catch more
Bladder snails -> a real nice treat if i crush one for them. They spit the shell pieces back !
Freshly picked & blanched broccoli -> they are so insane for broccoli. I thought they would only be crazy about protein/insect stuff but they fucking LOVE broccoli SO MUCH
Blood -> uh. apparently they will happily eat it. i will try not to bleed in my tank again. it's nice to know i'm tasty to be fair. I appreciate it.
we have a week and a half or so upcoming where it doesnt get below 40 degrees .... might be time to order fish >:)
i was planning on getting el tigre endlers but i think i might actually go with blue stars.. the seller i was looking at for el tigre doesnt have any of their own photos listed .. plus i love a good blue
i think el tigres would match the tank better but id rather prioritize getting a fish i'll enjoy more than whether or not it matches the scape perfectly : )