Are Hybrid Endlers Healthier than Fancy Guppies?

Endlers Healthier Than Fancy Guppies

We love hybrid Endlers however we also have some nice Fancy Guppy strains as well as pure N class Endlers.  

We have found that the Endlers are by far easier to keep and breed over the fancy guppies.

Many people have experienced the same results.  We believe this is because fancy guppies have been bred for so many years that they have become weakened due to inbreeding and because genes of weak fish may have been introduced into many of the strains as new colors and fin shapes are developed.

Because Endlers have only been introduced into the hobby for a few years, relatively speaking, we believe that Endlers for the most part are stronger genetically.

We have also noted that Endlers seem to produce much more surviving young than do fancy guppies.

As Endlers are hybridized with fancy guppies the fry may be much healthier than the fancy guppies due to the introduction of genes from fish that are not genetically weak.

We have noticed one area where Endlers do not appear to be as strong as guppies.  Endlers seem to have difficulty much easier than fancy guppies when it comes to poor water quality.   This may be due to the extreme population growth that can occur quite rapidly when breeding Endlers.

Sick Endlers & Poor Water Quality

One of the strange things we have noted not only from our own experiences but also the experiences of several others who did not get their Endlers from us, that Endlers can easily succumb to illness when when water quality is poor or when they are transferred from an environment with poor water quality into an environment with good water quality.

This may be because in some cases the new tanks were not properly cycled causing the water quality to deteriorate very rapidly.

Whatever the cause, Endlers don’t seem to handle the quick changes in water quality very well.  This may be because Endlers are so new to captivity that they have not had the opportunity to adapt to rapid changes in water quality and perhaps water temperature.

The first signs of illness found in Endlers due to poor water quality is may be cloudiness on the caudal fin.  This is not the usual cottony cloudiness that is usually found when a fish shows symptoms of fungus.  This is more like cloudiness caused by irritation to the fin.  This may spread into swollen grey patches of skin near the caudal fin.

These symptoms usually only present themselves in the female Endlers as the males seldom show any signs of illness except for general listlessness when sick.

In some cases if the problem is not corrected some of the fish may become very swollen resembling the symptoms of dropsy or have the opposite symptoms of being extremely thin.  Fish that show these symptoms will likely never fully recover and may, if left in the tank, cause other fish to exhibit the same symptoms.

Any fish that show any of these symptoms should be immediately removed and placed in a quarantine tank or euthanized to prevent other fish from getting ill.

The remaining fish should be treated for the illness.  We have found one of the most effective treatments is to do a partial water change, remove any charcoal filters and treat the fish with a combination of Jungle brand Lifeguard All-In-One Treatment and Api brand Melafix Antibacterial Fish Remedy.  Follow the instructions for both treatments.

We have found this combination of treatments is very effective with most illnesses associated with Endlers.

Overall we have found Endlers or hybrid to be healthier than fancy guppies however they are not “bullet proof” and must be cared for properly as any other aquarium fish.