Endler Silverado Black Flame

Tiny, peaceful livebearer draped in silver and a flickering black flame.

Meet the Endler Silverado Black Flame — a peaceful, 1–3 cm nano livebearer with dazzling metallic silver and fiery black-red flanks for your planted aquarium.

• Water conditions for the Endler Silverado Black Flame: This hardy nano livebearer does best in stable, well-oxygenated water with a temperature of 22–28°C (72–82°F), pH around 7.0–8.2, and general hardness of roughly 8–20 dGH. Endler guppies tolerate a broad range of parameters but dislike sudden swings, so mature your filter before adding fish, keep ammonia and nitrite at zero, and aim to keep nitrate below 20–40 ppm. Gentle to moderate flow is ideal; a sponge filter or a baffled hang-on-back filter works well. A 40-litre aquarium is the practical minimum for a small group, while 60 litres or more gives better stability and more room for plants. Use a tight-fitting lid because these active little fish can jump. Test water regularly and carry out routine partial water changes to keep the Endler Silverado Black Flame colourful and healthy.
• Suitable tank mates: The Endler Silverado Black Flame is peaceful and works well in a calm nano community. Good companions include chili rasboras, ember tetras, microrasboras, otocinclus, small Corydoras species, peaceful snails, and shrimp such as Amano or Neocaridina. Avoid large, boisterous, or fin-nipping fish, including tiger barbs, serpae tetras, large cichlids, goldfish, and angelfish. Bettas can be unpredictable, especially with bright male Endlers, so monitor any such pairing closely. If you want to preserve the Silverado Black Flame strain, do not house them with standard guppies, because Endler guppies and guppies readily hybridise. Provide plenty of live plants, floating cover, and open swimming space to help tank mates and Endler fry coexist peacefully.
• Feeding habits: Endler Silverado Black Flames are omnivores with small mouths and fast metabolisms. Offer a varied diet of micro-pellets, crushed quality flake food, live or frozen baby brine shrimp, daphnia, and microworms. Include vegetable matter such as spirulina flake or briefly blanched spinach to support digestion. Feed two or three small portions daily, only as much as the fish can clear in a few minutes, and remove uneaten food to protect water quality. Avoid overfeeding, which is a common cause of bloating and poor water conditions in nano tanks. A varied diet helps maintain the metallic silver body and black-red flame coloration of this Endler strain.
• Care requirements: Acclimatise new Endler Silverado Black Flames carefully, preferably using the drip method, and quarantine them where possible before adding them to a community tank. Carry out 20–30% water changes weekly, vacuum the substrate gently, and rinse filter media in tank water rather than tap water. Keep the tank well planted with java moss, stem plants, and floating plants to provide cover and grazing surfaces. Maintain a balanced sex ratio, ideally one male to two or three females, to reduce stress on females. These livebearers are prolific, so plan for fry; dense plants give newborns somewhere to hide. With stable water, varied feeding, and regular maintenance, the Endler Silverado Black Flame is a rewarding, active nano fish for peaceful planted aquariums.
• Behaviour and strain appeal: The Endler Silverado Black Flame combines the hardy nature of Poecilia wingei with a striking metallic silver base and dark, flame-like black-red markings. Males are smaller, more intensely coloured, and constantly display to one another; females are fuller-bodied and more subtly marked. Their peaceful temperament, 1–3 cm adult size, and lively shoaling behaviour make them excellent candidates for nano tanks, planted aquariums, and peaceful community setups. They are active mid-to-upper-level swimmers and add constant motion without bullying smaller tank mates.
• Buying and settling in: When you buy Endler Silverado Black Flame online, choose a reputable livestock supplier that packs fish carefully and provides clear acclimation advice. On arrival, float the bag to equalise temperature, then gradually mix tank water before release. Keep the lights low for the first few hours to reduce stress. Avoid adding them to a brand-new aquarium; a cycled, mature tank with stable parameters gives the best start. Observe new arrivals for signs of stress, such as clamped fins or laboured breathing, and keep up regular feeding and water changes to help them settle and colour up quickly.