Can Endler's livebearers live off algae alone?

[Euphotica]

Does anyone keep Endlers with their opa ulae, living off algae alone? I want to try having just 2 Endlers in a 5 gallon tank living off hair algae and the occasional shrimp fry as much as possible, with other food provided maybe once a week. I want them to be as independent of food inputs as possible but I don't want them so desperate that they'll chomp fully grown adult shrimp.

[Varanus]

I would think that endlers wouldn't do well in the low nutrient and low oxygen environment of a supershrimp tank. Their appetites and waste production might overwhelm a no-filter tank.

[Euphotica]

Yeah that will be the challenge. Maybe it's impossible. I won't try it unless I get information that makes it seem plausible. I am unsure that the tank would necessarily be low nutrient and low oxygen though. If I provide plenty of surface area and space the algae will give both food and oxygen. If I keep salinities low enough to support a nutritious, easy-to-bite plant such as duckweed, but high enough for the shrimp to breed, the plants should serve as food and pull out a lot of ammonia, and the shrimp fry should provide an occasional protein meal. The Endlers' own waste products should help nutritious plants grow. The catch is, so far, the highest salinity I've found recorded for duckweed *Lemna minor* is 7 g/L. The lowest salinity at which opae ula will breed is ...what, 8.8 g/L or something like that? I am still collecting that kind of information. Since shrimp are the point of the tank everything else must fit within good conditions for them.

[Mustafa]

Don't do it. It's not going to work. The Endler's will starve to death and you most likely won't see your shrimp as they will be hiding all the time. As for the shrimp larvae feeding your Endler's once in a while...won't work...these shrimp have very few eggs and don't breed on masse to support any predator no matter how small. Just set up a shrimp tank without fish and call it a day. It will make you (and the shrimp...AND the Endler's ) much happier in the long run.