What are your opinions on getting fish that are now extinct in the wild?

I was doing prelim research on Endler's Livebearers trying to decide if they would be a good fit for my 55g tank once it's ready. I was introduced to them by a friend and so I told her how I may get a couple. She informed me that it is suspected they are extinct in the wild. I don't know how I feel about this now. What do you guys think?

Also I'm looking into species to stock my tank with. I'm going to have 6 Panda Cories, 6 Peppered Cories (Mistakenly got both thinking they would hang together. I'm creating small schoals for each to feel more comfortable.) and 10-13 Glowlight (Narrow wedge/Swift so many common names lol) Rasboras. Suggestions of colorful, peaceful fish that get along with small fish will be greatly appreciated. Tank is 55 gallon, AC70 filter, 250 watt heater, sand substrate, silk plants, and several big pieces of driftwood to hide in.

__________________

I keep endlers and they aren't completely extinct but are on the red list the last time I read it. Keeping them is a good way to preserve the fish but can over run your tank if your not careful. They are very prolific breeders.

__________________
SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY YEARS, NOT MONTHS!!!
220 Tank build
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/sta...late-3253.html

White cloud minnows are nearly extinct in the wild as well (they recently found a new population), but clearly they are doing fine in captivity.
There's also the wild bettas, but Bev could tell you more about them than I could.

__________________


Lead me not to temptation...I can make it there myself just fine, thank you

White Clouds were another species I was looking into. Mum wasn't very thrilled though. She prefers angels, "kissing fish", and mollies. I have three Rasboras now and am very much in love with them. I want to get a nice lil group for them to feel more comfortable so whatever I get needs to be okay with them. There is one lfs in my area and a couple good Mom & Pop stores that are good with fish. I have NEVER seen Endler's in any stores. I was thinking of talking to them and seeing if they would buy any fry if I did end up with some. Thoughts? Or is that just a bad idea?

__________________

White clouds are awesome fish, I have a couple and they are active, I am looking forward to putting them in my new 10 gallon (once it gets cycled). If your mom isn't "thrilled" about them, show her some golden white clouds Tropical Fish for Freshwater Aquariums: Golden White Cloud Mountain Minnow they are very colorful. I find white clouds extremely interesting to watch.

__________________

She said something about not having any say about what goes in the tank, but she doesn't understand everything doesn't get along with everything. >__< She started going on about how she doesn't want me "getting into breeding", even though I said I wouldn't be doing anything special to make them breed. It's an "if it happens" type thing. If they bred I'd never hear the end of it for not telling them it could happen. Personally I'd love the opportunity to possibly help bring a little slice of beauty to my area.

__________________

If you are having that kind of problem, just ask your mom for like 5 types of fish she would like in the tank, then tell her which would work and go with that. Then she has a say, kind of.

__________________

I'm making a big list of compatable species and I'll find pics. She can pick from that. I think she may be leaning towards Mickey platies. She loves Disney.

__________________

Sounds like a good plan.

__________________

Endlers are threatened I understand.. not from over harvesting but from pollution in their region... Venezuela and their exposure to trash dumps.
I've a group of 4 wild-caughts. 2 m 2 f'ms in my desktop 10G.. Black bars... One of the issues they face is inbreeding with close cousins the guppy... When I received my WC's I almost had to sign a blood oath not to expose them in any way to guppies!... I've had them for like 2 months.. and have yet to see their population increase.. It's my understanding that unlike guppies, they don't eat their fry!.. Well.. I'm working on making the tank plant heavy so maybe there are a few more in there but I did expect by now that I'd be sharing WC off spring with friends.. Oh well... Bill in Va.

__________________
12 Tanks, 900 gallons. Discus/Angels/Malawi/Lake Victorias. Just added a 135 & 2 - 29's..