An uncommon common krib

[GaryE27 142]

The fish truly set the hook in me for Cichlid keeping was Pelvicachromis pulcher, the common krib. I had a pair that bred, and seeing how diligently they cared for their young set me on the path of dwarf Cichlid watching. That was 35 years ago, and I have only kept the fish once since. I had a pair of wild caught Nigerian pulcher 25 years ago. They were extremely aggressive and didn't breed. The female killed the male, and I decided wild caughts were a bit on the rough side.

I was wrong. The fish I had just didn't like each other.

I've learned that as I recently had access to a pair from a Nigerian shipment, and decided to try them again. I've kept all sorts of their relatives in the years since, and for a moment, I snobbily thought I'd pass on the 'common' kribs. So far, I'm glad I didn't. Popular fish species are liked for good reasons.

In a 4 foot tank, these wild caughts are as sociable as any tank bred ones could be. They are out exploring constantly, and get along very well. Their colours (I've added a shot of the male) are different from domestic ones, where a lot of breeders have focused on creating red morphs. These ones are blue, black and orange. I've never seen any colour form of a common krib I didn't think was pretty.

They haven't bred yet, but they seem to be getting close. They are just as much fun to watch as the less common Pelvicachromis taeniatus, or the real krib, Pelvicachromis kribensis. They will be a bit larger, but are really worth keeping in pairs, in tanks 3 foot across the front or larger. If they breed, you'll have been invited to watch an act in the greatest show on Earth.

 

[anewbie]

I had trouble following what you wrote - are those ndgona ?

I still think the two i have are hard to beat but the ndgona are suppose to be vicious but lovely.

 

[GaryE27 142]

As wild imports, they have no attached location. It was an import to Canada a few weeks back.

 

[anewbie]

As wild imports, they have no attached location. It was an import to Canada a few weeks back.

Weird - most of the fishes sold was wild import have locations in usa - the location might not be accurate given distance from the catcher to the exporter but they usually have a rough idea.

I'd be reluctant to buy any west african fish without a hint of catch location just because the diversity in care is so great even for very similar species.

 

[GaryE27 142]

Having worked with importation, many of those locations for wild imports to the US would be marketing lies. Pelvicachromis kribensisis is too well documented for the very few catchers in Cameroon to make stuff up. There's basically a small number of aquarium fishermen there, and while they will occasionally find a 'new one' by renaming an old one, they are a stable group who know how it works. Nigerian sellers are something different. There's a carousel of different companies, and it seems they never last. If they find something nice, they lie about where it's from to protect the source.

From Nigeria, you're lucky to get the right species name in the shipment. P, pulcher, sacrimontis, silviae, taeniatus - they sometimes come mixed and with very creative names on them. They get mixed at the exporters, and conditions are relaxed as far as keeping species and probably locations apart. I've noticed the Cameroonians and Congolese are better at that, but they have stable export groups that stay around long enough to understand their market.

In the glory days of Apistogramma exploration, I regularly had undescribed species with no habitat information. All you could do was try to relate the fish to information on possibly related described or known forms, and experiment from there. I had quite a few first captive breedings of species back then. You observe, adjust and keep notes - I had fish that needed 15 or more spawning before I got it right and was able to raise fry. My water then wasn't ideal, and I'd work my way through different set ups til I learned what worked. 90% of those fish aren't in the hobby now, though many were real beauties not hard to breed.

Pelvicachromis pulcher, the common krib is pretty adaptable, which partly explains why it's common. I hope to breed this form. Some local hobbyists may like them, though the liTnebred forms are way easier to get here. The colour form will vanish from the hobby eventually, and if the Nigerian guys send more, they could be a completely different colour type from a different place. They could come in as silviae, or subocellatus (a fish that isn't even in their country). Now, if I were a US dealer, would I be tempted to slap an African sounding place name on them to increase their value to connaisseurs?

With Nigerian fish, like with all fish, you have to count on reputable collectors both African and European if you want location names. And Nigeria has fly by night companies and a not very appealing security level.