Female Krib

[bikerfish]

Hi my friend recently bought a pair of kribs and the male was a nightmare attacking her cories and he manged to kill 1 , so she took him back to lfs but she has kept the female as she is fine and not showing any signs of attacking any of her other fish.
The question is is it ok to keep a young female krib on her own in the tank or should she take her back to the lfs as well ? she seems happy on her own as the male just kept chasing her all the time aswell as all her other fish. the female krib also from time to time swims up and down looking at her reflection in the tank glass , she has now been on her own for a couple of days.
My friend is not sure whether it is cruel to keep her on her own in tank as they normally live in pairs ?
I dont know anything about kribs so would like some advice on this please as she will take her back at weekend if this is the best thing to do .
cathy

 

[ColR1948]

Looks like I'm following you around biker, I too would like to know the answer as I have 2 x females in a community tank, one is larger than the other and the larger one always chases the smaller one away.

I also have a breeding pair but they are in another tank, had fry off them already and it looks like they are spawning again but that is on another thread.

 

[Chad]

I like to keep them as pairs but the female can be kept alone. I've done it. I have found with kribs that they like things to hide in, behind, and around. Especially taller things that break the line of sight.

 

[bikerfish]

Hi colR and tcamos def following each other around

friends tank has lots of plants and caves for her to hide in and out , she seems quite happy at mo but I know some fish not good on there own so will keep an eye on her to see how she goes , All ways great to know you can come on here to get advice needed yayyyyy
cathy

 

[Chad]

I had a pair and the male died (jumped out) and the female lived on just fine with no issues. That's my experience with them.

 

[bikerfish]

Hi tcamos will tell my friend all is great and she should be ok
cathy

 

[Chad]

Let me know how it goes. I always like to know if the advice I give is sound in practice!

 

[ColR1948]

I noticed after I moved the breeding pair out the larger female that was left started to get her red tummy, it was pale before but this happened after a day of the other moving, not sure what that means if anything, the other smaller female still seems to have a pale tummy, does that mean she isn't mature?


Also if I got another male for the female I may be asking for trouble, she might not like him and then I would have nowhere to put him, plus last time the breeding pair were in the community tank they had a full time job chasing the other fish away when they had fry, they lost a few, probably the Corys picked them off during the night.

 

[bikerfish]

Hi colR first not on topic great pic , guessing you might be into bikes yay , sorry back onto topic , female krib has a great pink belly but she was like that when she bought them as a pair so not sure if she was lose that or not ? but looks great .
I had a pair quiet a while ago after local lfs said they would be ok in tank , I had guppys and it only took a day to loose 1 to the male so they went straight back , they remind me of the fraze here comes johny but still amazing fish with lots of character .
If you have to females would he spawn with the pair of females or would he stay with just 1 of them ?
If the older female keeps chasing the younger famale would that calm down if you add a male ?
Hope you get the advice you need for this , always great on here
cathy

 

[ColR1948]

Hi Cathy, first not on topic, yes had bikes most of my life.
On topic, I did think of getting another male today funny enough but 2 things stopped me. 1, in the lfs they had 3 x paired Kribs and the rest were all females and I didn't want to split any of the pairs up. 2, If I got another male he would go in a community tank which has 2 x German Blue Rams plus some Corys and if they did spawn I would/might have the same problem I had before with the breeding pair I already have, I was temped though.

The breeding pair were in a hiding place in the other tank, it was a fake piece of log and they took possession of it, to day I noticed they have moved back to the coconut shell they had the first spawn in, the female is in there most of the time with the male standing guard, she pops out now and again but soon goes in again this is like what happened last time, I'll keep my eye on them and let you know.

 

[ColR1948]

I'm a Father again! I looked a few moments ago that couldn't see the Kribs then I spotted the female very still just under a piece of wood then I saw the male close to her, I turned away at first then I thought, 'Hang on have they...' Yes, she has a brood of fry all swimming around under her.
Can't count them they are so small and as some of you already know they are moving about it is very hard, if she moves more in the open I may get a rough estimate.
Well this Time I am going to leave them be, I only moved the last lot because it was a busy community tank but this tank has only got 5 x Danio and a lone Hatchet fish as the dithers so I think the Krib parents can handle that.

 

[ColR1948]

Well now I'm in the middle of a murder enquirery:
As above I have a breeding pair of Kribs that have now spawned and got fry, also in the tank I have/had 5 Danio and 1 Hatchet as dithers.
I looked a few moments ago and saw the Kribs out with the young and then I noticed only 3 Danio and the Hatchet, no sign of the other 2 yet. So have they dared to come too close and the Kribs did something about it?
I've kept my lights off today and just turned the moonlights on plus the room light, so I'll keep looking and perhaps tomorrow when the the light is better I may find the other 2 Danio that is unless they suddenly appear later.

Now if the Danio are becoming a pain am I best leaving them as dithers or remove them?

 

[Chad]

Possible for sure. Kribs are more mild cichlids but are still cichlids.

 

[ColR1948]

I stand corrected. 1 of the missing Danio turned up from ? The other I found behind the filter, it was stuck, possibly it was trying to get the fry as they were housed very close by but not sure it could have just been inquisitive, any moved the filter and it swam out, so all present and correct, I'm getting paranoid for these babies.

 

[Chad]