For Those With Kribs

[fishwatcher]

What kind of set-up are they in? Please include tank size, tank mates, number of kribs (and sex ratio), any other info you want to include.
I've become highly interested in these little beauties, and my lfs has some in stock now. Would love to get ideas on a set-up for them. (Can you say, "Merry Christmas to me"?)
Thanks!

 

[guppy_man]

well i have 3 kribs in my 20gal, 2 female 1 male, 2 of them have paired off, and just this week had fry.
the tank setup should have lots of caves, cover.
IMO i would go for teracotta pots, they love them, thats where mine and alot of other peoples kribs have bred.

their tank mates are 4 albino corys, dwarf gourami and a balloon molly.
IMO you should have sand as the substarte, as kribs love to dig as do other cichlids.

what else do you want to know? ill be happy to help

 

[fishwatcher]

Cories, huh? I thought I'd read that they would get mean and nasty to them, since they share the same area. I was thinking of a pair of kribs, a few rainbows (dwarfs), a couple of platies, maybe a trio of cherry barbs. Something along those lines, if they would work. I figured those fish would be out of the bottom area usually, and were fast enough not to get too beat up by them. I'd thought of danios, but don't really like them, and serpae tetras too, but heard they were nippy. What do you think?
As for the terra cotta pots, do you leave the bottom on them and just lay them on the side, or do you remove the bottom so they can swim through it?
Could you post a picture or 2 of your tank? I'd love to see how it all looks.
Thanks for the help so far!

 

[kribensis12]

A kribensis pair need at least a 20 gal tank. They will do better in a 30. They do not usually tolerate other cichlids while breeding. Make sure you get a healthy female or she will get killed imeaditly(spelled wrong). The pots should be put face down with a hole in it so they can swim in and out. They will not breed if you can see the inside of the pot. They love plants and small gravel because they dig more than CONVICTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They do not like other bottom dwellers. They killed all of my corys in my bigger tank. They will breed if you feed them high protein food.

 

[fishwatcher]

Could you just lay the pots on their sides, with the opening towards the back of the tank? If not, how do you cut a hole in the pot without shattering it?
What about other tank mates, like those I suggested in my other reply? Will those work?
Thanks!

 

[fishwatcher]

Anyone else have these and would be willing to share their set-up? PLEEEAAASSSEEE

 

[The-Wolf]

currently my pair are in a 400ltr tank
however I breed them in a 17.5G with dawn tetras as dithers
and a hagen exo-terra cave

 

[businesslamb]

I don’t have a lot of experience with kribensis but this is what I have found out to date. I bought them six weeks ago and put them in a 20 L quarantine tank fitted with a cloned air powered box filter a couple of plastic plants some java moss and a plant saucer wedged up against the side(they were about an inch and a half long with the male being a bit larger). After a week I returned from a couple of days away and blow me if the buggers hadn’t spawned and there were some eggs on the glass under the saucer. A few days later the eggs had gone I guess they had been eaten.
Up until then the pair had shown no aggression but a few days later I found the female wedged up behind a plastic plant in a corner with the male having a go. I moved him to the main tank . The female had suffered quite a bit of damage to the tail but was otherwise quite perky. After a month she had fully recovered so I moved her in with the male. They are housed in a 120L tank heavily planted with Vallis and Crypts and equipped with some bogwood caves and a plantpot. They share their home with 6 black phantom tetras and a 2 inch bristlenose catfish. The male chases the tetras on occasion but the catfish he ignores he learned pretty soon that bristly was bigger and armoured and took no #### from no-one. Soon after adding the female she had coloured up (pink belly and bright yellow stripe and fins) and was displaying to the male ( a bit of a tart following him round and arching her back in front of him). They ignored the manmade “homesâ€￾ and have excavated a cave under some bogwood (Luckily it is well supported so make sure your décor can withstand a bit of digging). I fully expect another spawning attempt in short order. That’s all I have so far. I will post more if anything develops.

Cheers

Businesslamb

 

[fishwatcher]

currently my pair are in a 400ltr tank
however I breed them in a 17.5G with dawn tetras as dithers
and a hagen exo-terra cave

What tankmates do they have in the 400 ltr (that's about 100 gal, right?)?

Cool that they were breeding so quick for you, businesslamb! I hope mine do, just so I can see the mating ritual!

 

[andyt_uk]

i have kept and bred kribs in the past
a trigon 190 was there home, in with 2 large angels, blue acara, couple of platty, and mybe some neon tetra.
they definately need shelter for any hope of breeding - i found it best to just have a mf pair, if you get more females i found they are likely to beat up on the single female once they pair off.
whilst not breeding they are fairly friendly cichlids but once spawed everyting had better keep out of their way

i found to triger spawning drop the water temp - i read somewhere that in the wild they spawn when the rains come (which cools the river water), i used to trickle cold fresh water into their main cave with a syphon could almost guarantee fry within a week of doing that.
java moss is good for the fry to hide in - but keeping with angels isnt wise - they ate all the fry despite the kribs protests

they are beautiful and fascinating fish, their parenting skills are first class
good luck

 

[kribensis12]

You can any tetras or danios you like and maybe some keyholes but you would already be crossing the line. The Idea of laying the pot towards the back might work but no garintess(Spelled completely wrong)

 

[fishwatcher]

I'm definitely would be in it to breed them, though seeing the mating rituals fish have always interests me. I'm twisted I guess - a little underwater perversion!
So how do you think a few dwarf rainbows, a trio of cherry barbs, maybe a couple of platies would do with a single pair of kribs?

(BTW, is it KRIBensis or kriBENsis, pronunciation-wise?)

Thanks!

 

[Murray]

kribs are pretty cool fihs i have had some for two weeks now hwoever still cant seem to get myself a female.... i will not give up however, becasu4e im also excited to have some spawning occur, the fish themselves are beautiful and very colorful, i am an all around huge fan.

 

[stan1979]

keep an eye out for albino versions, the pink that develops on the belly when breeding is amazing, i had a breeding pair about a year ago and was getting successful broods every two months, try using coconut shells instead. look a bit more natural than the teracota pots. if you just hack the top part of the shell off, clear out all the inside and just bury the shell into the gravel leaving a small enough gap for them to enter and exit all should be good.
hope this helps

 

[dwarfgourami]

I'm definitely would be in it to breed them, though seeing the mating rituals fish have always interests me. I'm twisted I guess - a little underwater perversion!
So how do you think a few dwarf rainbows, a trio of cherry barbs, maybe a couple of platies would do with a single pair of kribs?

(BTW, is it KRIBensis or kriBENsis, pronunciation-wise?)

Thanks!

Should be KribENsis (in Latin the stress falls on the penultimate syllable if its vowel is followed by more than one consonant- bet you always wanted to know that, folks ).

I would maybe leave the platies out, not because I'm a great expert on kribs, but I don't find platies very good at coping with stress, one good bullying session can finish them off IME.