karuna
Fish Fanatic
I had my breeding pair in a heavily planted 24x12x12 tank with a Eheim 2010, dark substrate, 4 X-ray Tetras and two moulded caves. They had 3 or 4 successful batches of fry over a 5-6 month period (would leave the fry with the parents for 2-4 weeks and it was never long before they had laid more eggs after removing the previous fry) but unfortunately the female passed away during this summer. Now I have the male with the tankmates in my siggy and the only changes to the tank are a sand substrate (which he insists on spitting out of the moulded caves until he has reached the dark substrate underneath 
) and a peice of bogwood.
I'm not a very successful keeper of plants and have noticed that the more 'open' the tank becomes as the plants thin out the more stressed they were but that could also be partly due to the fact that I, in the past, have not been in the room the tank is located for very long each day.
I feel I should quote you something I agree with that I read in a thread last week on the forums though. (apologies to whomever said it, I forget) "The trouble isnt getting Kribs to breed, it's getting them to stop." hehe
That's the main reason I didnt look for another mate for him, just dont have the space to care for so many fry adequately (at least for now, hehe).
The eggs will probably be laid on the roof of the cave, whichever cave/hole they seem to spend the most time around will be the most likely location.
Good luck with the Kribs, they're great little cichlids.
EDIT: Just noticed you mentioned shrimps. I added 4 Amano Shrimp yesterday and have been watching them very carefully. I was advised against it and it may seem bizarre that I agree with the advice not to keep them with Krib. However, the reason that I added them was that I have observed my male Krib's behaviour and personality for over a year now and believe him to be no threat at all to them. With no female in the tank he is completely placid, moreover, he never even harmed anything when protecting fry and would only feint 'head-butts' at any tetras that got too close to the fry/cave. Also, the shrimp are about an inch long so they won't fit in his mouth, at least not whole, havn't noticed any legs missing yet so it's looking fine. Even though I don't believe it will be necessary I have another tank waiting for the Amano Shrimp just in case.
So, with all that said, if you are still considering it I would advise you not to add any shrimp until you can get to know the personalities of your kribs. And if they are gonna be breeding then the chances of them tolerating seeing the shrimp out in the open while they are patrolling with fry are 99 to 1.
EDIT2: Spelling.
) and a peice of bogwood.I'm not a very successful keeper of plants and have noticed that the more 'open' the tank becomes as the plants thin out the more stressed they were but that could also be partly due to the fact that I, in the past, have not been in the room the tank is located for very long each day.
I feel I should quote you something I agree with that I read in a thread last week on the forums though. (apologies to whomever said it, I forget) "The trouble isnt getting Kribs to breed, it's getting them to stop." hehe
That's the main reason I didnt look for another mate for him, just dont have the space to care for so many fry adequately (at least for now, hehe).
The eggs will probably be laid on the roof of the cave, whichever cave/hole they seem to spend the most time around will be the most likely location.
Good luck with the Kribs, they're great little cichlids.
EDIT: Just noticed you mentioned shrimps. I added 4 Amano Shrimp yesterday and have been watching them very carefully. I was advised against it and it may seem bizarre that I agree with the advice not to keep them with Krib. However, the reason that I added them was that I have observed my male Krib's behaviour and personality for over a year now and believe him to be no threat at all to them. With no female in the tank he is completely placid, moreover, he never even harmed anything when protecting fry and would only feint 'head-butts' at any tetras that got too close to the fry/cave. Also, the shrimp are about an inch long so they won't fit in his mouth, at least not whole, havn't noticed any legs missing yet so it's looking fine. Even though I don't believe it will be necessary I have another tank waiting for the Amano Shrimp just in case.
So, with all that said, if you are still considering it I would advise you not to add any shrimp until you can get to know the personalities of your kribs. And if they are gonna be breeding then the chances of them tolerating seeing the shrimp out in the open while they are patrolling with fry are 99 to 1.
EDIT2: Spelling.
