Krib Behaviour

[78xtc]

Hi - I have a pair of Kribs in a 50ltr tank (by themselves). I had them in my community tank but when I realised they had paired up I bought them a tank of their own so they could 'love' each other Anyway the first lot of eggs were white (not fertilised??) & were eaten however over the weekend a second batch was laid. This morning I found a jiggling, jumping mass of eggs with little tails poking out and a very protective mum & a dad who looked like he'd had a rough night I watched them for a while & the female relentlessly pursued the male pushing him into the corners of the tank. He ended up hiding in various places like above the internal filter or in one of the plants. I also noticed that his tail had been severly nipped away He was really pale & looked really unhappy so I removed him from the tank & have just left mum with her babies. What I was wondering was - is this normal behaviour?? Will the babies be ok with just mum or should I put dad back in?? She is so territorial that when we look close up into the tank she rushes to the front of the tank 'attacking' where our faces are!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[moll]

We had this last week ours paired up in the isolation tank and the mother hounded the male we moved him to the community tank but as we wer off for a long weekend when we got back we found he hadn't made it

Keep him out of the tank or she may kill him our fry did fine with just mam but then she turned on them so they are now on their own and doing great.

 

[kribensis12]

Your pair wasnt a strong enough bond. You should remove th emale na dnot let him anywhere near the female, or she will kill him. The mom will take care of the fry. If you want your fry to grow as fast as possible, i recommend buying frozen BBS ( Baby Brine Shrimp), you can hatch it yourself if you want, but i find it cheaper and better for the fish to buy it frozen.

 

[78xtc]

hi-thanks everyone for their advice - I figured mum wanted to be a 'single parent family' but just wanted to double check as this is a new experience for me. I bought some frozen baby brine shrimp when the first batch of eggs was laid but I was wondering when to feed it to the babies? I did a bit of research & some sites said they live off the egg sack for a few days Today is day two - when should I give them some frozen baby brine shrimp & what is the best way to feed it to them? They are currently all clustered together in the bottom of a small terracotta urn (open at each end). I fed mum some live black worm & made sure a few worms landed at the entrance of the urn but she didnt seem to want to eat. Sorry for all the questions - although I've kept fish for over 10 years this is the first time I've ever had to deal with babies (well fish ones anyway LOL)

 

[kribensis12]

They fry feed off there egg sack for the first 3-4 days after being hatched. Feed them once they become free swimming. The only reason the fry cant swim right now is because the babies arent strong enough to carry the egg sack around with them. I always brak a small piece of the food, and put it in a cup filled with fish water, and let the stuff thaw and fall to the bottom ( takes about 2 minutes to thaw all the way). Then i take a little medicince shooter, and suck up the food, and squirt it in the tank. I usually feed my fry 3 times a day.