Krib Tank Size?

[goldfish]

What tank size would a pair of kribs need? I potentially have a densely planted, overfiltered 50 litre tank with 3 otocinclus' in it, and seem to remember somebody keeping a pair in a small tank, but obviously if it's too small then I wouldn't want to risk it.

Thanks

gf

 

[saboy]

I would say that a 50 litre is too small, they need about a 20 gallon, and they should be happy in there

 

[Ferris]

I agree 20 gal/90 litres is the min tank size for a pair of Kribs IMO.

 

[Griz]

A more important questions is: What are the dimesions?

I'm sure that most people would tell me that a 15 is too small and a 20 is fine for a pair of kribs. However, I have a 15 gal and a 20 gal that both have the same footprint; 24" x 12". I don't think that a pair of kribs would be any better off in the 20. Giving tank size recommendations without knowing the dimensions can be misleading, especially when it comes to cichlids. Tank dimensions are much more important than volume- It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine.

 

[Ferris]

An interesting point, which i agree with to a certain extent but i would still say a 15 gal is too small for a pair of Kribs, regardless of dimensions. Yes length is more important but ultimately total space is still the key.

Once again, IMO, a 20 gal is the absolute min for a pair of Kribs, personally i wouldn't put them in anything less than a 30 gal. I don't see the sense in putting aggressive fish in the bare minimum space possible, yes people do it and call it successful but there is a big difference between that and my definition of a successful tank.

 

[Griz]

I totally agree with your second point. All too often I see people trying to squeeze the maximum sized fish into the minimum sized tank. For fish to really thrive they need space. It's much more than a question of the bioload that tank will support. Territorial issues are equally important. I see a lot of strange (IMO) stocking situations and always wonder how they turn out in the long term.