Kribensis Dilemma.

[The Mottfish]

Hello there,

I just came back from the LFS with a nice 'pair' of Kribs. They're in the tank now but it appears now that they have coloured up a bit that they are both female when I was looking for a pair for obvious reasons. (Not LFS fault as there were definately male and female Kribs in the tank which lost there colour when being caught making sexing hard.)

Anyways, I was just wondering that instead of taking one of them back, what would the effects of adding a single male be? (When I'm certain they're both female.) If a pair were to form would one of the females be secluded and become unhappy? Could I add two males?

What would you suggest the best thing to do?

Many thanks.




(btw, tank is 120cm long, approx. 39 gal. (UK) stocked with 3 Pearl Gouramis, 25 various Tetra's and Danio's, and 5 Kuhli Loach.)

 

[Musho3210]

pictures?

 

[The Mottfish]

I've been trying to get some pics, there good at posing for me but the camera isn't up to much to get a good detailed shot.

The bigger of the two has a definate red belly whereas the smaller one doesn't, but you can still see a faint red. Would young Kribs all look the same and is it possible for both male and female to have a red belly? They are pretty small and I presume they are very young as theres hardly any colour on both of there caudal fins. There dorsal fins both look the same but doesn't have colour all the way to the end. (Is kind of a /) shape at the end if that makes sense?) The bigger one with the red belly does seem to have a go at the other every now and then.

Sorry I couldn't get any pics but do you think you could help me from my descriptions?

Is there something else I've missed that could help me tell the difference?

Many thanks.

 

[dane261]

really need pics to id tem tbh mate any qual pic will be good enough to possibly id them


cheers dane

 

[The Mottfish]

Guess i'll have to keep trying to get a decent pic.

In the mean time, if you could look on the Kribensis section on the species index, the bigger Krib looks like ITJ's picture of a female Krib. The dorsal fin on both of the Kribs also look exactly like the one in the pic there just not as colourful (Yellow face and no spots on caudal)

What would be the best thing to do if they were both female?

Thanks again.

 

[The Mottfish]

From doing a bit of research I'm 90% sure that I have two females as they both seem to have all the female features I've read about. (As their identical in shape but not colour.)

From my previous questions what would you guys suggest I do. The larger more colourful female seems to harass the other quite a bit, so would I be better off taking one of them back to the LFS? (If so which one?) Or will they be OK with 1 m and 3 f?

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[DarkEntity]

1 Male and 1 Female thats it!

Even then if the male dont like the female its possible they will still fight. You have to get a "pair" not just one of each sex

 

[kribensis12]

Kribs form a like that. Spots on the tail has nothing to do with the sex of the fish. In a 39 gallon tank, you could put 2 pair in it, but they will eat or severly harras the kuhilis and the tetra's. Kribs are beautiful have have some temperment issues when breeding. The deffining difference is shape of fins and stomach. Just post a pic, it dosent matter if it is bad quality. I am quite good at sexing any age of kribs( over a half inch). If you kept 2 females to one male, you will only have the original pair within a few days.

 

[jayjay]

What shop did you get the kribs from out of interest?

 

[The Mottfish]

The way I've 'managed to sex' the Kribs is by looking at the pelvic fins (both round and look the same on each Krib)
One Krib has a bigger belly than the other but is also bigger and comes out more than the other, and chases it around. The pics I've managed to take are just blurs (You couldn't even tell they are Kribs!) so it would probably be impossible to sex them from that.

(Oh yeah, I got them from Maidenhead Aquatics near Keynsham.)