Kribensis Dying.

[LiveLifeGoJump]

Hi I got 4 Krib (2 male 2 female) from lfs. They were in a tanks with others and swimming around peacefully.
Well in my tank one has gone and killed the others, chased them continously but this didn't start until I had them 3 or 4 days. I got one more to replac the dead ones & it was being attacked while it was still in the bag waiting for water temp. to level out before adding some of my tank water. I have to keep them in seperate tanks, one with plattys & the other with the neons (they were the 'dither' fish in the krib tank). They don't bother the other fish.

I though the one causing the botherwas a male (not much colour, long & thin) but it's belly goes bright red and very fat when in with another krib. This make me think that it may actually be a female (with B.T.B syndrome ), anyone in the north east of England got a big male krib they don't want?

 

[MHunt]

Kribs are notiriously territorial, especially a breeding pair. The larger, more colourful of the fish is usually the male. Make sure there are plenty of hiding spots, caves etc for your kribs to hide in. Use small plant pots, etc.

What size tank have you got? you may find it's only big enough for one pair or maybe a trio (one male, two females) of kribs due to their territorial nature.

 

[LiveLifeGoJump]

The info I have read says the female has more red on it'#s belly, a rounded tail & belly. The male is less coloured, a more pointy tail & tends to be thinner & longer and often has 'eyes' on it's tail. From this ndescription I think the trouble maker is a female.

It's only a 18" x 10" x 10" tank, has four plant pots, one tunnel, one resin 'hill' with access holes & plastic plants, a tall 'wavy' plactice plant & a couple of small live plants. There are 6 neons in as 'dithers'. As the kribs were all together in the lfs tank & peaceful I got 2 male & 2 female (according to lfs) and put them in together to pair off.

At just over 6 gallons if should have been 'ok' for a short time required to establish pairs but they just swam around together till the bully killed them a few days later.

I need to find a male bigger than her who can stand up for himself. She tried to get at one krib while it was in the plastic bag fresh from the lfs. It was only in with her a few seconds before I had to seperate it

With a wife & 2 daughters I KNOW what B.T.B. syndrome can be like but I've never had it THAT BAD

 

[pica_nuttalli]

first issue: gender. oftentimes you can tell by the spots; typically males have spotty tails and females have spotty dorsals. fin-shape is informative in adults; males have very pointy fins and females have very rounded fins. both males and females can develop pink bellies, but generally only the female's "blush" extends all the way onto her pelvic fins.

second issue: a 6g is waywayway too small for more than one krib if its in "the mood". i'm shocked that your neons aren't dead yet.

part of kribensis courtship involves pretty aggressive fighting between the male and female, presumeably to prove each other to be suitable mates. a full sized tank is ESSENTIAL for a pair of kribs so that the less aggressive krib has space to retreat when the fighting gets too rough.

unless you have a 20g (minimum) tank set aside for the breeding pair, don't even bother gettting another. and i'd recommend upgrading the individual to at least a 10g or get rid of its tankmates. adult kribs are easily 3"-5" in length and are pretty chunky. that's probably too much waste for it to comfortably share a 6g.

 

[LiveLifeGoJump]

The kribs are quite small at the moment (1.75") and the 6g tank (neons 1" each so present stocking is 7.75 to 6.3g UK) is only until the bigger tank is up & running. Didn't know they were that aggressive! I knew they were territorial but they were happy & peasceful while starting to pair off. Large tank should be ready by monday as filter has been cycling for a while now.
It looks like I have 2 females as both have the spots on the dorsal fin and none on their tails, have rounded bellies & 'blush' when with another krib. Looks like it was the males that were killed.

Niether of them show any interest in tank mates of other species other than to move them on if they get 'in their face'. If they are just near they are left alone.

None of the info I read said that they were aggressive to the point of killing either same or oposite sex kribs in territory defence or courtship.

I will have to locate a male of similar or larger size when the bigger tank (16g UK, 20g US) is ready but at present lfs only has smaller kribs & I don't think they would stand a chance against her. I also have a 22g UK tank but that could take longer to setup and I don't have a filter cycling for that one so second female krib will have to stay with the plattys a bit longer unless I get the 22g ready first and put both females with 1 male (and lots of hiding places) to pair off and then move the odd krib into the 16g tank once it's ready (or back with the plattys).

Thanks for the info.