Kribensis From Hell!

[Sean!]

Hi everybody... new to the forum... looks like a good one.
So im fairly new to the hobby and set up a brand new 60 gal tank with my heart set on eventually having a pair of kribensis mate and raise fry. I did my research and decided on serpae tetras as a good dither fish due to their speed. Once i had a school of six in there for a couple of weeks i added a female krib. At the store the krib had nearly no red on her belly and i assumed she was a juvenile however after about an hour in her new home it was the deepest red ive ever seen on the fish. Now here's the problem... This krib is the meanest damn fish ive ever seen... its relentless. It chases the serpaes no matter where in the tank they are and since it cant quite catch them in the day she has resorted to night attacks. When I get up each morning the serpaes are completely white and have a little more of their top fins missing. Have you had simalar experiences? Will this ever stop? What would you try? Would a male companion calm her down or only add to the problem?

PS> the tank is heavily planted with tons of hiding places and i do have a 20 gal. set up for emergencies (although i dont want to end up with this damn krib being the only inhabitant of a 60 gal tank)

Thanks for any help you can offer!
Sean

 

[pica_nuttalli]

a male companion might help in that it would distract her, but in the worst case scenario he would just help attack the tetras.

can you give us an indication of how big the tetras are versus the size of your krib?

 

[guppy_man]

i have just bought 2 kribs, male and female the only fish they chase are each other lol, but nothing too serious.
i have a balloon molly a dwarf gourami and 3 albino corys in with them, they are doing fine, they are only around 1" 1/2 long, but their colours are amazing, especially on the female.

if you add a male she might stop chasing your dither fish and take more interest in the male, try it see how it goes, when you bought the krib they should of either sold you a pair or asked if you already had a krib, because they like to be in a pair or small shoal.

hope ive helped a little

post some pics of your kribs if you can, id love to see them, ill post some of mine when my camera works

 

[Sean!]

pica... the serpae are prolly bout 1 1/2" whereas the krib is about 3".

guppyman... i know they like to pair up and that was my plan for the near future but i wanted to see how the female would interact with the tetras first... ha!

well... i guess ill go get a male and then moniter the tank carefully to see if i gotta take these serpaes out.


oops...

guppyman... my good camera went belly up the other day but ill try to get a decent pic with my g/f's camera once I stick the male in there.

 

[§tudz]

I had a pair of kribs, one male and one female. the male killed the female and then started on the rest of the tank mates. in the end I had to give him away to a cichlid keeper I know, who was able to place him in a tank with more robust fish, ie more cichlids. as far as I know he is fine now