Kribs Digging...

[Madjonny]

So I got a pair of Kribensis on Monday, and since then they have gradually been digging out a tunnel to create a larger cave underneath my bogwood, my question is, when it comes to Sunday when I clean and change the water should I put thesand back or just leave the to it?

Basicly there was a small cave, now thy have burrowed down to make it larger...

I'm leaning towards leave it, as it just be how they like it...

 

[meandmykribs]

Hey madjonny,
 
They will have pushed it all out to make room for spawning most likely
 
Although sometimes they just like to push it all out then push it all back in then out again hahaha
 
But the most likely thing is you are going little wrigglers in your tank in the next few days
 
If you can see inside check for eggs

 

[Madjonny]

Hmm, if that's the case, I will leave it be...

Wow these pair don't mess around... I only got them on Monday!

 

[meandmykribs]

I only had mine a week and they spawned I was very surprised and very unprepared haha
 
Lost 2 fish because of it

 

[Madjonny]

Iv not seen any eggs, but man... That is some serious diving they've done... It's alot deeper and further back than it looks...

 

[meandmykribs]

Are they protecting it??
 
Did mrs krib have a bright red tummy??  Lets start there

 

[Madjonny]

There's nobody to protect it from, it's just 2 Kribs and a tiny clown plec ATM...

And yes very very deep purple!

 

[meandmykribs]

They will still try to protect the cave from the plec if he comes near
 
When she is red/purple they are ready for spawning, this will begin to fade after the fry have hatched (although not completely)
 
I wouldn't try to add any more until you know if they have spawned or not
 
I lost 2 fish when mine spawned my male is VERY aggressive and I had to remove all the other fish
 
Even though there are now only 3 fry left (they are juveniles and still learning bless them) he will still attack my cae and catfish pleco

 

[Sophie]

The picture is adorable!

 

[meandmykribs]

The picture is adorable!

Beautiful aint they
 
Mine looked a little like that until a couple days ago when I woke and they were all gone except 3

 

[Lunar Jetman]

You may be lucky like meandmykribs and find them getting down to it straight away but I've also had Kribs who just dug a lot for a while before they started getting in the mood.

Cichilds like a bit of a dig and the dwarf variety aren't that different.

Good luck though!

As an aside, I have built caves myself for them and used flowerpots before which they adopt as nesting sites. This did help reduce the digging a bit so you might want to consider that if you are getting worried.

 

[Madjonny]

OMG! There's eggs!

What do I do now?

Also how many babies do these guys have?

7 days and there's eggs already, WOW! They must be happy here...

 

[meandmykribs]

You do nothing hun, mum and dad do all the work don't panic.
 
They can lay anything between 50 and 300 eggs when the hatch you will lose a few as mum and dad will err....."remove" any unfit fry but you will still be left with plenty

 

[TooManyChoices]

 
 
when it comes to Sunday when I clean and change the water should I put thesand back or just leave the to it?

 
Do you take all the sand out when you water change? If you do, there's no need, for the meantime just don't vacuum around the nest, as it'll probably disturb them . 
 
I found mine LOVED the sand substrate and they were really prolific little excavators! This was quite a large terracotta pot bottom that they dug out!
 
[VIDEO]http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wM4rkBterM[/VIDEO]

 

[Madjonny]

You do nothing hun, mum and dad do all the work don't panic.
 
They can lay anything between 50 and 300 eggs when the hatch you will lose a few as mum and dad will err....."remove" any unfit fry but you will still be left with plenty

Brilliant, so I can just sit back and watch...

 
 
when it comes to Sunday when I clean and change the water should I put thesand back or just leave the to it?

 
Do you take all the sand out when you water change? If you do, there's no need, for the meantime just don't vacuum around the nest, as it'll probably disturb them . 
 
I found mine LOVED the sand substrate and they were really prolific little excavators! This was quite a large terracotta pot bottom that they dug out!
 
[VIDEO]http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wM4rkBterM[/VIDEO]

I don't take all my sand out, I just meant should I scrape the sand dunes back into the holes they had dug, good job I didnt!