Kribs & New Fry

[Scotty001]

Hey all hoping some of you can help me, my pair of kribs have became parents for the 1st time, (inc me,i didn't want babies just yet, I'm not ready to be a dad. Now i have and from what Ive read poss 50+)

I'm not too sure how many fry they have as she has spawned in a coconut cave which doesn't allow you to see too far in, from what Ive seen theres a minimum of 10 she is still in the cave with the male standing guarding and not allowing anyone else near the cave, but not being as aggressive as i thought he would have been, (had no turmoil in the tank (165L) now that she has babies and i wasn't expecting this and have done no research I'm hoping to get some info on where to go from here.

Q1) is it best to leave both the adult kribs and the fry in the community tank

(currently has 3x boseman rainbows, 2x dwarf rainbows, 1x opaline Guamri, 1x Bolivian ram, 1x fire-mouth ram, 3x serpae tetras, 4x ottos, 2x feather fin catfish(these 2 have never gone near the cribs and stick to a few caves they have) & 2x adult yamota shrimp)

or remove all the kribs into a spare 60L tank i have,

Q2) what do i feed the fry and how do i make sure they are getting enough food ???

Q3) Are there any other precautions i need to take or things to look out for ??

Q4) does anyone roughly know how long it takes for fry to become mature / large enough to be sold ?? I'm sure I'm not going to be able to keep most of the fry that survive and need to start looking around at local lfs's to see if they would be able to take some from me when they're old / Large enough but guessing it will help me knowing when that is likely to be.

As yet the fry and female krib have not ventured out from their cave and the fry i would say are only 2/3 mm big, cant say i know how long the fry have been hatched as mentioned before seeing into the cave is not the easiest.

I did have some fun watching 1 or 2 fry get close to the cave entrance then watch mum pop out suck them up in her mouth and put them back in the cave.

Any help you guys can give is much appreciated.

 

[simonas]

I was in same boat exactly two weeks ago. My kribs had about 50 abies.I left them in the tank with the tank mates, 2 plecs, 4 serpae's , 2platies, hoplo cat, 2 angels and a khuli

the babies were fine till last night although down to 13 in number and parents were loking after them tenaciously

However yesterday the male battered the female abandoned the babies and I put them in a big net over night but this morning they are all dead bar one in the net gutted!!!

I've enjoyed them being in there. they had grown a fair bit in two weeks had stripes and swam very well but still prey for rest of tank

 

[blackguppy]

Q1) is it best to leave both the adult kribs and the fry in the community tank
A1) At this point, I'd leave then there. You're only going to stress out the Kribs by moving them. It's not worth risking a breeding pair.

Q2) what do i feed the fry and how do i make sure they are getting enough food ???
A2) Newly hatched brine shrimp. or finely crushed flake foods. And you can't make certain that they'll get enough food, In a tank of their own, the Kribs would be herding the babies around the tank to where the food is as they grow older, and there are a lot of other fish in there who are going to think that baby artemia are delicious.

Q3) Are there any other precautions i need to take or things to look out for ??
A3) I think that the majority of the fry, and probably all will be Firemouth chow. IMO, the best thing to do would be to let the Kribs gain a little experience at parenting this time, and move them to a tank of their own before they spawn again. You could try to slide in a tank divider, to save the fry and segregate them and their parents, but this could put the Kribs at each others throats as well.

Q4) does anyone roughly know how long it takes for fry to become mature / large enough to be sold ?? I'm sure I'm not going to be able to keep most of the fry that survive and need to start looking around at local lfs's to see if they would be able to take some from me when they're old / Large enough but guessing it will help me knowing when that is likely to be.
A4) It's very situational. How much food the fry get, what quality food, water conditions, space, etc, is different in every situation. There is no set time. It would be months at any rate.