Kribs

[markandhisfish]

in my tank i have 2 kribs1 1 is bigger than the other and a hell of a lot more colourfull. 1st have i got 1 of each sex 2nd the bigger brighter 1 chases the other 1 with a vengance , if it ( the smaller 1) stays in its plant its fine but if it comes out and the other 1 sees it its time for a few high speed laps of the tank! would adding 1 or 2 more help/hinder/make no difference?

 

[black angel]

would need to sex them first...pic? in the meantime, plenty of caves and places to hide.

 

[markandhisfish]

ok is there an obvious difference between sexes?

 

[Honeythorn]

Males are bigger and have a long pointy dorsal.

I know the sort of behaviour you mean. But I ended up with two females who HATE eachother , and I have had to permanently separate them . If you have a M/F pair, it may be just them establishing territory, and sooner or later they may start courtship behaviour ( bending the body and shivering at eachother, digging holes, pits ect and dissappearing inside for a while )

 

[kim03333]

i could have written this post myself! a few months ago i had EXACTLY this same probelm. at first i thought the small one was a male and the viscious one was female. i thought she was cahsing him cos he's smaller than her, but now i can see they are both female. the small one in my tank is a lot less colourful than the viscious one. i think this is because she is stressed from being chased. at one point i noticed she was missing some of her tail. no prizes for guessing how that happened.

sinse i had these kribs i have added some tetras and the smaller krib has got a lot more brave and comes out of hiding in the plants alot more than she used to.
what size is your tank and what tank mates do you have?

 

[Honeythorn]

the small one in my tank is a lot less colourful than the viscious one. i think this is because she is stressed from being chased.

Mine went completely grey all over and developed stress lines from being chased. She literally stayed in one corner constantly, near the bottom and did not shift from there at all. I had to feed her separately and all sorts. The dominant female was a rainbow of colour, and had ( and still has) a MEAN personality to go with it. She would actually creep up on and then chase the other, purely for the fun of it. I had to separate them in the end, I am pretty convinced the other would have kicked the bucket from stress if I hadn't. She lives in a 12 gal with a dwarf gourami now. She's come back into colour and is a LOT happier.

 

[markandhisfish]

its looking like i will have to remove the smaller one for its own good. its got absolutely no colour, stark contrast to the big dominant one which i vibrant. i was told the pectoral fins are more pointed in males??? both fish look to be quite pointed in these fins maybe i have 2 males? if so i rekon i will remove the small stressed one and try to source a female and see what happens

 

[Honeythorn]

That's exactly what happened to mine. If you don't have a spare tank you could put the weaker krib in a big breeding trap of the sort used for guppies ect? Just to keep it away from the other's bullying until you have a tank for it. Or set up a tub tank ( I've mentioned how in other threads )

In males it's the dorsal fin, the top fin that is long and pointy, and their tails are more pointy at the ends too. Sort of ace of spades shaped.

 

[markandhisfish]

hmm both have got pointed dorsal fins and both pretty much the same shaped tail. i rekon i must have 2 males

 

[Honeythorn]

Oh dear not good. Can you separate them for now?

EDIT - see the one in my signature? That's one of my females. Look like that? If not then it's a male.

 

[dnn3]

does either one have a purplish belly?

 

[kribensis12]

If you can provide a pic i could sex them for you. Also, this belongs in the Afircan/Old World Cichlid Area.

 

[markandhisfish]

i will try to get some pics later . altho i have trouble posting with imageshack or photobucket for some reason

 

[LauraFrog]

Do not buy more kribs. They need really big tanks - probably 70 gal + if you want two pairs. otherwise they will constantly fight over territory and you'll have the same problem on a larger scale.