New Fish Not Getting On!

[ED10]

Hi all.
I have a 30g tank which has gone through the cycling period.
I decided to purchase my first fish today and took a visit to my lfs.

I have looked up on fish and decided i wanted to purchase some cories and some mid tank fish.
The person in the shop said i would be ok with two cories and two kribs would be a good mid tank fish to start with (both kribs are female he said).

I placed them in the tank this morning but they dont seem to be getting on. One of the kribs has has taken hold of a cave and will constantly harass the other krib pushing it into the corner of the tank where it now stays for long periods and it will also disrupt the cories if they try to settle.

Do you think they will settle with time or have i been sold duff information by the person in the store?

Thanks in advance.

 

[SJ2K]

Cichlids are territorial, i would of said your better off with a pair of kribs and the cories should be in groups of atleast 4.

Good luck with the new tank

 

[dthoffsett]

In case you aren't aware, a pair of kribs would be a male and female that have decided they like the looks of each other and will eventually breed. As opposed to just two fish of the same sex, or just a random male or female. There are two ways of obtaining a pair, buy a confirmed pair from the lfs, or, purchase several juveniles and wait for two to pair off, then return the extras.

Here's some more info on kribs. [URL="http/www.fishforums.net/content/Cichlids-African/92382/Kribensis/"]http/www.fishforums.net/content/Cichlids...2382/Kribensis/[/URL]

 

[Tommy Gun]

Sorry if I am butting in here....

Cichlids are territorial

Of course, I agree with this statement and would add that your kribs are generally going to be bottom dwelling fish, or at least the few I have kept always were but perhaps I should put it this way....if the cave that one of your kribs is located on the bottom of the tank, it is going to be spending a lot of time there; which can become problematic when there are too many bottom dwellers sharing a relatively small amount of space. That being said, perhaps your troubles are stemming from your kribs defending its cave(s) from the cories. Additionally, it is important to understand that even though kribs are 'labeled' as being peaceful or semi-aggressive, this is a relative term and would most likely mean this is their disposition in relation to other cichlids, not other fish in general. So yea, even the most docile cichlids need some consideration when being kept in a community tank.

i would of said your better off with a pair of kribs

I am sorry but I cannot agree with this simply because when it comes time for a mated pair to breed, the 'aggression factor' becomes an even larger problem. To the best of my understanding, since these fish are, or very close to being monogamous, unless your tank is relatively large, it is best to keep either one pair, or all females because any 'third-wheels' may find themselves in some trouble.

One of the kribs has has taken hold of a cave and will constantly harass the other krib pushing it into the corner of the tank where it now stays for long periods and it will also disrupt the cories if they try to settle.

IMHO and IME, your best bet in this case is to provide the largest number of potential territories (caves, for example) as you can since this might reduce the need for your fish to fight over one cave. Like I eluded to before, I have kept a few kribs in the past and never had any problems when keeping four females together - probably because it was a larger tank (90 gal) and had numerous nooks, crannies, and/or caves - but learned my lesson after adding only one male (males are hard to get ahold of in my area) which paired off with a female and the other two barely made it a week before I had to move them to quarantine.

Again, sorry to stick my nose into this conversation but I wanted to share my experience with kribs in case it might help.

 

[Davo86]

IMO your tank isn't large enough for them both to have their own territory, and so i would suggest just keeping the one,

I previously had 2 in a 40g tank and the dominant female practically killed the other one,
(i removed it to another tank but didn't survive its injuries.)

Also i feel kribs should never be one of the first fish that you add to a tank simply becasue of their territorial nature, they simply see new fish as a threat that are coming into their 'home'

 

[ED10]

Thanks for the info.

If i was to remove the dominant Krib do the think the krib which is now docile would become aggresive once on his own?

I say "his" as i have looked through this site and it now seems after further investigation that i have one male and one female. The female is the current aggresive fish.