Pale Female Krib, Possibly Breeding?

[dfield]

Hi

I introduced 2 male kribs to my 400L tank a few weeks back as potential pairs for my two females. Everything had been going great until today...

Both kribs paired and made territories at either end of the tank, they have had the occasional turf wars but both pairs seemed well matched. Anyway one pair with my most dominant female had been busy about two weeks back, clearing out some large shells of stones/sand and then about a week ago the female was hardly seen.

I assumed she may have laid and had been waiting to see the fry.. but today I saw my beautiful female almost colourless and being chased off by the male.. she looks weak too as other fish were buffering near her and she seemed to go slightly on her side before righting herself.. It was quite a sharp contrast from this tough little fish I have been used to seeing.

I am wondering if the timing sounds right that somewhere in one of the shells are some fry?? and maybe she has been chased away from them by the male and is a bit depressed??? To be on the safe side I checked all my water params and my PH had gone up to 7.2... I just put some correcter in.. but other than that, ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrates 5ppm.

At the moment she is in one of the shells, though not sure which as I turned the tank lights off to allow her a chance to sneak back in... but could it be the timing is ok that she has laid.. and if so shouldn't I have seen some sign of the fry

I am very fond of this fish and want to do right by her.. so any advice would be appreciated.

Oh.. happy xmas to all..

 

[thereverendturtle]

You should have seen fry within a week. The pale color is a sign of submission and that she's not ready to spawn. Keep an eye on her, she may need to be separated.

 

[dfield]

Been away off the forum for a while, had a dreadful virus... gahhh. Yes no baby Kribs.. she was being chased off by the male, but they seem to have kissed and made up now and she's all coloured up again.

My other krib pair at the other end of the tank seem much more happy together.. yet these two, well it seems more like a power alliance as they are the most dominant kribs. Still the female is now all set up in her shell home again so all seems well for the moment.

Sadly I lost one of my Blue Rams though it had a hernia.. it lasted a couple of weeks from when I first saw it, it did go back in, but then kept coming out after feeds.. eventually I think it was too much .. I read on the forums and there didnt seem much hope but he never seemed in pain and was still eating so I went with it.

 

[dfield]

We've got baby kribs!!! they are amazing to watch, it was the agressive pair, but so far they've been brilliant and apart from a bit of chasing there have been no real attacks on others and they are jointly caring for their babies.

I turned the light off in the tank this evening, but made sure the room lights were on so mum had time to shepherd the babies in. I thought they'd follow her into the cave, but she picked every one of them up in her mouth and carried them all in.

My 8 year old daughter now wants a tank with just kribs in as she thinks they are amazing.. I think I agree