Trouble with a krib pair

[DonC]

Hey so I got into a bad spot with a pair of Kribs. Had a really tough week and wasn’t able too pay attention to my fish and now paying the price for it. Everything was going great with the pair l knew that they were breeding then with the bad week going on they had their fry and I forgot to put a sponge tip on the intake of the filter so there are only a handful of them around I am assuming they got sucked up into the intake which was near their nest so now the male is aggressively going after the female like he wants to take her out should I get her out of there or will it pass.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Do you have another tank you can separate one of them to? I think I'd move the aggressive male rather the female They are cichlids, so they can be mean and territorial, and if he's after her, yes, separate them at least for now, and then worth getting advice from one of the people here who keep cichlids. @Wills or @Byron know a great deal and I'm sure can help you with a long term plan, and when/if to reintroduce them.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

To help them, can you let us know the size of their tank and the complete stocking, please? How long have you had the pair of kribs together? Since it sounds like it's their first batch of fry?

Do you know the water parameters? Numbers are useful if you have a testing kit.

A picture of the tank could also be useful!

 

[GaryE]

The problem is the sudden loss of the fry. When that happens with brood caring Cichlids, it's sometimes interpreted as cannibalism. No predator was spotted, fry vanished = a bad parent. Kribs/pulcher don't tolerate that. Usually, it's the male that gets killed but here, the male must have an excellent parenting drive. He is trying to protect the remaining fry, and has to be removed.
Option two is that he's right. It happens with young pairs when they have been raised artificially - with the eggs taken from the parents. Broodcare instincts are triggered through learning from their parents. If you didn't see them getting pulled up the filter, you can't be sure.

So either remove the fry, or the male. Once the fry are gone, reintroduce him. If the tank is large enough for kribs/pulcher they should reconnect, but warily.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

The problem is the sudden loss of the fry. When that happens with brood caring Cichlids, it's sometimes interpreted as cannibalism. No predator was spotted, fry vanished = a bad parent. Kribs/pulcher don't tolerate that. Usually, it's the male that gets killed but here, the male must have an excellent parenting drive. He is trying to protect the remaining fry, and has to be removed.
Option two is that he's right. It happens with young pairs when they have been raised artificially - with the eggs taken from the parents. Broodcare instincts are triggered through learning from their parents. If you didn't see them getting pulled up the filter, you can't be sure.

That's really cool to learn, thank you for answering!

So either remove the fry, or the male. Once the fry are gone, reintroduce him. If the tank is large enough for kribs/pulcher they should reconnect, but warily.

I'm glad my instinct to move the male rather than the female was right. I just thought if the male stayed, he'd be even more secure in thinking of it as his territory, and maybe not accept the female back again.

 

[Wills]

Gary's got it right here I'd remove the aggressor and see how the female gets on with the fry (if you want to raise them) I'd also be tempted to move the decor around a bit or rescape the tank.

Wills

 

[GaryE]

If you only have one tank, moving things around can confuse him, and once he's scared he's distracted. It sounds awful, as intentionally scaring our pets is not what anyone I want to know should do, but in this case, it might work. I confess, I have done it (I bred the 'real' P. kribensis for many years and many pairs). The discombobulation from the terrain changing can sometimes make it look like things happen for a reason, and Mr Krib might get upset at that instead of his mate.

That's plan B though. Removing the male is plan A. In this group of fish, the females are territorial and allow males into their homes if they approve of them. Males have wider territories against other adult males, but they don't defend like females do. Once they pair, that changes and the two defend the safety zone for their young together. At that point, since they are very amped up on hormones and males are way bigger, things can go wrong. You know all those corny cop shows where the young detective always jumps to conclusions on minimal evidence? Those people are behaving like male kribs

 

[DonC]

Do you have another tank you can separate one of them to? I think I'd move the aggressive male rather the female They are cichlids, so they can be mean and territorial, and if he's after her, yes, separate them at least for now, and then worth getting advice from one of the people here who keep cichlids. @Wills or @Byron know a great deal and I'm sure can help you with a long term plan, and when/if to reintroduce them.