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Got a couple of very small Kribs and put them into my S.A. tank with my Angels, cards, rummys, otos and blue rams. The kribs seem to boss around my rams and push them into a corner. Any ideas?

My Scapes

A lot of people advise against keeping them together, but I do have Bolivian rams with my kribs (two females). Luckily they pretty much ignore each other.

Do you have driftwood, rocks, caves in the tank? Is there any way you could do some rearranging so they could re-establish territories?

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Yes I have lots of driftwood, caves, etc. If I bought more rams so they outnumber the Kribs would that help. Currently I have 2 rams and 2 kribs.

Thanks!

My Scapes

If I bought more rams so they outnumber the Kribs would that help

Rams don't really school so I don't think more would help that way...it would just give more targets for the kribs. Do you have a M/F pair? A big part of the problem is territory...rams generally stay towards the middle-bottom of the tank, same as kribs. Rams are peaceful though and now it seems the kribs are trying to claim their territory.

Not sure what else to tell you...do you have another tank the kribs could be moved into? Or you might want to think about returning them, maybe at that point get more rams or another peaceful SA/CA cichlid. How large is the tank?

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

ive kept bolivian rams and kribs together before the only thing that i noticed that was bad was the male krib chasing my rams away then leaving them alone. but i had lots of plants and caves and stuff for them to hide in and my tank was a 60g.

My tank is a 46bow front with lots of driftwood, rock and plants. I think I'm just going to remove the kribs and get a few more rams. The rams stay between the back glass of the tank and the heater.

My Scapes

I say good move to get rid of the kribs. Rams are pretty peaceful, whereas Kribs are vicious little nasty murderers.
My sister had a pair of kribs, they killed her blue rams, her gold rams, two dwarf gouramis, a betta, some tetras, and 6 cory cats. NOT a good fish to keep. These fish could probably be kept with other, larger african cichlids and be fine. What most people seem to forget is that Kribs are African Cichlids, and while small, are not completely lacking of the African Cichlid aggression.
I would not keep kribs period, except maybe with Blue Acaras, or Lemon Yellows, or other larger African fish. Not a fish suited to many community aquariums.
You could perhaps, maybe, keep a female. As long as they havent bred before, and dont have a male around, such as the case of Theresa's kribs, you may be fine.
Males are just way too aggressive.



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Now that's quite enough picking on the poor Kribensis. They are a lovely fascinating fish, wonderful parents and I'm sure they have justification for their murderous rampages.

The problems start when a male and female pair up and once they have little ones the slaughter begins. You just can't put anything in with them. I've got a pair in a 29 and I think they are probably (with the exception of Oscar) the coolest fish in the house.

I've seen a few posts on here about people keeping them with other fish but I bet not a breeding pair.

Try taking one Krib out. I kept a female with Mollies, Angels, and a Bolivian Ram and she didn't kill anyone, didn't even harrass anyone.

Did I mention I think Kribs are cool, Mike

true that mike kribs are awsome i had a breeding pair in a 17g in my room and they are a very cool fish.

I have a pair of breeding Kribs in a 75 gallon community tank with no problems. They have spawned five times and I have sold the babies to my LFS. Their tankmates are 2 Tinfoil Barbs, one Parrotfish, 3 Congo Tetras, four Rosy Barbs, two Giant Danois & two Australian Rainbows. The Kribs chase the other fish away from thier fry but I haven't even had a torn fin. This entire batch of fish have been together for over a year this way. I would not put them in with my Bolivian Rams which are in my 120 gallon tank and are also spawning & if I had Blue Rams I would not put them with Kribs, however, if you have the right tankmates you can keep Kribs in a large community tank.

Last edited by spyder at 08-Oct-2004 19:06

Your right Sypder. the Kribs really only bother my RAMs. I have removed both Kribs and for now they are in a 12gallon bowfront by themselves. What kind of conditions do I need to bread them - thanks!

My Scapes

I do nothing, the parents take care of everything. My temp is 76, ph 7.0 and I only feed the tank aquadine food. One thing I would recommend, don't leave them alone. If they spawn and have no other fish to chase away from their fry they will probably kill each other. They need dither fish and something to occupy their attention away from themselves.

They like to spawn in caves, i have a flower pot on it's side. I made the hole in the bottom bigger and covered the mouth of the pot with a saucer to close it in. They love it.

Good luck, Mike