FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Hi, this is for those experienced in Krib behaviour.
I need your advise..

My Scarlet Krib male is in a mixed cichlid tank and I've noticed some recent damage by nibbling, prob the Red Empress. I'm thinking of moving krib into the 29..

In the 29 there is one gold gourami, 2 SIA's, 2 guppys, 3 platys, one small clown loach (that will be moved later)
and a few ghost shrimp.

I'm well aware that moving the krib can totally change the dynamics of the 29 gal.. I'm not worried that it will be attacked, I'm worried that once with less aggressive fish, that it would turn into the dominator of the tank. Most worried about how it and the gold gourami will behave toward each other.. I've only had 2 kribs but I know any cichlid can do a behaviour flip when it goes from the bullied one, into a peaceful tank.

I cannot set up another tank. Please provide some advice, I need your opinions, thanks. I'm thinking even if I donate the red empress back to the LFS, the krib might not be to happy where he's at. Thanks



The Amazon Nut...

i have bred kribs and i know for a fact that they would be perfectly fine inside that 29 9 fish in a 29 gallon would be fine especailly the nine fish u would have in there if u put the krib in there he will not attack any of the other fish because i had 3 krib one angel two cat fish and a gourami in a TEN though i knew very little about fish at that time i noticed that the three kribs were not defensive about their territory at all so i would go ahead and put it in there it will be perfectly fine

GOOD LUCK >chizunk<

Hi DaFishMan,

I had much the same situation in the past with two male Kribs sharing a 40, one made the life of the other a living hell...

I moved the "punching bag" to a 17 with a pair of Dwarf Gourami and a couple Cories. Now, in the 40, this guy basically lived with his head buried amongst the roots to avoid the attention of the dominant Krib, but once in the 17 he was a little more outgoing. His _whole_ demeanour didn't change, and he did tend to "slink" about a fair bit, but he and the male dwarf Gourami would get into the odd "discussion" from time to time... neither really backing down nor advancing, just circling each other and "squaring off" till one or the other lost interest in the posing (usually the Krib, in which case the Gourami would give chase till the Krib got to the cave, remebered he was the biggest fish, regained his confidence and made the Gourami back off a bit). He did however delight in chasing the Cories out of the piece of PVC I placed in the tank to form that "cave", but never pursued them once they were away from it.

I think the biggest concern in the 29 (presuming Scarlets have similar habits to P. pulcher) could be the Guppies (my dominant Krib "knocked off" a few adult male guppies a year or so back which he had grown up with, before I realized what was going on and removed the survivors) and most likely the shrimp... The platys should be fine (they stayed after the Guppies left) and the SAEs wont be considered a meal unless they are still teeny I dont think. I'm pretty sure the 29 would give enough floor space for the Clown and Krib to avoid each other (they may well end up ignoring each other unless it comes to fighting for ownership of a cave or such).

edit: oops realized I just waffled and didn't really answer the question : for the sake of _everyone's_ health and hapiness, maybe it would be best to return the Red Empress so the Krib can stay put (or find someone to donate the smaller inhabitants of the 29 to even ).

Dex



Last edited by dextroze at 23-Oct-2004 00:21

Thanks both of you for sharing your krib expertise with me.

And yes, scarlet krib same behaviour as regular krib..
Difference is no spots, turquise marks under the eyes and lotsa purple in the body, and 1 inch larger than regular kribs. They're also referred to as a giant krib.

So basically it would be ok, but my 2 ghost shrimp and guppys may be at risk. I'd return the red empress to the store, but there'd still be another african cichlid, a pictus cat (p. blochii I think), and a 1 foot oscar. So he still wouldn't be the happiest krib and may get picked on still.. In any regard, that tail has to heal up so I'll at least move him for a bit until he's healed, then maybe isolate the red empress if I return krib to the 90 and see if any other fish try to nip him or not.



The Amazon Nut...

I would be very watchful of him if you put him in that tank. My sister had a krib, when his mate died, he killed a dwarf gourami, 3 corys, 2 danios, and a couple other fish. He also tried to attack on occassion her large goldfish. Very vicious aggressive fish. She sold it back to the pet store, and the guy there had it in a mixed african cichlid tank and it had electric yellows, some blue ones, and an auratus cowering in a corner.


Come Play Yahtzee With Me!
http://games.atari.com
Http://www.myleague.com/yahtgames

No way, it had Malawis hidin in the corner ??

That's some aggresive krib !

I'll have to consider more alternatives, thanks.

The Amazon Nut...