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Hey all, it's been a while since I've been on here, my tanks have been more or less in survival mode for a while because of some very nasty ich (I'm convinced most treatments don't work hehe) and what came out of that. Anyhow, things are starting to look up so I'm back and playing with things.

What I'm mainly looking for is opinions on some kribensis breeding. I know this could just as easily be a breeders forum question, however a lot of what I'm unsure of is fairly krib-specific.

My plan is basicaly to buy two small kribensis (in inch?) that are at a lfs. Though young, they are displaying breeding behaviour- the male has all the other kribensis (yes, these people actually put a mix of male and female kribensis together in a small tank) cornered, and the female is spending a good bit of time around the only plant in the tank- the two do not attack eachother of course. From there I have a 10 gallon tank I was planning on setting up specificaly for them temporarily, with a 20 I'm slowly working on getting things together for. The idea would be that when they hatch the first brood, or when they get somewhere approaching 2 inches long, I transfer the two parents to the 20 gallon along with the fry. From there the idea is that I use my planted 30 gal. for raising which would also have an angel and an albino bristlenose in it. Meanwhile I would leave the 10 gal. for a hospital, or to seperate out and raise any of the particularly aggressive young.

I would appreciate any help- this is going to be my first breeding project.

Kribs are easy to breed and a 20 long is perfect for it but I think you will need more than 1 30gal. to raise the fry (IME 60-80 per batch). Unless there is an Angel in there, then Darwin takes over and the survivors will be the ones that have the best instincts.

Have fun, Mike

thankyou for the reply I'm not too concerned about the angel eating things- it's been raised with neon and cardinal tetras from a young age, never ate a single one. I did not know the broods were so large- I thought 40 was typical. This changes my plans I guess; would you, or anyone else know an efficient way of setting up raising tanks that won't leave the little guys maiming eachother?

The first batch my Kribs had was about 30. The next two batches were at least double that. I still have some of that second batch, the third went with the Kribs when I sold them.

As for tanks to raise them in, I always decorate the tanks with substrate, rocks & plants and don't have any trouble with them getting nasty. I think it gives them someplace to hide if they need to.

A lot of breeders use bare tanks but I had them all over the house and didn't want bare tanks.

Check out the paper for used tanks, if you crowd them they grow slow.

Good luck, Mike

in the 1st statement you mention starting them in a 10g tank. i dont think thats a good idea. anythign less then a 20g and these things have a habit of rippign eahc other apart for space. wait until you got the 20g up and running before buying 2 kribs especielly if they are allready showing behavior in the shop.

btw shops often purposly put males and females together in tanks to show thier colors off so people go ooooh ahhh pretty can i have some lol. makes sexing alot easier also. but just imagin all that agression in a 10g tank.

would a mated pair show aggression towards each other? It seemed to me they shared their teritory and were after the other kribs.

I've never kept them in a 10 but my instinct says they'd get along. Never saw my pair fight with each other but they were hell on anything else in the tank.

You said they were only an inch? I think they'd be fine in a 10 for a while. I'd want them in a 20 befofe they spawn though.

Mike

research it if you like but i can assure you ive done endless reading on kribs. you "may" get away with them in a 10g if they arnt spawning but if they pair up they will NOT share territory. Kribs are very good parents so much so they are worried about each other. one of the parents will assume responsability for the eggs usually the female but not allways. the other will either watch over the cave door or do rounds through the entire territory. in either case if the egg guarder feels as the other is to close they will chase them away for fear they want to eat the eggs. in a 10g tank there is nowhere to run and death is a sure thing. time and time again people have tried smaller tanks because of kribs size but because of the nature of guarding the eggs it wont work. 20L is the recommended size for a breeding pair.

you could try dividing a 10g in half with a plastic divider till you recieve the 20g tank. but i really think you should wait for the 20g tank.

Hey, thought I'de update on this thread. I've bought a 20 gal for breeding now, I'm going to clear out the 33 as a raising tank, as well as the 10. Anyhow, that being said, what ph do kribensis tend to breed at? I've read enough on ph fluctuating gender, etc. however I'm looking at ideal conditions for spawning more than I am gender ratios. Any other info on their breeding habbits would be appreciated, as well as the habbits of the fry, especialy how long I'll have before they get at each other's throats.

My ph is 7.6 and they got after it with gusto. I had a batch of babies, took them out after 4 weeks and they laid eggs right away. That batch I left in there and they laid eggs at 7 weeks without me taking the babies out. I got out of fish breeding about that time and sold them otherwise by now I'd be buried in Kribs.

They like a cave to spawn in. I took a 4 inch flower pot with the saucer. I enlarged the hole in the bottom and put the saucer over the large open end. I then pushed it down into the sand to hold the saucer in place.

I used a hammer and chisle to enlarge the hole. Tap lightly.

Have fun, they are very cool to watch with the babies.

Mike

Thankyou for the advice. One other thing came to mind- what's the best way on going about selling them? Online any good? I mean I love kribs, but 100 of them might be a little much

You need to be able to ship them but online would be good. When I was breeding fish I had 4 stores I sold to but was still overloaded at times.

Sometimes fish get sent to live with uncle Oscar. Get an Oscar.

Mike

How long should you leave the babies in the tank with the parents till you move them to another growing-out tank??

veveric i reckon u should put em in a 20 gal tank let them breeed and leave the kribs to parent them as thats what im doing at the moment and i only hatched about 8 at my first try but now there breeding again i hope to hatch about 50-60 batch myne are fine so far and they have exellent instintsthere you go mate