I've never taken care of cichlids before so I need your help. I decided I would start with a kribensis pair but I won't get them til next week. I've got a 20 gallon long. I put 3 cherry barbs in there as dither fish. I've got a few caves. Plenty of live plants. Is there any other things I should do? Let me know! Thanx!
How to take care of Kribensis
- Thread starter johnnydp11
- Start date
I got a pair of kribs and they are doing ok. How long will it take them to spawn? And what do I feed the babies when they are born?
Congrats on the new fish. As for length of time before they spawn it really depends on many factors. First and foremost, are you sure you have a male and female? secondly water conditions have to be pretty stable (not perfect, but stable). You will know when they are getting ready to spawn as the male will color up very bright and the belly on teh female will turn very pink/purple. It is very easy to see.
From there you just wait. When you find that the female is hiding and the male is kinda circling you will know that they had a clutch. make sure you have lots of caves that are secure (only one opening). They will then choose the one they like the best (which is typically the one you like the least, hahaha)>
Once the fry hatch you will be able to see their parenting behavior which is awesome to watch (but your other fish will hate it and may be killed so word of warning) The Kribs are extremely protective. I left my fish and fry together and the fry did great for several weeks and were growing with only the addition of brineshrimp and daphnia every so often. Feed the adults well so they don't snack on teh fry. Eventually the fry in my tank we picked off by predators (I think... they could still bein there).
I had about 200 fry at one point and the numbers dwindled down to five the last time I saw them. I think the mama may have eaten some as well. It happens. Good luck with the new fish. They are really neat fish to watch.
From there you just wait. When you find that the female is hiding and the male is kinda circling you will know that they had a clutch. make sure you have lots of caves that are secure (only one opening). They will then choose the one they like the best (which is typically the one you like the least, hahaha)>
Once the fry hatch you will be able to see their parenting behavior which is awesome to watch (but your other fish will hate it and may be killed so word of warning) The Kribs are extremely protective. I left my fish and fry together and the fry did great for several weeks and were growing with only the addition of brineshrimp and daphnia every so often. Feed the adults well so they don't snack on teh fry. Eventually the fry in my tank we picked off by predators (I think... they could still bein there).
I had about 200 fry at one point and the numbers dwindled down to five the last time I saw them. I think the mama may have eaten some as well. It happens. Good luck with the new fish. They are really neat fish to watch.
Well they are a male and female. The female is a plum colored belly and is pretty colorful to me. The male isn't that colorful. But they are always hiding in rock cave I have in there. They guard it from the cherry barbs. The pH is about 7.0. Do I need to feed the pair live foods to condition them?
I have read that you should do that... but I didn't. I really didn't do anything other than care for them, feed them, etc. The male will get more colorful when they are spawning. It is a noticeable difference. You will also see them kinda dancin' around each other, chasing, biting, etc. That behavior went on for several days before they retired. However, if they are already hiding in a cave and guarding it then maybe they have already spawned (how long have you had them?).
As for pH I don't measure pH really so I can't tell you what mine is... the reason I don't test for it is that I am not goign to do anything to alter the pH and it is one less thing to worry about. The fish, or most fish, will get used to pH levels provided that they remain stable. That is just my approach and it never hurts to check. I just don't like using a bunch of chemicals.
As for pH I don't measure pH really so I can't tell you what mine is... the reason I don't test for it is that I am not goign to do anything to alter the pH and it is one less thing to worry about. The fish, or most fish, will get used to pH levels provided that they remain stable. That is just my approach and it never hurts to check. I just don't like using a bunch of chemicals.
I got my pair on Monday. The female was biting the male yesterday getting him to move around. And the male is about an inch bigger than her. You would think it would be the other way. They are both really shy and timid. This morning when I got up, they were in separate caves.
It's been my experience that kribs are VERY sensitive to nitrite, so make sure to keep up on your water changes and test your water frequently.
Mine spawned in a community tank. I didn't do anything special to condition them.
Mine spawned in a community tank. I didn't do anything special to condition them.
My males tail is being ripped up by the female. The bottom half of it is about gone. Is this natural?