just a quick question on breeding kribs....

[jbjack]

just a quick question on breeding kribs....

I know kribs are easy breeders, i got a really nice male in a 20 with 2 females, and a cave to spawn in, now my question is, should i just leave 1 male 1 female or keep 1 male and 2 female? my thought on the 2 females was to have them compete for the male showing here colours, which may provoke the male to spawn faster? or am i thinking wrong? all in all my question is whats better to breed faster, 1 male 2 females, or 1 male 1 female? or something else? there are no other fish in the tank....

(also i got some darn planaria from some plants i guess since i dont over feed and my gravel is always clean, water perims are great, i hear they eat eggs true or false? wont the kribs protect the eggs from planaria like they would from other fish?)

[jbjack]

k i think i got my own answer, the other female is up hiding in the corner while the other 2 look like they are courting..... im not missing something here am I... i mean, its not necessary to have several kribs together to advert any possible deadly agression? my 50 full of kribs this never happened, so its eighter alot or just 2?

[jbjack]

k, no, now she is just fine, spunky actually, trying to definately get him to choose her..... what should i do? (to breed the best)

[PintoHawk]

I know nothing about Kribs. That being said, here is what I googled just now...

http://www.justbajan.com/pets/fish/species/krebensis/index.htm

This article states that in a group, two will pair up selectively. I take that to mean that you CAN have more than just the pair in the tank.

Remember, I know nothing about Kribs. :)

[Pamelajo]

I had read somewhere that if they choose their own mate they will breed better, more frequently.
I let my little shell dweller choose his own and they breed like rabbits, just having trouble keeping the babies.
I removed my second female from the corner to keep her safe and let them have the tank to themselves.
Hope this helps.

[GaryofMontreal]

Female kibs are as territorial as males. If you hadn't removed the second female, she probably would have died.

[firestorm]

I had bred kribs before my females died. Best thing to do is to in fact have a ratio of 1m:2 or more f, then let the male pair off with one of them. In only a 20 gallon you will definitely want to remove any extra females after pairing off has occurred. Females are definitely just as aggressive when wanting to spawn.

In my 90 gallon I didn't have the problem of having to remove a female, the tank was large enough. As well, you can put other species of fish with them, but it is risky because kribs like all cichlid species, get pretty aggressive when spawning, and will kill other tank mates if they feel threatened. If however you have plenty of hiding, another species of fish might be able to coexist. I would not worry so much about the fry getting eaten by another species of fish, as much as I would the parents. If it's their first spawn, they might eat it. Usually takes them a couple of tries to get it right. But kribs will protect their young and are wonderful parents.

[Pamelajo]

Bad news. I lost the male. And I think the female got the larger fry.
The two little ones are doing great in their floating home. Mom is acting like she has eggs and attacking everything that enters the tank. I am hoping they had another batch before he passed on.
He was full grown when I got him, so not sure how old he was. But i have had him at least two years.

[firestorm]

I have found kribs can be very sensitive. At one point I kept losing my GBR's and my kribs, but no other fish in the tank :err: To this day I don't know what went wrong. But I do have a lone male now in my planted tank, where he happily defends the bottom portions of the tank (35 gal tall) lol. He even likes to attack my blue acara if he wanders into his territory. Would love to get more females one day, but have not seen any that stand out to me.....yes I am very picky :rolleyes:

[Pamelajo]

Good news. Just went to do nightly feeding and there are 13 or more fry in there. Put mom in floating breed box with her shell temp. until I figure something out. It was easier then catching all the fry.

[CACAdmin]

Cograts! As they say, in every dark cloud there is a silver lining. You may hav lost the male but you do have a whole new generation waiting to grow up and continue the line.

[Melody]

I'm sorry to hear that you lost the male but yes, what a great discovery! Good thinking on moving Mom quickly, just in case (speaking in a broad sense, I don't know much about this species). All the best with the spawn!

[firestorm]

Congrats on the fry :)