How to breed Kribensis Cichlids?

[goldenpigeon]

Hey everyone,
I know this may sound stupid as i am aware many people have bred these colourful fish without difficulty but im not sure what to do in terms of breeding them . I have recently aquired a trio [1 male, 2 females] who i am told have bred with each other before.

Could someone please give me a few pointers in the right direction to breed these guys?

I have the trio in a standard 2ft tank with 4 longfin albino bristlenoses and a small upside-down catfish [who is very funny to watch BTW]. I can take these guys out if they will bother them while breeding thoagh.

I water change three times a week.

Cheers
David

[Robdog]

Kribs are normally pretty easy to breed and they don't often need much help to get going.
I'd keep a watchful eye on them and when you start to see a pair forming remove the other female or she will cop it big time.
I've bred a pair in one of those ceramic BN "logs" but any little cave or crevass should do. Be prepared for the BN to cop a hammering too if you leave them in there as thekribs will be very protective and the BN are very persistant.
Kribensis are definitely one of the most beautiful fish you could ever own. Good luck and I hope they get on the pump for you! :P

[Th0mas]

I'll say a standard 2 ft is too small for a trio, as the non-breeding female will be the harrassed heavily.

The 3 of them will sort themselve out, and it's best to remove the spare female.

As to breed them - just wait and it'll happen, unless the male is not interested (which I've got one that has absolute no interest in spawning and keeps on beating the female up around the tank).

Thomas.

[Robdog]

I'm fearing the posibility that my big female may be a bit of a dominatrix. The death of her long time hubby of 3.5 yrs just last week saw the addition of a male I had in a spare tank.
Now for the last 2 days they've been playing catch and kiss with the male constantly on the run. I hope the find each other attractive real soon

[sammigold]

GP.... I had a pair years ago and they used to lay eggs on top of a flat rock that I had in the tank... they would take turns looking after them and if they thought there was any danger they would take the fry in their mouth and spit them out in a safer place.. It was really cute to watch...

they were one of the very first fish we kept in a community tank of what I now know were probably really badly suited fishies, and spawned over and over again with no help from us ignoramus's other than trying to "save" the fry the first time I saw them putting them in their mouth.LOL I always found that a good indication of them spawning would be the females tummy becoming more pinky/redder and then she started hanging around the male and they would play abit of cat and mouse and then you'd see them dirty dancing.. It was awfully cute!!!

good Luck

We had our male for about 4-5 years and the female lived another year after that... they were beautiful fish to watch...

[wickedglass]

remove the other female or she'll eventually end up as dogmeat in a 2 foot tank!
watch them for a while though and try to ascertain which female is more interested in the male and vice versa, then remove the female which doesn't seem to suit. If you had a longer tank (like 6 or 7 foot) and planted well, then two females would be a possibility, but in my experience, the third wheel always cops it, especially when the compatible ones start breeding :/
the ancistrus and synodontis will be fine in the tank, but they may cop it, too, even though they're relatively non threatening fish .... to a breeding krib and her mate everything is a thread, even your hand near the tank as you're putting in food!

[goldenpigeon]

wow some great advice there and quick responses! thats for the info guys!ill take the other female out and stick her in the planted tank. i think ill take my upside-down and the BN to another tank (gotta find one without another monster fish in it and where i can see them at most times cause they are some of my favorite fish LOL )

thanks for all your help guys!

could someone tell me what the water chemistry is like for their kribs?

[wickedglass]

mine are around 6.5 pH and soft water, but they are pretty hardy and undemanding as concerns water chemistry.

[goldenpigeon]

ok, my water is about the same.

i took the spare female out and ill get the cats out later on. i also turned them temp down to about 25 degrees. hope they breed soon

cheers
David

[Robdog]

Generally speaking these guys are tough as nails. I've had mine as low as 4.5ph and they didn't look visually distressed. I wouldn't and didn't keep them at 4.5 for too long tho. Probably not that good for them