first pair of kribs

gunmetal

I just got a pair of kribs and as they are my first cichlids i would love any last minute tips. i have been doing my homework and have gathered a fair bit of info on them but i always like to ask. There is always someone with just a little more info than i can google.

by the way, they're beautiful

iamntbatman

Congratulations! Good choice - my kribs are some of my favorite fish. What size tank do you have them in? What are their tankmates?

Even if you have a male and female, if they aren't already a mated pair you should watch their behavior. Mine were pretty young when I first got them and spent most of their time swimming around together. As they grew a little, the male started being intolerant of the female and would chase her away from his areas of the tank. After another two months or so, they started showing mating behavior and eventually spawned and raised a batch of fry.

gunmetal

I have them in my 29G with tons of artificial plants, driftwood (with Java Moss growing on it) lucky bamboo shoots, a couple of clay pots and multi-tone blue gravel substrate. as for tank mates:

2 red eye tetras
2 neon tetras
3 green neon tetras
2 glolight tetras
1 neon blue Dwarf Gourami
3 otos
1 Sailfin Pleco

may sound crowded but i actually just removed about 15 adult male guppies and i have never had an issue with water quality.

The pair of kribs i have were swimming together away from the others in their tank at the pet store and the female was showing brighter colors that the others so i am assuming she is ready to spawn. They seems to be investigating the rest of the tank and don't seem shy at all. not agressive so far either. the female was nudging an oto away from her at one point but wasn't biting and it just swan away from her.

iamntbatman

If you're trying to breed them, the pleco will probably have to be moved as he'll really want to eat those eggs at night. The tetras should all make some pretty good dither fish and should be good tankmates. The gourami might be a problem, so watch out for how it behaves with the kribs. My gourami was really stubborn, and when the kribs were raising their fry and the parents would want the gourami to leave the area, he would refuse to and fights would break out. The gourami usually took a beating and retreated, with no real injuries except a bruised ego.

gunmetal

my other tanks are fairly small/ fully stocked to hold the pleco (and his mess) do you think he may leave any eggs alone if he gets some extra algea discs? he gobbles those things like mad.