Kribensis Spawning Info

iamntbatman

I have a pair of Kribensis raised from small juveniles in my 20g community tank. Lucky me, the two formed a pair! For a few months now, the pair would go through spawning rituals. The female's belly would swell up and turn bright red, the male would chase her around a bit, she'd do that shaking dance thing, etc. Then, they'd retreat to a little castle thing for a day or two, move a bunch of the gravel out, and guard the place fiercely. I never looked for eggs or anything and to my knowledge, either no eggs were ever laid or the eggs were eaten.

Recently, I changed the tank around a bit and added new gravel. The pair went through their usual ritual, and the female retreated to the castle They moved a bunch of gravel out as usual. This time, however, the female stayed in the castle for several days. Later, the male moved into the large resin log decoration and started very aggressively protecting it from any intruders. I watched the female move back and forth from the small castle to the log. Now, both spend almost all of their time in the log and fiercely defend it together. They rarely even leave the log for feedings. I'm thinking this time they might've been more successful in their spawning, but looking in the end of the log I'm not seeing any fry. It's rather dark so I could just be missing them.

How long does it take Kribensis eggs to hatch? How long after hatching are the fry free-swimming? Is there any way to check for fry or eggs without disturbing them?

bettababy

Eggs should hatch within 2 - 3 days, and fry are usually free swimming about 4 - 5 days after hatching.
You can try using a flashlight to see into the cave, but krib fry are so small you still may not see them until they are out swimming around with the parents.
I'm not sure what other fish you have in that tank, but you might want to consider moving them out for a while. Spawning kribs are exremely aggressive, and other fish like to eat fry. This calls for constant attacks on the other fish once the fry are out moving around, and both parents are going to be equally aggressive when protecting them.
I would not suggest moving the kribs and log because this would likely kill any chance for fry.

Please be forewarned, krib fry grow pretty quick, so your tank is going to be very over populated real soon. This is a good time to get a grow out tank set up and cycled for the fry. Maybe you could use your other fish to help you get it cycled, which would give them a safe place to be until the fry are large enough to swap them back.

Best of luck to you, and if you have more questions, please don't hesitate to ask.