Please help me understand my kribs.

[dilhcic]

Hello all
I really don't understand what is going on with my Kribs. Last wednesday they were showing signs of breeding. The female was protecting a cave and she would stay in there most of the time, whilst the male patrolled the area making sure my other fish didn't get too close. The female was in full breeding colours and the male had increased his colours aswell.

Then on monday i noticed the male was hiding in an unusual place above the filter..it turned out the female had turned super aggressive towards him. Then things kinda went back to normal again after a day or so. I mean acting like they were before she became aggressive.

then today (friday) i come home and the female had lost all her breeding colours and the male had become the aggressor and neither fish was really protecting the cave anymore. Can anyone tell me what happend? This would have been the first time they spawned and from what i understand it takes cichlids a couple of attempts to get things right...so is this just normal?

thanks alot!

[dilhcic]

Update: The male is being very aggressive to her. She has to constantly hide above the filter. I hate this : ( A few days ago everything was fine..i thought they were a happy couple.

[Jayhawk]

Kribs can have rather stormy relationships. Do you have a cave with a small enough entrance to allow in the female but not the male? If not, I'd look into getting one.

This is normal for kribs.