How much do Kribs dig?

[londonloco]

I have a 29g planted tank with a 1" layer of mineralized soil capped with 1.5"ish of 3M color quartz. I've been doing research on keeping a pair of Kribs, and found out they might dig caves in the substrate to hide fry. I'm afraid they would dig down to the soil and make a total mess. How much do they dig? If I provide enough caves, does this provide enough for them not to dig? Thanks!

[platytudes]

They don't dig as much as some of the bigger cichlids, because they simply don't have the big mouths that those cichlids do. But they do dig, and they will mix your layers, I'm afraid. They've somewhat collapsed some rockwork for me (55 gallon tank with sand) but I wasn't too worried since I have an undergravel plate for support on the bottom.

The best thing to do is to put a divider - mesh screen like for windows, works well - between the two layers of substrate. This will keep it tidy.

Unfortunately, adding rockwork probably won't make too much difference. I already have plenty of caves for them, but it seems the pair want to go underneath them to lay their eggs.

[londonloco]

Thank you for the reply. I already have 10 tanks set up guess I'll have to wait a little longer....

[nguyendetecting]

My crips often dig at least an inch down for their fry. But only if the slate top of the cave is close to the bottom. If i raise it higher above the gravel they won't dig down. The want the smallest space around them and their eggs so they won't usally dig down if the cave is already high on the ground. Or you can place a slate piece on the ground. Build the cave on top of the slate and then they won't dig then either.

[fish-n-chips]

When I bred my kribs, I had a cave for them over 3" high. They still didn't like it and dug their own cave right next to the one I gave them. I had a 50/50 mix or black sand and black gravel., but he still dug away a piece of gravel at a time.BTW the cave they dug was smaller than the one I made.

[ErikBirk]

I've had a few different pairs of kribs and I think it just depends on the fish as to whether they will dig. One pair dug random holes in the corners of the tank, another only dug out sand in their cave, and another didn't dig at all. I think the more caves I gave them to choose from, the less they dug. I could be making that up, though.