Krib compatability question

momar

Born too late
Jan 6, 2006
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I was wondering if you all could help-

I have a 24x12x12 tank with
4 black phantom tetras,
3 peppered cories,
3 sterba cories
1 giant oto
1 Chinese weatherfish

It also houses 2 small goldfish. Before I get shredded over this, one of them is a normal 3inch goldfish which I bought about 6 years ago before I new anything about their need for space. As such I think he probably won't grow much more. I am planning to move him to my pond this summer. The other is a 3inch fantail which again I got before I knew about their true requirments. He was rescued from a friend who tried to cram about 5 into one of those little hex tanks.

The tank temp is a constant unheated temp of 22-23C. It never drops below 21. What I want to know is, if I move the goldfish can I keep a pair of kribs with the other fish mentioned? And can I move the fantail to the pond? (if not can I still add the kribs?)

Thanks
 
Anyone?
 
Also if no to the kribs how about a pair of golden dwarf acaras?
 
I would definetly move the goldfish to the pond. They will thrive much better there. What do you plan to do with them for the winter? Maybe you can get a nice big tank just for them. They are a cold water fish and usually do not much like temps above 70-72 degrees on the farenheit scale. I believe the other fish you have listed are tropicals and like temps around 78-80 degrees.

As far as the kribs go, I have a pair of them in my 25 that I just purchased. They have the entire tank to themselves at the moment. I'm not sure if I dare put anything else in with them since they are cichlids. It has been my experience that cichlids of any kind do not tolerate anyone other than another cichlid as tankmates and even then it can be somewhat of a guessing game if they will accept them or not. The same goes for the blue acaras. Again, this particular fish is in the cichlid family and the same rules apply. The reason for this is the aggressiveness of the fish in this family of fish and the territory issues associated with them. I'm sorry I meant to say the golden acaras.I'm assuming thatby the measurements you gave that the tank size is the same as my 25. That is 24 in length and the rest is 12 and 12? There are endless possibilities with the fish you have listed for that size tank. Diamond tetras would be a nice contrast with the black phantoms that you already have. Possibly the buenes aires tetras would be a nice choice too. I'm sure that you will come up with something that you will totally love and just have to have. That's the way it works in this hobby. Good luck in making your decision and if you have any more questions just ask and we will try to help you.

Marinemom
 
In my experience, the kribs would work in your tank until they had fry. I have heard of dwarf cichlids picking at cories and other bottom dwellers but have never had any problems myself. When a pair of kribs have fry, they will herd them around the tank and force the rest of your fish to cower into the farthest corner. I removed both parents and fry from my community tank but maybe just removing the fry would eliminate the parental aggression.
 
So it would be safe to put other fish with the kribs? I have just puchased two of them for my 25 and because of them being in the cichlid family I'm not sure what to put with them.

Marinemom
 
I've had kribs with skirts, black phantoms, serpae, columbians, pristellas, harlequins, praecox rainbows, and bolivian rams in either 20 or 30 gallons. I would not be afraid to add a group of schooling fish to your tank. The bottom dwellers that I have had with them are weather loaches, horseface loaches, and spotted rafaels. But like I said, I have heard of dwarf cichlids being territorial towards bottom dwellers and my experience may be an exception.

I had one pair mate and problems started after the eggs hatched so I moved the whole family to their own tank. Looking back, I wish that I had just removed the fry because the parents did not look after them for much longer and the female did not take the transfer well and eventually died of bacterial infections. If removing the fry eliminates aggression, a pair of kribs in breeding colors could really add to a community tank.
 
Thanks for the help. I have goldfish in my pond already which stay in there through the winter with no problems, so would I still need to move these 2 inside? Can the fantail tolerate winter temperatures (average 1 - 8C where I live)?

Do you think kribs/acaras would be ok with the cories if there were plenty of plants and rocks for hiding?
 
I used to have a male and femal krib in my tank and they started to get a bit terratorial and aggressive(and ate my glass catfish) so i just took out the male and replaced him with a female and now they are completely fine with my other fish(glass catfish, platys, tetras)
 
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