I've got kribensis fry!

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chilligirl

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Nov 9, 2007
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Well, it seems my kribs didn't lose their spawn after all. At one point, I'd suspected the eggs had hatched and that the parents had moved the wigglers to another site, but I couldn't see in where they were and didn't want to disturb them. They abandoned that site shortly after in favour of a new one, so I figured they'd lost the spawn, or not actually laid eggs afterall (I can't see inside their "cave" and didn't want to disturb them to check).

Imagine my surprise when I went to check my tank this afternoon and I see they've got free-swimming fry!

It's not a very big spawn, somewhere between one and two dozen fry. I figure that's likely a combo of being in a community tank, and my mucking about (I moved the shell they'd laid their eggs in after they'd hatched, thinking the spawn was lost). I don't know how well they'll survive, but their parents are being very diligent, so odds are not too bad.

I'm feeding them algae and the dust from my freeze dried brine shrimp container. I can't tell if they're eating it, but here's hoping.

Are fry usually hatched and free swimming so quickly? I put the fish in the tank 11 days ago. I believe they spawned on the 30th, which means this is day 8.

Here's a little clip of them (they're too small to for the camera to focus on for a still shot)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAmFQ8TWk_I

I'm pleased that, while they're good parents, they're not the holy terrors I expected. Everyone had said they would terrorize my tank when spawning, and they've been very nice community fish. They defend their territory (and fry) from the other fish, but it's only a small area.

So, how many times a day to I need to feed these little gaffers? I think I read somewhere three times a day? They're busy trying to forage tiny things I can't see off the rocks and plant leaves, and I can see they've still got little yellow bellies, which I assume are yolk?

HELP!!!!
 

KnaveTO

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Jun 7, 2007
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Toronto, ON, Canada
I wish someone could answer this as I too have fry. Mine are not moving around the tank yet though. The eggs were laid on the 1st and were wigglers on the 4th. I looked in there today and they are moving about but have not left the cave yet.
 

chilligirl

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Nov 9, 2007
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that video is today. Eggs were laid on the 30th. Judging by behaviour, I believe they hatched on the 3rd, but know for sure they had by the 4th, as I was mucking about in the tank then, and moved their cave :eek3: I thought they'd lost the spawn, since they'd swapped locations. In hindsight, I believe they had wigglers and moved them. I didn't see any left behind in the coconut shell cave when I moved it, although who knows how tiny they would've been. Hopefully I didn't cause them to lose a bunch of babies!

Anyway, if I say the eggs hatched on the 3rd, then they are 4 days old today, and now free swimming. There are 10. I'm pretty sure there were almost twice that many when the parents first brought them out this afternoon, but in a busy community tank, even as protective as they are, they can't keep them all safe. However, 10 seems a much more manageable number, and they're keeping very careful tabs on them.

It was so neat to watch, they led them all around the aquarium to forage, and they communicate with the babies with body movements. There's one that clearly means (based on the fry's response) "get down and stay still", one that means "coast clear", and one that means, "follow me". They grazed on a sword plant, the substrate, a large rock, and spent quite a bit of time munching down in a clump of java fern. Even though the fry are really tiny, I could see their little mouths opening and closing while they ate, and they seemed to really chow down on the algae and brine shrimp dust I fed them.

It was also neat to see that the mom took them back into the coconut cave at around 9:00 tonight, after the bright (108w) tank light went off, but before I turned off the dim one (28w). I've read it's helpful to the parents to provide a dim light in the room so they can see potential predators. I happened to have a little LED spotlight lying around, so I sat it on top of the tank, aiming down at the cave entrance. They seemed to like that - the father settled down on the little mound blocking the doorway, which is where he spent all last night.

I'll try to get some more pics and video over the next few days.
 

Gwenkat

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Sep 24, 2007
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South Carolina
My kribs spawned about a month or so ago. I fed baby brine shrimp at first and they ate algae. Now they eat shrimp pellets like mom. I only feed them once a day, but they graze all day long. My female got so protective I had to take everyone else out of the tank. Even the male. She shredded his tail. She and about 40 babies have a 29 gallon to themselves.
 

chilligirl

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Nov 9, 2007
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Well, 9 left this morning when she brought them out, and still 9 now, and she'll be taking them to bed any minute. The parents are not letting the other fish near the fry, but are not being overly aggressive. If a fish moves towards the fry and comes within about 4-5 inches away, it gets charged, but not even bitten. The loaches are being pests, and the father just nudges them until they leave.

They graze and forage all over the tank in the morning, settling into the clump of java moss on my driftwood by early afternoon, where they stay until bedtime. I'm feeding them super finely crushed flake, the dust from my brine shrimp container, and algae. They seem to be eating it, get very active when I squirt the food in there, but are obviously eating stuff in the tank also.

The fry are growing already, they're big enough that I can see their eyes, mouths, and tiny tail fins.

I have to go away for a week on the 21st. Hopefully by then, they'll be big enough and strong enough to get by on whatever is in the tank, as my housesitters are only going to be feeding what I leave, labelled. I'd planned to have them feed the fish 3 times while I'm gone (I usually feed a couple times a day).
 

KnaveTO

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Jun 7, 2007
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Toronto, ON, Canada
Well mine were out and about today... there must be over 50 fry there... it was so cute. The parentsly like yours chilligirl are charging at the other fish in the tank but so there has been no actual attacks or scuffles. Around when the lights went out the parents and fry were right back in their wood cave. I tried squirting some fry bites down to them... but the parents didn't really like that... LOL. So far so good, and most of the fish that would actually munch down on the fry are staying at the top of the tank (Angels and Mollies) the rest of the fish in the tank's mouths are probably too small (here is hoping anyway). So far both parents are doing a stand up job protecting the fry. I was worried at first with the tank but so far so good. I do have a 10gal up and running that I took out most of my RCS from (60+ of the little beggars... lol) and got it ready for when the fry have doubled in size as the first stage of a grow out tank. I already have people here in Toronto asking me for the fry...
 

chilligirl

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Nov 9, 2007
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Well, there were 8 this morning, 7 this afternoon, and 6 tonight when I turned out the light. The fry are becoming much better swimmers, and thus more independent, and the parents are become less vigilant. As a result, they're getting picked off one by one - by my nannacara of all things!

It will be interesting to see if any make it to a size of being too big to be live food. I expect the parents will keep breeding, so I'm not too worried about it. If the fry are consistently all being eaten with each spawn, I may hand raise a batch and then keep a couple, just in case I lose one of the parents - they're really nice specimens. But we'll see...
 

chilligirl

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Nov 9, 2007
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lazy parents *grumble grumble*...stupid fish *grumble*

so, when I checked this afternoon, there were 4 fry left. Haven't checked on them yet this evening. The parents are leaving them unattended more and more. They see me, and seem to get distracted from their duties, thinking I'm going to feed everyone. Then, after a few seconds, you can almost see the female think "oh yeah! the kids! ****!", and she'll go zipping back to check on them.

So, I imagine that by the time the weekend's out, I'll have no more fry :( Oh well. I still like the parent fish, and it's interesting to watch them breed and try to raise a brood anyway :)
 
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