2 pairs of kribs in a 38 gal?

[firebelly]

i'm making some changes in my tanks and i've decided to move my kribs into a 38 gal (all the fish in it will be moved out) to start a new tank. is it ok to put two pairs of kribs in a 38 gal or would they be constantly at each other's throats? these are juvies, they haven't yet spawned.

i've heard the minimum tank size as about 40 gal for two pairs. the footprint of my tank is smaller than on a 40 L or breeder but i'm putting in a lot of rockwork/caves. any opinions?

 

[Hatter]

It depends on the fish.

You may get away with it if there are lots of caves and hiding spaces and the caves don't face each other.

But, most likely you will have some degree of agression problems.

 

[jiggerpolebill]

there are a few people here that have had success with multiple kribs in the same tank, but i agree with hatter.

from my own experience, i had 2 pair in 55g community and the dominant ones wreaked havoc over the other pair. i have alot of hiding places in my tank and it got to the point that it seemed like the dominant pair would go out and "hunt down" the subs just to cause trouble for them. in fact, the other pair really wasnt a pair at all. the male would have nothing to do with the female until i got rid of the dominant pair. once removed, they paired up and are raising their 3rd batch of fry.

who knows? you may have fish that get along well their. i suppose stranger tankmates have happened.

 

[jdheff1982]

I would not recommend adding 2 pair of kribs in a tank!

Reason??? Territories!!! I tried this and quickly found out that 2 pairs need a lot of space for themselves. The dominant pair just kept chasing the other pair until they wouldn't leave one of the corners of the tank. Now once one of the pairs begin to breed, good luck! They will be even more aggressive to other fish (especially of same species). From what I have read, these guys can be peaceful (once paired), but their defensive abilities is extremely good. They can chase off fish much bigger than they are. So no, 2 krib pairs in a 38 gallon tank is fruitless. Hope this helps in your decision. Chow!

 

[jiggerpolebill]

after reviewing my first post, i think ill retract the impression that you might get away with it, and side with silver shark's 'tenacity' that you dont.

when i put the 2nd pair in my tank it was a total free-for-all between the 4 until the winners were clear.

one thing ive noted about my krib parents is that 'mama' was quick to give up on older fry and start taking care of the new. 'dad' still hangs out with the older fry and doesnt do much to help mama out. he still chases away the other fish, but not the older fry, which ive seen go after the new fry while mama was away feeding. there are about 20-25 older fry and only 6 new fry. neither parents are as aggressive against the other fish in the tank with the new ones as they were with the old ones.

i have about a 5" bristlenose pleco that couldnt go anywhere near their nest with the older ones, but now he's swimming right underneath it and the parents arent even doing anything to prevent it.

sorry if i hijacked the thread!

 

[Roland]

I bred a pair of kribs about three years ago and kept 15 of the offspring in a 38(imp) gallon tank untill recently. The only time they showed aggression was at feeding time.

The fact that they were so peacefull is prob because they were raised together and knew no different. Interestingly, they were 12 males and 3 females. I would have thought this would have made things worse... but it didnt.

Apart from the above situation, I think a pair of kribs per 20(imp) gallons, with hiding places, is the best you could do.

 

[jiggerpolebill]

yeah somebody else here i think was keeping 9 in a small tank. i think in situations like these, the aggression is kept to a minimum simply because its to hard for any one fish to be targeted. i have app 20-30 fry in my 55g ranging in size from 3/4" to less the 1/4". the funny thing is, the smaller ones are still staying relatively close to their "birthplace" while the larger ones are moving to the opposite end of the tank looking for their own small territory. the larger fry are starting to show a small amount of aggression to each other, but its pretty short lived. the rest still all hang out together.

 

[Roland]

Well certainly after I took all but two off the kribs out of this tank, the flying fox (that had been there the whole time) and the remaining male krib started having spectacular standoffs. Previous to this, I dont think the flying fox even NOTICED the other kribs in the tank. So it does seem in some cases higher numbers act as a deterent.