Help with baby kribs!

[O-man21]

Ok, so my female layed eggs on the 23rd, so they hatched today I think. So she is staying in the cave where the eggs were/are, but there are no eggs left.....?Do the babies stay on the bottom of the tank for a while?
Or did they eat the eggs?
But then she wouldn't be in there.....
They bred in a hole in a brick.(I know, I'm surprised too). I hole is covered on the bottom because the gravel is on that side. I need to know any info about krib babies and if you think there are babies in there.

 

[Cichlid Woman]

Congratulations! It sounds like you've got "wigglers." That's the stage baby kribs go through right after the eggs hatch. They're not free-swimming for awhile yet, though. When the wigglers get to the stage where they can swim, the mom & dad will bring them out to show them off to you.

Once they come out, just finely grind some flake food between your fingers and feed that. The babies will be able to eat it, plus mom and dad will be leading them around the tank on food forays looking for left-over morsels. Have fun! Let us know if you've got babies. You should know within a few days.

-- Pat

 

[jiggerpolebill]

i havent updated my krib babies progress in a little while so ill do so here to let you know how my experience is going so far.

1st time my kribs bred, they wound up eating the babies after they were free-swimming. i attribute this to a possible low-oxygen situation i had at the time that had the occupants of the entire tank gasping for air for about 2 hours one day. after this episode, the babies were never seen again.

fast forward to the 2nd batch. i dont know exactly when the eggs were laid or when they hatched, but they were free-swimming and "presented" by the parents the sunday before Thanksgiving.

prior to dec 27, the fry were gaining size and everyday the parents escorted them around the tank. they are in a 55g community with a couple of dozen other fish. parents were great caregivers and the rest of the tank learned to steer clear of the family pretty much. i had been feeding them crushed flake, frozen daphnia(which they really seemed to like) and some frozen brine shrimp.

we left town for the holidays on the 28th and, unfortunately, didnt have anybody to come take care of them except for once in the last week. i had an auto feeder set up, but i wasnt impressed with its preformance and feared it just wasnt going to do the job, so instead i got one of those 7 day vacation blocks.

we got home shortly(1:30am local) and the tank didnt seem itself. i lost one praecox rainbow during the week(cant tell how long ago, but he was well over half eaten) and baby kribs were swimming all over the tank on their own. daddy krib was being really passive towards the other tankmates(seemed like he was just exhausted and didnt care anymore) and hardly doing anything at all to prevent the other fish from swimming in close proximity to the few babies still staying by his side.

as of now, the babies are starting to school more and get back to swimming around the parents. mama krib has been staying hidden and i suspect she has laid eggs again. i expect the parents to run off the babies soon if they arent in this process already. im hoping to have a grow out tank for them by the end of january.

check out some of the articles at www.thekrib.com for some more detailed info on breeding. hope this has been some help. good luck with the babies.