I'm sorry. Quaratine the new male! At least 2 weeks, I do 4. IME females aren't all that picky as long as the male does what she wants & when.
Kribensis behavior?
- Thread starter Geeky1
- Start date
I currently have a 55 gallon tank with three breeding pairs of Kribensis and many of their fry. I've had the Kribs for about six months, and I purchased the original six as juveniles.
For the first few months they swam happily and ate in the open, although they were a bit shy. But when they began breeding they went off their food completely, and hung out in burrows they had tunneled out under the rocks and driftwood. For a while I thought they were all dead, until I saw the fry.
In breeding mode, these fish are extremely timid and hide most of the time. The juveniles are the opposite --they are swimming and exploring the tank, eating in the open with no reaction from them when I approach the tank.
Fish books erroneously claim Kribensis are carnivores; a biologist who studied the stomach contents of over 100 wild fish determined they eat mostly algae. My juvenile fish back up this claim, as they pick at detritus and bits of algae almost exclusively. They do eat flake, but prefer the algae wafers I drop in. The adults eat flake, too, but are very territorial during feeding time.
For the first few months they swam happily and ate in the open, although they were a bit shy. But when they began breeding they went off their food completely, and hung out in burrows they had tunneled out under the rocks and driftwood. For a while I thought they were all dead, until I saw the fry.
In breeding mode, these fish are extremely timid and hide most of the time. The juveniles are the opposite --they are swimming and exploring the tank, eating in the open with no reaction from them when I approach the tank.
Fish books erroneously claim Kribensis are carnivores; a biologist who studied the stomach contents of over 100 wild fish determined they eat mostly algae. My juvenile fish back up this claim, as they pick at detritus and bits of algae almost exclusively. They do eat flake, but prefer the algae wafers I drop in. The adults eat flake, too, but are very territorial during feeding time.
:lol2: I know a few females of other species that are like that too. >_>
I'll consider quarantining the new one, although I've never bothered with any fish before-even the Discus I've kept have just been dumped into the tank. My normal LFS is pretty good about having healthy stock (but that's not where I got the kribs, they didn't have any this week...) so I've never had to worry about it.
Thanks for the info either way though
I'll see if my regular store gets any in this week and if not I'll ask them to order one for me.
that always sucks. She might accept another one. Try get a mature one though...
Well, I picked up another male today.
I'm in the middle of replacing one of those 6 place divided betta tanks that I have in my office at work (that only had one betta-who had the run of the whole unit-in it) with an Eclipse 5, so I picked up some driftwood, some live plants, some tubifex and the biggest male Kribensis they had-who's still about 1/4" shorter than the female.
I threw him in the tank about two hours ago (the 30 that is, not the 5G with the betta :lol2: ); I didn't see a need to quarantine him at this point as the tank is a new setup and everything in the tank he came out of was perfectly healthy. He's not eaten yet, and he's still faded, but that's normal in my book for having only been dumped in a couple of hours ago.
I picked up another terra cotta cave and put it on the left side of the tank under the fake rock and while he has the option to use it, he's not hiding away the way the previous male did.
The female has chased him around the tank and nipped at him, and he took to hiding behind the filter intake at the top of the tank where she wasn't looking for him for about 10 minutes, but I'm not seeing anything that I would call abnormal aggression, just sorting out the new guy's place in the pecking order.
//Ed: Pretty sure the male just ate. I just went to check on the wood I'm boiling and glanced into the tank; the top of the sponge filter had a dissolved spirulina tablet on it from last night that the otos and the plec didn't get to, and he was sitting up there next to it with most of it gone, so he either knocked it off or ate it. *shrug*
Just to be safe I'm going to try to set up a spare 5 gallon tank I have today or tomorrow as an isolation tank in case he needs it, but I think he'll do OK. The female seems to have decided about 10 minutes ago that he's allowed to be in the same general area of the tank as her, so I expect they'll do fine.
On a related note, the female appears to be trying to dig a little nest in the gravel in the right corner of the tank between the sponge filter, the fake plants and the tank glass. She spends what seems to be a decent amount of time in that spot running the other fish (mostly the otocinclus) out of the area and mouthing at the gravel, but the pieces are too big for her to grip in her mouth. I hadn't really planned on putting Kribs in this tank when I set it up, so hopefully it won't cause a problem for her; I'm not really inclined to do a substrate swap on a 6 week old tank. :irked:
I'm in the middle of replacing one of those 6 place divided betta tanks that I have in my office at work (that only had one betta-who had the run of the whole unit-in it) with an Eclipse 5, so I picked up some driftwood, some live plants, some tubifex and the biggest male Kribensis they had-who's still about 1/4" shorter than the female.
I threw him in the tank about two hours ago (the 30 that is, not the 5G with the betta :lol2: ); I didn't see a need to quarantine him at this point as the tank is a new setup and everything in the tank he came out of was perfectly healthy. He's not eaten yet, and he's still faded, but that's normal in my book for having only been dumped in a couple of hours ago.
I picked up another terra cotta cave and put it on the left side of the tank under the fake rock and while he has the option to use it, he's not hiding away the way the previous male did.
The female has chased him around the tank and nipped at him, and he took to hiding behind the filter intake at the top of the tank where she wasn't looking for him for about 10 minutes, but I'm not seeing anything that I would call abnormal aggression, just sorting out the new guy's place in the pecking order.
//Ed: Pretty sure the male just ate. I just went to check on the wood I'm boiling and glanced into the tank; the top of the sponge filter had a dissolved spirulina tablet on it from last night that the otos and the plec didn't get to, and he was sitting up there next to it with most of it gone, so he either knocked it off or ate it. *shrug*
Just to be safe I'm going to try to set up a spare 5 gallon tank I have today or tomorrow as an isolation tank in case he needs it, but I think he'll do OK. The female seems to have decided about 10 minutes ago that he's allowed to be in the same general area of the tank as her, so I expect they'll do fine.
On a related note, the female appears to be trying to dig a little nest in the gravel in the right corner of the tank between the sponge filter, the fake plants and the tank glass. She spends what seems to be a decent amount of time in that spot running the other fish (mostly the otocinclus) out of the area and mouthing at the gravel, but the pieces are too big for her to grip in her mouth. I hadn't really planned on putting Kribs in this tank when I set it up, so hopefully it won't cause a problem for her; I'm not really inclined to do a substrate swap on a 6 week old tank. :irked:
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Another update:
He's showing interest in food; he grabbed a few tubifex this morning. But he's pretty much keeping to himself in the top back left corner of the tank (closest to the room wall, and in with the intake and outflow tubes for the filter). He does move around to other parts of the tank, but not a lot.
Think I should pull him, or keep him in there since he's still eating and see how things settle out over the next few days?
He's showing interest in food; he grabbed a few tubifex this morning. But he's pretty much keeping to himself in the top back left corner of the tank (closest to the room wall, and in with the intake and outflow tubes for the filter). He does move around to other parts of the tank, but not a lot.
Think I should pull him, or keep him in there since he's still eating and see how things settle out over the next few days?
I would have quarantined him not just in case of disease but so he could get used your water, food etc before Ms krib has her way with him, or tries to. He needs to get conditioned with lots of good food & clean water to be in the mood, as does she. She sounds really ready to go but he's not. Hiding behind the filter tube is not good but eating is. Keep an eye on both. How's his color?
Tubifex is not a food I feed, they can carry nasty stuff. White or blackworms are a better choice.
Tubifex is not a food I feed, they can carry nasty stuff. White or blackworms are a better choice.
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He's washed out, but not as much as he could be. I'm in the process of cleaning out my 20g in my office in case he needs to go somewhere. I wasn't expecting the female to want to breed right after being dumped into a new tank, but as you said that looks like it's what's going on. I think that f the male isn't doing better by tonight I'll put him in a different tank.
Tubifex are unfortunately the only live food that the LFS carries; I know they can carry all kinds of crap with them but theirs are tank raised (in the store, iirc), so it doesn't worry me that much.
Tubifex are unfortunately the only live food that the LFS carries; I know they can carry all kinds of crap with them but theirs are tank raised (in the store, iirc), so it doesn't worry me that much.
Good plan! My "baby" apisto girls were ready to breed much younger than the males. Moved them to a bigger tank & within days both females had laid eggs.
Have you thought of leaving the male in the 20g & when he looks good adding the female? If you want to raise fry that be a good way to go. After fry are 2-3 weeks old you could move the parents back. Just a thought...
Have you thought of leaving the male in the 20g & when he looks good adding the female? If you want to raise fry that be a good way to go. After fry are 2-3 weeks old you could move the parents back. Just a thought...
Nah, I don't want to keep him in the 20 long-term; I'd like to get them both settled into the 30. I was talking to one of the managers at the LFS I shop at this afternoon and he suggested just giving the female a time out in one of those net breeders to give the male a chance to establish a territory of his own and get comfortable in the tank. I like that idea better than playing musical tanks, and I think it's a better shot than removing the less aggressive fish, which I think long-term is just going to lead to her harassing any future males further as she gets more comfortable in "her" tank.
Assuming she hasn't beaten his brains in when I get home, I'll go ahead and move her into isolation and leave them that way for a while. She can keep the bettas company. :lol2:
Assuming she hasn't beaten his brains in when I get home, I'll go ahead and move her into isolation and leave them that way for a while. She can keep the bettas company. :lol2:
