Kribensis breeding questions

[Anglerman]

A couple days ago(like 3 days) my female krib emerged from her little bell house with a string of eggs behind her, then she stayed in her house most of the day, emerging when hungry for moments. Now, three days later she is out and about again, barely entering her house, and obsessively digging through the gravel.
I know those were eggs; did her or the male eat them again, or is this characteristic of breeding behavior?

 

[partsrep]

It can be a natural reaction for kribs to bury the eggs in the substrate. they may even dig them up again and move them back. Kribs are excellent parents and do anything they can to protect their eggs and fry. I have a hard time keeping up with mine and their breeding habits. It's almost as if fry magically appear every once in a while.

 

[Anglerman]

I just figured that they would be more protective over the eggs. Have your kribs ever eaten their eggs?My substrate is medium river rock, I can see that there are no eggs in the bottom of the house, but I think she put them in the roof. By the way your "Krib crib" made me laugh.

 

[Anglerman]

I was almost postive that LuvMyKribs would respond, maybe it was a stupid question. I have noticed that my female is getting some pretty bad tail nips, her little pretty tail is kinda mangled now!! It must be the male bullying her. Hopefully somebody nice and knowledgable about kribs will respond.

 

[mattarcas]

I agree with partsrep. I have experience breeding Kribs and mine were excellent parents, the male and female were united though and the male never looked like bullying her. I think she was the boss to be honest. My Kribs managed to defend several batches of eggs in a community tank with Clown loaches, Angel fish and other Kribs. They mate for life and mine have stuck together through a couple of tank upgrades. They really are wonderful fish to watch during breeding. I must admit though i have never seen them bury any eggs. Having said that they have a nice fake root that they have lived in for many years which provides great shelter.
Good luck if the babies hatch!!

 

[Anglerman]

I have no idea whats going on. I am off from school, so I have lots of time to observe their behavior. I see the male from time to time, pushing or just basically telling the female where to go. Her tail is all chewed up. Could it be one of the 3 phantoms I have in there that's hasseling her?

 

[partsrep]

mattarcas is right. The male won't bully the female. They treat each other better than many human couples I've known.

I find that my Kribs don't like to be observed in the spawning process. My point being, leave them alone for a while and let nature take it's course. I have a 55g Krib crib with several pairs with their own territories and caves.

I have fry all the time, some make it some don't. But not for a lack of trying on the parents part. I do have other fish in with them and I believe it's the others who eat the fry. But the parents will get even better at protecting them after a few spawns and I will have some grow out. And only once was I able to spot the eggs.

 

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Sorry I must have missed this thread, been a little pre-occupied with school.

Is this thier first breeding attempt? What size tank is it?

I find that with kribs there's gonna be a couple "failed attempts" at first so they can get it right. Sometimes when the spawn is lost the male will get aggressive with the female, or vice versa. They blame each other! I have had my pair break up several times, only to get back together again in a week or so and try it again. This is why it is critical for there to be lots of hiding places in the tank for the female to escape to.

Also, sometimes I didn't realize I had fry until I saw the little suckers emerge from the cave... thus sometimes I didn't even notice any different behaviour from them that would signal they had a clutch of eggs. If they dont feel any threat from the other tank members they may not even gaurd the eggs that much.


-Diana

 

[Anglerman]

Good News!! I have around 100 or more fry, this is the first day I noticed them. What should I do to keep them alive? Food, breeding nets, etc.?

 

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Just let the parents take care of them... they do a good job!

Feeding them live or frozen baby brine shrimp works well... just squirt the shrimp down towards the babies with a turkey baster. They may also take powedered flake food.

The parents will sometimes pick the babies up in thier mouths to move them, so dont be suprised if this happens. The parents are not eating thier babies!

-Diana