Will my female Krib accept a new mate...?

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azaahp2

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Any my 'female' (Truffle), well - when she's not bullying him she spends the whole time in her 'cave (hence the bent dorsal fin I believe, and maybe the state of her tail etc - I'm not sure. Hence it has been almost impossible to get a pic of the 'whole' of her, so I've included a collage.

Plus an extra that I finally got of her in a container between tanks which is still not amazing... but hopefully give enough idea!

View attachment 227831

View attachment 227832
this girlie
 

azaahp2

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well, that's what I'm assuming anyway cos she's the one with the coloured up tummy and doing the vibrate dance - which I've read that the males do as well... but he doesn't quite seem to have caught on yet. Give him time I guess it'll probably be his first time if they breed but not hers. At least they're not attacking each other. And she can busy herself digging out caves inbetween trying to woo him! :D
 

fishorama

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Fingers crossed! I'm going to have to rethink my krib sexing abilities, lol. Good luck! Let me know (or all of us?) how that works out. Either pair may need a try or so to get it right...be patient...& keep the fry tank ready!
 

azaahp2

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Soooo here's an update on my Kribs. It's not very happy.

Miss Cutie died. Both of her eyes got really bad and finally that was it. I had her in a temporary tank with the heat turned up and lots of salt in the water, but once I put her in there she didn't even eat. Still took her over 5 days to pass... tough little thing.

Tiger and truffle did not hit it off. He wasn't interested in her in the least and finally she just started getting mad with him again. Not as aggressive as earlier but they def weren't friends. Finally I gave Tiger back to the LFS I got him from...

Mr Big (tramp) was still in a breeding net in another tank. I let things settle for a few days then introduced him to truffles tank. She danced... he ignored... then they fought. Boy oh boy. Pretty good fighters the two of them! I let them be, once again hoping things might settle and they'd make friends... they did not. She has simply established dominance. She spends most of her time in her cave other than darting out to eat and to chase him when he crosses her line of sight.

He spends his time in various hiding places around the tank, but all colour disappears when she comes out.

I have a question. They don't seem to be actually harming each other at the moment - but they're def not happy and relaxed. Am I better to just leave them be for the time being... or should I really move them on (yeah, my hard work and patience hasn't paid off... I might even give up on Kribs...), because being in that tense environment they won't be happy and it'll only shorten their life spans (or worse, bring on sickness)? Be glad of suggestions here... :)
 

fishorama

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Ugh! I'm not sure what to suggest, I think I gave you my best ideas before. I'm very sorry they're not behaving in a breeding way...I still think you have 2 species...you & I may not be able to tell but they can...
 

Wyomingite

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Well, I'm not sure who is who, and which are males and females by their names, lol. Nor am I sure how many tanks you have or the sizes of them, or who is in which tank.

Anyways, she may or may not accept another mate. If I remember right, it's krib males that select the territory that includes the spawning site. That said, your best bet is probably to add two to four well-conditioned males at once. Give each of them areas to set up a territory, with enough caves so each male has a spawning site. Once they start displaying and vying for her attentions, it may trigger her breeding instinct again. If it does, remove all the males she didn't choose.

BTW, all this is assuming you have a large enough tank to accommodate multiple males.

WYite
 
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azaahp2

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Thanks for your comments Wyomingite Wyomingite - that does indeed sound like the best option. However my aquarium is 160L (just over 50 gallons I think) - not big enough for that many territories...?

I also had 9 guppy males and 6 cory catfish... but I'm heartbroken my cories have started dropping dead. I. Can. Not. Find a reason ? ? ? . The most expensive fish in my tank and I don't think I'll be able to replace them - or worse, look like I have one left, don't know how I can save him. Parameters and everything are perfect.

Anyhow... at least my guppies are doing well LOL
 

fishorama

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What are your water parameters? Cloudy eyes are often a water quality issue...& salt is not a good treatment for that, lots of clean water is. Dying corys, I'm sorry, but again what are your water #s? Did they get enough food? Too much food would effect the water quality too. How did their barbels look? Short? red? white & fuzzy? Injuries? Like I think I've said before corys don't really understand territories, they certainly don't respect them...but cichlids

I agree with WYite, males choose their territory but females usually choose the male based on his courtship attention & his territory's suitability.

WYite did you look at the early pics of the replacement fish? I think it may be a different species...but it's pretty much just been me & azaahp2 this entire thread...We'd appreciate your opinion if you have 1 :) & no, I don't know the fish by name either...
 

azaahp2

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Water parameters as of now (and the last few days): temp 25.7C, pH 7.6 (normal for here), Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 10-20

Nitrates may have gone up slightly from yesterday. I removed another dead cory this morning so that's 3 confirmed deaths. Can only see one active, hoping the other 2 are just snoozing somewhere......... ? ?

Going to do a water change now.

I've always been a 'light' feeder since I had a goldfish get swim bladder... I believe it's better to underfeed than overfeed your fish. However after I'd had the cories for a few weeks I read that they should be 'fat' so since then I've been feeding quite a lot. I figured that seeing as I had a 'clean up crew (the cories) that they should eat leftover food so I should have too much problem anyhow.

However... is there a possibility that my filter is too efficient? There's not a 'strong' flow as such... but my cannister is slightly overrated for my tank size (Aquis1200 for 160L) and the tubes are really gunky (had it 3 months). I'd wondered if a lot of fish food ended up stuck in the tubes... which means my cories may not have been getting a lot of chance to finish off all that food. Any chance they're slow eaters...?

Here are my first two dead cories. The second one had a hole underneath and looked pretty hollow inside... may have just been dead a few days, but...?

I posted all the details of my cories in the FW threads but haven't had any comments as to whether they look 'healthy' or not. Just comments on water quality etc. Wondering if I should re-post it all in the cories thread or whether people kind of see them all anyway....

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