# Moline Krib question



## diavids (Dec 28, 2007)

hi everyone, haven't been around for a while but got a question. I recently picked up a male Moline Kribensis (Pelvicahromis Taeniatus) and plan to go back to the lfs and picked up a female with plans to breed them. Now i also have some regular kribs and i'm hoping that these fish will not be able to cross bred as i hope to be able to keep them in the same tank. Does anyone know? thanks, dianne


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## CiChLiD LoVeR128 (Mar 22, 2006)

Very beautiful fish you have :thumb: . Yes, they will crossbreed. It would be the same as putting Convicts with Cutteri.


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## diavids (Dec 28, 2007)

thanks so much


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

Kribs tend to be dominate, so yes it is very likely. Even without the crossbreeding threat, I wouldn't keep them together due to the differing aggression levels.


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## diavids (Dec 28, 2007)

thanks again. i didn't think there would be a difference with the fishes temperaments. The Moline Krib is going to have to stay with my regular kribs for a few months but i have decided to rehome my Koi (rescue fish) and his buddy who are outgrowing the 90gal they are in. So as soon as the weather permits and i find them a good home (lg outdoor pond) i'm going to switch over the tank to tropical for my regular kribs and the moline kribs will have the 40 gal. Since i don't know if or when i'll be able to get these fish again locally, i may have to pick up a female for my male while the store still has them. dianne


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## diavids (Dec 28, 2007)

thanks again. i didn't think there would be a difference with the fishes temperaments. The Moline Krib is going to have to stay with my regular kribs for a few months but i have decided to rehome my Koi (rescue fish) and his buddy who are outgrowing the 90gal they are in. So as soon as the weather permits and i find them a good home (lg outdoor pond) i'm going to switch over the tank to tropical for my regular kribs and the moline kribs will have the 40 gal. Since i don't know if or when i'll be able to get these fish again locally, i may have to pick up a female for my male while the store still has them. dianne


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## Chromedome52 (Jul 25, 2009)

Since no one else has mentioned it, I would note that your Kribs are West African Cichlids, not South American. There are some differences in the way they are treated in the aquarium. _Pv. taeniatus _Moliwe (no such population as Moline, so I'm guessing this is the one intended) is one of the more common in the hobby, as they are fairly easy to breed compared to some of the other populations; it should be relatively easy to find online if your store doesn't get any more. The risk of hybridization is not very high, but I still wouldn't keep them with another _Pelvicachromis _species. There is too much similarity of shape and color, and there would almost certainly be a lot of fighting over territory. The problem would not be a difference in aggression but the exact opposite, as both are quite aggressive toward conspecifics.


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## diavids (Dec 28, 2007)

yes i meant Moliwe, and i know they are west african, brain what brain... the pet store had the pet listed as a molin so that is where i got it ...oppps

so far the Moliwe male is doing fine with my brood of kribs, i have lots of hiding places. i only have one other male in the tank and i have never had any trouble with the females or younger kribs. i'm just going to see how things go until i can move the kribs over to the larger tank which should be in a few months.

i'm curious about your comment about the differences they are treated in the aquarium. i though the kribs water needs are bascially the same as south american cichlid.

thanks for all your help
dianne


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## diavids (Dec 28, 2007)

yes i meant Moliwe, and i know they are west african, brain what brain... the pet store had the pet listed as a molin so that is where i got it ...oppps

so far the Moliwe male is doing fine with my brood of kribs, i have lots of hiding places. i only have one other male in the tank and i have never had any trouble with the females or younger kribs. i'm just going to see how things go until i can move the kribs over to the larger tank which should be in a few months.

i'm curious about your comment about the differences they are treated in the aquarium. i though the kribs water needs are bascially the same as south american cichlid.

thanks for all your help
dianne


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## Chromedome52 (Jul 25, 2009)

The water chemistry is pretty much the same, but _Pelvicachromis _tend to take larger territories and work as pairs, rather than the harem setup one uses for Apistos. Also, the downward turned mouth of Krib types gives you a clue as to how they feed - they are bottom sifters, where most of the small SA Cichlids are micropredators. The substrate needs to be fine (sand), and the diet should include some vegetable matter. Like I said, the differences are subtle! :wink:

Immature fish are always more tolerant of others; when they become sexually active and have a brood to protect things get really interesting. One female will take dominance, and at that point any other females better have a lot of room to get away, or they will be harassed to death. They will take up to 2.5 square feet of bottom territory per pair, depending on the size and maturity of the breeders. This seems to be pretty consistent with the 4 species of _Pelvicachromis _that I've bred.

Another difference between _Pv. pulcher _and _taeniatus _is that the latter requires much lower pH values to get reasonable sex ratios from their spawns. They will spawn and raise broods at 6.5 that will come out almost all female. At a pH of about 5.5 you start to see more or less even ratios. There are a couple of populations that seem to be exceptions, and Moliwe is one of those, which has made it one of the more available in the hobby. I think it is adjusting - perhaps evolving - toward a greater tolerance for aquarium conditions, as the Common Krib did. Believe it or not, they were once considered a difficult species!


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## diavids (Dec 28, 2007)

thanks for all the above information. i did know about the lower ph for the taeniatus compared to the pulchers so that is why i'm going to use the 40 for them when i can move the others to the larger tank. Just waiting for the weather to warm up so i can rehome my koi and goldfish to a pond. i really apprecaite all the help. dianne


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## diavids (Dec 28, 2007)

hi everyone, i know its been forever but my fish spawned some time ago now. I put the pair in a spare 5 gallon i had. the fry are about 1/2 to 3/4 of a inch now. These past week i noticed the parents getting agressive towards the babies as it looks like they are spawning again. I decided it was time to move some of the fry out as i'm sure they were getting stressed with parents darting at them when every they got too close. A 5 gal is not large enough for more than one spawn at a time. i don't have a grow out tank for the young but decided that they should do okay in my planted 40 gal that is bascially my cherry shrimp tank. the other fish in this tank is some male guppies/a few sparkling gourimi and cories (dwarf and pepper). I figure once they get larger and maybe more aggressive i will be able to move them to my large community tank. At this point i have no idea if i have males or females but since the ph isn't that low i expect it won't be an equal number of both. i figure who knows, maybe i'll be able to sale some if there is any interest. thanks everyone who helps me with these fish. dianne


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