# Kribensis help! :)



## Aulonocara_Freak

Wasn't positive where to put this but I know there african. 

I got a pair of krib's 2 day's ago. Today I noticed they are creating huge hole's in my sand, one is in the back left corner next to some rock's, another one is right next to the front glass, in the open, and the third on the right side of the tank next to some other rock's.

What does this mean, babies?

They are sticking together side by side and no aggression. The only other fish in the tank are 5 Black Neon Tetra's.


----------



## brinkles

Try giving them some flowerpots or some other "cave" to raise the babies in.


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

I have about three different places for them to spawn in, but is this like pre-spawn behavior?


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

anyone?


----------



## Flippercon

Yes do you have pics? Do you have males and females. Make sure your rocks are touching glass or on eggcrate. I have breed three different pairs of kribs and they dig and realy spawn in close quarters.


----------



## pumh

I am in a very similar situation as you are, where they dug one hole/pit against a rock then another one on a different part of the same rock. I also have many places for them to breed/hide. I'm also interested in what people say about this. Anyway, Good luck with your kirbs!


----------



## Flippercon

The kribs love to escort the fry around to different flat spots. All three pairs did the same thing. Depending on your tank size the tetras are in danger. My pairs would hide for days untill I moved rocks and discovered the fry. Right now I have a male scarlet and an albino female. The first batch of fry are 50/50. Good luck you will have fry soon.


----------



## chenghc

Good luck for you. mine pair of kribs breed in the cave and pot. They are good in guarding the fry. Mine is taking care for the 2nd spawn after i remove the 1st spawn fry...else they will caring the fry until adult.


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

It's a 20g LONG with 1 male 1 female krib and 5 Black Neon Tetra's. In the rock cave I made the male is digging and has hit the glass. ALL THE SAND IN THAT AREA IS GONE! Last night and all of today they go in the cave and shake at eachother. Why haven't I seen the egg's yet?

Pic's to come


----------



## DeadFishFloating

The shaking at each other is courtship behaviour, so obviously they haven't spawned yet. The female initiates and takes the lead in courtship and is the boss out of the pair.

If you keep sticking your hand in the tankto look for eggs, you may be upsetting them and halting them breeding.

Be very carefull with rock structures that have rocks layered on top of each other. I lost a female pelvicachromis when rocks over the cave collapsed a little and crushed the female. Nothing worse than finding a dead fish and eggs under a collapsed pile of rocks.

I really suggest the half flowerpot caves or large driftwood with cave like structures underneath them as spawning sites. I have two largish pieces (relative to the size of the tank) of mopani rootwood in my tank that my pair spawn under. Mopani rootwood has very good cave like structures under it.


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

No, no, no! I am not sticking anything in the tank!

Also the cave I made is almost un-collapsible, It's not rock's piled on top of each other. It's one rock on the left one rock on the right and one long rock as the roof. Then there's a small piece as the back of the cave.

The way I know there's no egg's is that the male and female swim around the whole tank.


----------



## Rammer

Kribs are funny in the way(at least with me) that they don't tend to use your intentional spawning site for them. I have pair in a 46 gallon with 9 cherry barbs, 2 otos(only fish that isn't chased), and 1 CAE(chased the most by male). I have two inverted flower pots, several pieces of slate, and some drift wood. The first spawn was laid on the outside of a pot, in between the glass and the pot. The fry were moved around that pot through out the day. When the fry are swimming they go all over the tank and return to the spawing site during the night usually. The first batch of fry disappeared on me. I had about 60 to start with, 30 free swimming, 15 roughly one week after free swimming, 5 the next day, then the female was bashing the male and chasing him away from the fry. I removed the male because he was very stressed. A day after he was removed, no more babies. I waited a couple of days and added the male back in with the female because he wouldn't eat. He has been fine ever since. I have had one or two spawns since, but never got to free swimming. Now the male is shaking at the female near their cave, but she ignores it. You will know when she is ready because she will be fat and she will be showing a tube in the anal area. When I notice that I know there will be eggs within the next 24 hours. You have to be patient with them, female decides when and what happens as far as that goes.


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

*Rammer,* thank's so much.

The female will shake but not as vigorously as the male, and as far as the tube goes. What does it look like? any picture's?


----------



## Rammer

It is a stubby little white tube coming out of the anal area. I think right on the back bottom area of the belly. It isn't extremely obvious, but visible if you look at her. Just watch her for a bit and see if you can spot what looks like white poop almost but very short. Not sure on the size of your female, but mine is around 3-4 inches long. If your female is smaller then the tube would probably be smaller. You could always google it.Bakery I don't have any pictures that show the tube because she doesn't ever hold still for a picture. I will get one if she lays eggs I she holds still.


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

Who want's pic's???


----------



## Rammer

You asked if I had any pictures of the tube to show you.


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

Rammer said:


> You asked if I had any pictures of the tube to show you.


HUH?


----------



## Rammer

lol, I got confused. I would love to see pics of your kribs!!!


----------



## Rammer

Just thought that I would mention that my female has a tube now. My male has been shaking at her for at least a week now. She is finally almost ready. Feeding bloodworms once really pushes it I guess lol. It isn't showing enough yet for me to get it in a picture. I will try tomorrow if she hasn't laid eggs yet.


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

Ok here are the pic's, also they are both more colorful now that I have egg's!

The cave and female.








Male and Female








Again








Male








Female








Again








Male and Female in cave








Male








Again, in this pic if you notice the sand mound it's from the female digging out the sand at the back of the cave!!!


----------



## Rammer

Nice pair!!! I think I may have to get lighter colored substrate when I switch my tank out for a 40 breeder. I plan to try and fit two pairs in it with plenty of dither fish. Update this thread with the progress your pair makes with this batch of fry!


----------



## pumh

:thumb: Congratulations and good luck on the spawn! :thumb: funny because came home today to find that mine laid eggs as well!


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

Thank's!


----------



## dillon0990

:thumb: very nice makes me want some kribs


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

How many you want?


----------



## Rammer

My pair is almost ready to lay eggs! I can't wait lol, hopefully they raise the babies this time... Anyways, they chose the perfect time, now that their tank is going to be torn down and switched out for a 40 breeder for more floor space. I want to try and fit two to three pairs. My current pair, will literally leave the eggs, wrigglers, and one week old fry unprotected to go eat! Also on my first batch, the female would leave the fry in the open and go to the other side of the tank to go beat up on her mate! Doesn't seem normal to me, but the babies didn't make it. Keep us updated most definantly!


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

*Rammer,* well i think all of us would like some pic's!?


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

OK so today I noticed that the female is kicking the male out of the cave!?!? The male still doesn't leave the side of the cave but he's not allowed in it.

The female hasn't come out to eat so that's a sign that the egg's are still there right?


----------



## Rammer

The eggs are probably still in the cave, they may be starting the process of hatching depending on tank temp. I can't get any pictures that show the tube on my femal as she is not patient enough to hold still for pictures... Here are a few pictures of my pair, all being within three days before spawing(different spawns though).




























EGGS!(first spawn I had them lay on the back of a flower pot, they were suppose to use the inside...)


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

Ok here's the new story.

Last night the female dug another hole at the opening of the cave, I had no idea what she was doing. Then today she moved all the egg's and the wiggler's to the new hole. Now at night she has them back at the other hole! Some have reached wiggler stage and they are AWESOME!!!

I can't get any pic's of the egg's ATM so as soon as I can get a pic of the egg's or fry I will.


----------



## Rammer

That is a normal behavior for kribs. The wrigglers look like eggs, at least to me they do. If they aren't attatched to the roof of the cave then they should be wrigglers. My pair is getting ready to spawn, female has a really thick tube now. She is also shaking at the male. I really hope the babies make it. They are doing this at the wrong time. This week is when I was going to tear down the current tank, and take everyone to my lfs' holding tank until the new 40 breeder I got today at Petco was ready for them.

Wrigglers are amazing, keep an eye on them and see if you can see the eyes forming on them. After they have eyes, you should expect free swimmers within the next few days. The female will have the fry moved all over the tank, it is a survival techniqe. The fry are never in one place very long. Once freeswimming, the group will be on the move from dawn to dusk, returning to the original cave area for the night. Very fun to watch the tank when lights turn on then again when the lights go out.


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

The wiggler's have not gone out of the cave yet but today I noticed that the female would come out of the cave for a few second's here and there but not to far from the cave.


----------



## Rammer

Your kribs are normal, unlike mine. My pair will literally go to the opposite side of the tank with eggs and wrigglers on the cave, sometimes the wigglers will be outside of the cave in plain site to the other fish. Hopefully the chinese algae eater I have stays away from the cave. I am watching my pair take turns in the cave for spawing as I type this, quite interesting to watch. Really wish I could see in the cave. With my heavier feedings for the female kribs spawning, the cherry barbs have gotten rather fat looking lol. Must have a tank of love on my hands.


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

*Rammer,* LOL!, Were you able to get a pic of the tube? and y don't u come on to the chat?


----------



## Rammer

I got a decent pic of my female, hard though becuase I had to do it at feeding. Even then she would randomly dart at the cherry barbs! The female krib goes in and out of their cave every 10 seconds, but my male is literally all over the tank chasing everything he sees almost. Very funny thing is that when the parents are out of the cave, they turn around and stare at the front of it. The cave is in the back corner of my tank. Here are a few pics. Also, whenever I peep in on this site, no one is in chat.


























The cave:









FTS:


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

Nice setup and ok now I see the tube. THANK'S! and 2 of us r in the chat right now.


----------



## Rammer

Thanks! Just think, this set up is only around until the baby kribs are either gone or happily grown to the size for a growout tank. This could mean either 2 weeks or 5 weeks after free swimming. The tank they are in is aged for the worse. The silicone seem is starting to get beads in it, meaning that it has a year or so left before I have the 46 gallons of water on my floor. I am going to move everyone over to the 40 breeder I got yesterday, and use this as a saltwater QT tank(I got the addiction to the hobby as a whole :dancing


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

I have free swimming fry!!! There are over 40 of them!!! They haven't come out of the cave yet so I can't get a good pic. As soon as I see them come out you will have a PICTURE!!!

More pic's to come and thank you EVERONE!


----------



## Rammer

NICE!!!! I still only have eggs. Should have wigglers by tomorrow I hope! Can't wait to see some pics of your new babies! Yesterday during feeding, mom ditched the cave to eat, she is kinda brave. Dad went to the cave as soon as he saw her at the top of the tank. Congratz! Keep this thread updated on your progress. Just an FYI you should start trying to feed the babies now. I used finely crushed flake food.


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

Rammer said:


> Just an FYI you should start trying to feed the babies now. I used finely crushed flake food.


Ya I put the pellet's in so the tetra's would be distracted then through some flake's in, the male got some food but he didn't share. Then the female got a few tiny pieces because she wouldn't leave her babies! Tomorrow I will mix up the flake's in tank water so they will sink and the female will be full. I also have some HIAKRI "First Bite's" I will try to feed also.


----------



## Rammer

I picked myself up some of the HIAKRI "First Bite's" today for my future fry. I am very doubtful now that there are any wigglers... My pair is starting to bicker at each other. Male keeps charging the female. Male being the one defending the pot more so than the female. I need to get a new pair or two or just seperate them and introduce them to new matches...


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

Ok so as of today I still count more then 50 fry!  I have now feed them finely crushed flake's, HIKARI "Micro Pellet'" and freeze dried SPURULINA and BRINE SHRIMP made by HIKARI. The parent's are PERFECT, couldn't hope for anything better.

Pic's either today or tomorrow!


----------



## Rammer

That is GREAT!!! You are lucky, and I can't wait to see pics of the little tikes!!! My pair officially has no offspring  Never gonna do a chinese algae eater again!!! Twice I saw the thing attacking only my female krib, the male didn't even get a look when he was in the same area. I am very happy that you are having success with the pair you got, I think you got lucky haha


----------



## Rammer

No wonder there aren't any more babies, the female wants to spawn again!!!! This is seriously messed up! I think I may tear down the tank now and bring everything into the lfs that is living before there are more babies.


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

Male and Female.








Again.








Male and Fry.








Female and Fry.








Fry, whlie parent's are gathering the wanderer's.








Male, Female, and Fry.








Fry and Female belly.








Fry with Mom above them.


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

Very Sad 
Very Very Sad  
Extremely Sad









Well I think most of the fry have been eaten, yesterday I counted 24 today I count 4!!!!!!!!!!! I think I'm going to take these out and put them in the breeder net.


----------



## Rammer

Looks like you are running into the problem I had with my pair. Is this their first spawn? If so then it is to be expected, and will usually last around five spawns. The first five are kind of a learning period for the parents. When you get up to 10 like I had then be concerned that you have bad parents.


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

Yes, first spawn. Now the female is flipping out at the male because she can't find her babies, she is less aggressive now then be4.


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

Well I am going to continue this thread with update's every now and then. 

Today the male and female are at peace and no war's are going on, the 2 fry are fine and healthy so far.


----------



## Rammer

In response to your first post, female kribs usually become very aggressive with the male if the babies go missing. For the next spawn try and go a pyrope longer before removing the fry if you have more than you have now. Increasing the time if possible to see how the parents will do.


----------



## brandon O

my pair has bred several times the females belly gets extremely red when shes ready and the male also gets a little red. the female will shimmer and shake to lure the male into the breeding area. when they are laying usually they will either take turns going in and out of the cave to lay and spawn the eggs or at the same time. then she will stay in the for a while and watch over the eggs. then they turn into wigglers and when there able enough they will take them out and chauffeur them around the tank looking for food. 
female ready
















male


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

*brandon O,* thank's.

*UPDATE!!!*

Ok well both fry are doing good and still healthy, today was the first day they really started to swim abunch!


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

*UPDATE!!!*

The fry are doing GREAT!

*UPDATE 2!!!
*
Last night I noticed my pair pre-spawning again!


----------



## brandon O

y aif anybody near wisconsin wants kribs i also have many


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

*UPDATE:*

Well one of the fry died, but the other is fine. As for the pair they are also healthy and they're trying to figure out where to lay there new egg's.


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

Seem's like the thread has gone dead, oh well there might be a few following.

*Update:*
The little guy has grown a little and is happy and healthy.


----------



## brandon O

you only have 1 baby?


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

brandon O said:


> you only have 1 baby?


That all that survived in the first batch, second batch is on it's way with the pair still pre spawning. I'm happy this male is patient. lol


----------



## Sparrk

wow, that tread helped me a lot, my pair is caring for their first batch, and I was really wondering if it was normal that they move their fry like that, they move from a cichlid rocks to an other cichlid rock and then back again in the first one. Mama never leaves the rock, she will go an eat when the male is close and protecting the rock, they are an amazing pair from what I've read! The male wll chase everyone that gets too close(including my foot long pleco lol)!! I got some pictures for you guys too!!







my male I got a nice one im very proud  







male and female protecting their rock







male and female again







you can see mama and her eggs!


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

WOW! Very handsome male you have there! Wanna trade? :lol:


----------



## Sparrk

love that fish got the pair for 12$cad... I really spotted the male from all other fish in the tank at my lfs, omg he was the best looking of the whole batch. He turned out to be a good father too(for now!) I cant wait to see how it will turn out for their first batch :fish: when I last saw those fry, they were wriggling... The parents are learning and so am I!


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

Sparrk said:


> love that fish got the pair for 12$cad... I really spotted the male from all other fish in the tank at my lfs, omg he was the best looking of the whole batch. He turned out to be a good father too(for now!) I cant wait to see how it will turn out for their first batch :fish: when I last saw those fry, they were wriggling... The parents are learning and so am I!


Very Nice! You should have free swimmer's today or tomorrow!


----------



## brandon O

ya my male has no spots on him


----------



## Sparrk

will they come out of the cichlid rock once they are free swimming, or will they hide in there for a couple more days? Mama switched of rock so I cant see what is going on inside anymore!


----------



## Sparrk

ooooohhhh  got babies!!! My kribs are amazing parents, mom will check the bunch while the male will go and catch all the little outsiders and bring them back with mom!! Lol at first I was sure he was eating them, I got so scared... until I saw him spit all those outsiders close from mom :lol: . They are not like other africans they really care for their young! opcorn: amazing to watch them!! And I got pictures for you guys  !!








mom with fry, I know they re so small and hard to see, they are all on the rock under mom!







mom with fry again







mom and dad with fry


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

AWESOME for you *Sparrk*.

Well guess what! I GOT MORE EGG'S!!! This is their 3rd day so hopefully some wiggler's soon, I was able to get some nice pic's of the egg's. They'll be up today or tomorrow.


----------



## Rammer

Congrats to both of you!! Hopefully you get more fry this time! If you have problems with the parents eating the fry after several spawns do some research on the area where kribs are from and make your tank look like it. It will reduce that habit. People have tried it with discus and angels and even the worst parents got free swimming fry!


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

The parent's aren't the guilty one, it's the tetra's that are eating the fry at night! They're sneaky little %$^&*%@


----------



## Sparrk

Im so glad to hear that! Mine are quite the parents I still cant believe it. Dont know how it will turn out but, im pretty optimistic, even if it is their first time. Observing them more closely, *** noticed mom and dad are taking turn guarding the fry when eating, and im not sure, maybe just hazard, but mom spits some of her food right in the fry bunch opcorn: ...maybe she thought she had fry in her mouth or something lol! ANYWAY! hope your kribs will get the hang of it :wink: hope to see some pics soon too! I love seeing other tanks and fish!


----------



## Rammer

Mom is trying to feed the babies, mine never did that lol. I don't have them any more, but she took the food from my fry, and so did dad!! I only got fry once out of maybe 10-12 spawns and it was the first batch, go figure! The fry lasted a week after becoming free swimming... I found out from my lfs that a week after I gave them my pair of kribs, one of the kribs killed the other. Not sure who killed who because the murder was hiding in a cave and you couldn't see anything but its face. Interestingly enough the lfs has a large tank where they keep the larger fish like african cichlids that people don't have room for and they have to keep a particular female krib in there. She will murder any fish that is the same size as her or smaller, but is sorta scared of the larger fish lol!!!


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

Got the pic's of the egg's finally uploaded!  I got free swimming fry now! Momma isn't allowing them out of the cave yet. Here's the egg's and soon fry pic's!

Mom and egg's:









Egg's:


----------



## Rammer

Wow looks like lots of eggs!!! Hopefully she and dad will do better this time! GL!!!!!!!


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

Hopefully, mom is actually feeding the fry this time! :dancing:

ATM, it a mixture of flake, micro pellet's, and fry food all soggy so it's easy for them to eat. Hopefully the brine shrimp start kicking in, let's see if I can hatch them this time!


----------



## Rammer

No big deal if you don't get any from the next couple of batches, takes some practice to get it right... What would new moms be like if they weren't able to talk, observe, or read about infant care? Insincts only get you so far, and most of the time it is really only the instinct to actually breed lol. GL, feed the babies lots of food and maybe try feeding mom and dad on the side and squirt some food into the ball of fry.


----------



## Sparrk

ooh there is a lot of eggs!!! I knew I wasn crazy LOL, mom is actually feeding the fry! It is hard for me to feed them aside since the parents will take turn to eat, there is always one parent with the fry, so I just crush flakes and give it to everyone, plus baby brine shrimp sometimes! I've always feed my fry(any species) that way and got good results!


----------



## Rammer

When I fed the tank both parents would ditch the fry! Luckily everyone else in the tank was distracted. The fry would get scared and get into a tighter ball lol. Then when I would get crushed flakes down to them, the parents would come back. The fry only ate whatever food hit the bottom.


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

So far I can't tell that a whole lot of fry are missing so I guess I might leave the fry in there and see what happen's. Oh ya, all of the tank mate's are in the corner frightened!  Haha. One thing I am doing different is I have a small light that give's the parent's just enough light to see if 1 of the fry are going to sneak off.


----------



## Sparrk

well its different for me, I can tell I got a lot of fry missing I don't know why thought, mom would gather all her fry back in the cichlid rock for the night, there is one entrance and she is guarding it. Oh well it is their first batch they need a little practice I guess!


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

Yea they do, mien still aren't perfect.

Who want's picture's???


----------



## Sparrk

I do!! love to see other tanks and fish


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

Here you go!

Just 2 for now.

Male, Female, and Fry:









Male and Fry:









You aren't able to see all the fry in those pic's.


----------



## Sparrk

niiice  you can still see there is a lot of fry lol, wish you the best of luck. hope they will grow big and strong and the tetra wont get them this time. Looks like your parents are guetting the hang of it!


----------



## Rammer

Looking good!!! Wishing you luck on this batch!


----------



## Aulonocara_Freak

So far so good!


----------



## Sparrk

awww, my babies are all gone  , looks like my pleco was too much for them. But Im hopefull, my female is shimmering to the male and they both swims together from cave to cave, I think ill have an other bunch soon. Got a question though, I've got many small tanks to raise my fry, 10 and 20gal tanks, next time they have fry, what will happen if I move the rock they re into to one of these tank, I was thinking to move the male and the female in there too so I dont break the pair and no one will go crazy from missing fry. They will be easier to feed that way too.

With my other africans its easy, I just catch the mom with her mouthfull and she spits in the nursery tank, then I catch the mom again and put her back in the main tank... But im clueless about my kribs!


----------

