# "Super Red" Kribensis?



## Malawi Mac

I was at a tropical fish auction yesterday and there were several bags of fish labeled "Super Red Male Kribensis."

I bought a bag out of curiosity. I think I paid $2 for six fish, about 1 1/4" in length. I'm presently housing them in a 20 H along with 18-20 young Ancistrus I bought at the same auction.

I have no idea whether the phrase "Super Red Male" on the bag means that all six fish are males or it referes to a color variety where the males are redder than a normal Krib male but the females look like normal Krib females. In the latter case, the six would hopefully contain both males and females. I haven't been able to get a good enough look at them yet to try to sex them by body shape.

My expectation in purchasing them was to eventually add them to the rainbow community in my 92 gallon corner tank.

I conducted a search on this forum and googled the internet. All of the info seems a couple of years old, and some of it is inconsistent. Some info suggests these fish are highly aggressive; other accounts dispute this. Some accounts suggest this is a different species; others suggest this is merely a color form of Pelvicachromis pulcher.

Does anybody have the most up-to-date info on these fish?


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## dwarfpike

Without pics, my first guess would be the tank strain of _P. pulcher_ known as Nigerian red. Very small outside chance of the red form of _P. sacrimontis_.


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## Malawi Mac

Followup questions:

I still have these fish. As I mentioned, I bought them on impulse, without any real idea as to what I was going to do with them. I dumped them into a 20H with about 18 young Ancistrus. The previous tenants in this holding tank were juvenile mbuna, so the tank is full of rocks. Thus, there are plenty of cave areas to separate the Kribs.

I seldom see the cichlids - never more than a couple at a time. The tank is on a bottom rack underneath a 55 and it's hard to see without laying on the floor (and I have neck issues that make that very uncomfortable). I drop food in right before turning off the lights. (NLS pellets and algae wafers.) I've never seen any sign of a dead fish in there. I assume all six are still in there.

Anyway, I want to move them to a larger tank. I want to make room for some new purchases. I am concerned not only with whether the Kribs might pick on the other inhabitants, but also whether the existing inhabitants might pick on them. But most of my tanks house Malawi cichlids - not a good mix. These are my remaining options:

1. A 92 gal. corner tank. The primary inhabitants are New Guinea and Australian rainbows, about a dozen of 5 species, plus 2 male Congo tetras. The back of the tank is densely decorated with large silk plants. There are also a couple of pieces of driftwood. There are some small plants in the foreground; these are live plants. The few rocks in the tank are decorative, and are not stacked to make caves.

The rainbows hang out in the open area at the front of the tank. I have a few odd fish (2 clown loaches, 2 albino Ancistrus, and a striped Raphael cat) that hang out in the planted area. I assume the Kribs would tend to hang out in the plants if I moved them in there, and thus be more likely to come into contact with the cats and the loaches.

2. A standard 29 gal. tank. Its inhabitants are 8 harlequin rasboras, three Northern rainbows, a single small female blue gularis, and a single zebra danio. (I also have three newly-purchased Cory cats in a quarantine tank that are destined for this community.) This tank likewise is filled with silk plants. No real hard structure.

I am more willing to redecorate the smaller tank to accomodate the Kribs. I'm also willing to move the Northern rainbows to my 92 to decrease the bioload in the 29.

I'm worried that the 29's footprint might not be enough space for six fish.

On the other hand, if I make a bad choice and need to remove the Kribs from their new home, it's much easier to remove all of the plants and structure from the 29 than the 92.

Will these Super red Male Kribs get along with the noncichlids I have listed here? I am particularly concerned about breeding time.

Does anybody have any strong preference for one destination over the other? If so, why?

Thanks in advance to all who care to offer advice.


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## jamesd

I've kept kribs in virtually every conceivable size tank. I've kept breeding pairs in 20 longs with tetras and swordtails, other than chasing away from spawning sites or from their young, no problems. I've kept a breeding pair in a large planted aquarium with primarily rainbows, congo and red eye african tetras and a pair of keyhole cichlids with no problems whatsoever, Again, a much larger tank for the pair to cohabitate. ALso heavily planted with driftwood and rocks for many natural hiding spots. I have 3 in a 10 gallon. It was intended to be a growout tank. It has 2 males and a female from a spawn about 6 months ago and now the female rules the roost and constantly displays to both males! I wouldn't recommend a 10 gallon, but it was not my initial intention..My uncle kept 8 kribs in a 29 gallon!! All males from a spawn from one of my older pairs. I thought he was crazy, but that was in 2004 and the last male is still alive. He had 6 housed together with some tiger barbs for the longest time. Other than displaying and chasing, no real issues, (but again, no females, so no real breeding). Oh, on the other point with the 'super red ' variety, you have to be careful. There are regional color variants, but I sold about 30 juveniles to a LFS for about $1 a piece and he seemed excited about the males saying that they were 'super red' even though I just purchased my pair from a little pet shop for 8.99 for the pair and it was sold to me just as a standard krib. A couple of days later the guy was selling my kribs as 'super red' for 12 bucks a pop!!! They just looked like regular kribs to me???


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## Malawi Mac

Thanks for your thoughts, jamesd. I think I'll move them into the 29 and see how that goes. I'll add some rocks to the decor and make some caves, and probably pull out some of the fake plants to make room.

I do kinda' wish I knew exactly what they are. But given that I only paid $2 for all six fish, I'm not really worried that I was ripped off.


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## Randall

The Pelvicachromis species commonly know as "super red kribensis" is a very red color-variety of P. pulcher. Males exhibit red coloration extending from the lower lip to the posterior part of the belly. Females typically resemble normally-colored specimens. The Pelvicachromis form known as "Nigeria red" refers to P. taeniatus and not P. pulcher. With the exception of the Ndonga form from Cameroon, all P. pulcher are originally from the Niger delta in Nigeria.

Randall Kohn


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## Malawi Mac

Thanks, Randall. I think you nailed it. I am currently housing them in a 29 with 8 harlequin rasboras, 3 corys, one Ancistrus, and a couple other noncichlids.

The largest one is obviously a male; he is developing a red hue to the lower half of his body. He chases some of the other Kribs but doesn't bother any of the other fish. The tanks has one rock cave and some other rocks strewn around, plus some silk plants; there is plenty of cover. I haven't detected any damage on any of the other five None of them have the squat body shape of a female. I suppose I could have six males.


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