My Kribensis Diary

Hi guys, this post is to help out any inexperienced people who might need some info on breeding kribensis.

Kribs for me are my favourite fish.They are considered by a lot of experienced fish keepers to be a entry level cichlid , for people who would like to try their hand at breeding.They are quite a hardy fish and water parameters do not need to be spot on for them to thrive, which makes them the perfect fish for breeding.

First things first, go to your local pet shop and have a look at their selection.A lot of the time the fish in the shop will be quite colour-less, do not be put off by this.Look for good healthy fish, get the fish guy to catch and hold them near the glass so you can get a proper look at them.I always get my males in one shop and my females in a different one just to make sure they are not from the same brood.The male will generally be slightly bigger than the female and have a long "torpedo" shaped body and the female will look more compact and have a rounder shape to the belly.If in doubt trust what the fish guy says.The way I pair my Kribs is to buy 3 females first.Take them home pop them in the tank and let them get settled in.I'll give them a week or so in my tank to let them settle in.In this time you should notice that 1 or maybe even 2 of them will become more dominant.Soon as i notice this i go get a male in my LFS and stick him in.I have seen a M/F pair in 20 mins using this method and it has never failed me (yet). Once you see a M/F pair up I would advise you to remove the other two females , as they will be subject to relentless attacks form the new pairing.

Kribensis spawn in cave structures and a lot of people use a half coconut with an entrance door about 2" in diameter.As they search for their first home they will dig holes, build mounds and make a mess.But once they find a suitable cave you will notice the female will tidy the inside of the cave, she will scoop out all the substrate and deposit it at the entrance.More often than not she will leave so little room that she'll have to turn sideways to exit.This will all happen usually in the first week or two after they pair up.The whole time this is going on you will notice the m/f coloring will be at it's best, so its a perfect time to take pictures(and post them up here )The females belly will be very large, round and purple in colour at this time and her pectoral fins look as if they are holding her stomach.When their house is ready and you notice the females size ,it's good to do a water change.The change in water temp by a deg or two will make the fish think its time to spawn.You wont see them spawn as they will do it in the cave and most likely when the lights are out.But one morning you'll turn on the lights and you will notice she has lost the purple coloring and she will appear much slimmer.Bingo, soon she will take the fry out for their first free swim but never too far from safety and always with one parent on patrol.

Soon as the fry are free swimming the M/F up their game and become ultra defensive.Be prepared for some upset in your tank.It's a beautiful and fascinating thing to watch.The only thing i can compare it to is, sheep dogs herding sheep.The parents keep the shoal of fry in a tight bunch and direct them where to go .If any other fish gets to close they are quickly chased away by either the M/F. When danger is near the parent in-charge gives a little flick or twitch of the body, which tells the fry to drop to the deck and stay still, only when the parent gives the all clear do they resume feeding.

Now this next bit is the problems you may encounter.The parenting behaviour of these fish can be complex at times.The first 1-2-3 batches of fry might not last a week but each new batch the parents learn and get better at it. Sometimes after a loss of a batch the F might consider the M not to be a good father and she may attack and bully him, the only thing to do here is remove the fish and start again.You may encounter problems with tank mates being harassed and stressed because of the breeding process, you may need to remove tank mates or make them some hiding places.At times i have had to split the tank just to give the other fish a break and relieve a bit of stress.There are many other problems that you may encounter as i found that each pairing will throw different scenario's at you and it can be a steep learning curve at times.The biggest problem with the fry is ,what to do with them?The pair can spawn every 4-6 weeks , so soon your tank could be over run with 2-3-4 generations of fry, this is some thing that needs to be considered before you start breeding.

As for feeding the fry , brine shrimp seems to be the best food, but i found i got just as good growth if i crushed up the adult fish food into a powder.

Ok thats about all I got hope it helps someone avoid the pitfalls of breeding Kribs, and hopefully it will help raise the profile of this beautiful fish.

Cheers Stuart.



Ps. These are just my own experiences with these fish which i have learned through a LOT of trial and error(and help from the forum)Please feel free to ask any question or point out anything you might think i'm doing wrong.

great read and some useful info there,i am gearing up to have a go at breeding some nigerian red kribs and will update with my own observations when this happens

Nice post and good read thanks. I have about 30 young kribs (about an inch) and they are a super little fish, very colorful and active. After the female gave birth to the eggs she died. The male looked after the fry for about a month then he stopped eating and also died (broken hart)! All the fry are doing well tho.

Stephen.

Thanks Stuart for taking the time to put this article together. Great help and information for new fishkeepers wanting to start breeding Kribensis.

Great to give one of my favourite fish some spotlight. Good on you Wylam.

ian