Breeding Kribs

[kellyboy47]

Hi,
I have a pair ofKribs in my 180l tank and they have now spawned 3 times but although the parents do a good job
of warding off predators on each occasion after 1 week all the fry have disappeared which is quite disheartening. I do have a lot of inhabitants in my tank which must make it very difficult for the parents to guard their fry so consequently the issue
I have a purchased a 27l tank which I wanted to use mainly as a breeding tank and just wondered whether this would be large enough to move the parents although I wouldn't have thought so but just wanted other folks opinions
Thanks
Trev

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
No, it is too small for a pair of Kribs, although you could syphon some of the fry into it once they are free swimming. I'm surprised that no fry survive, as Kribs are normally a bit "too good" as parents, and are quite cable of damaging much larger fish, and the fry are very adept at hiding in any cover.

Do you feed your fry? micro-worms are very good, you can just pipette them in to the fry cloud (although you may need to turn the filter off for ~5 minutes).

cheers Darrel

 

[kellyboy47]

Hi Darrel,

Thanks for the reply. I did siphon off some of the fry and kept them in a breeding tank within the main 180l tank however they were obviously too small as they disappeared one by one. I tried to feed them with Liquifry but they were not in the tank long enough to benefit ! The parents were extremely protective but also very aggressive to other tankmates that ventured too near however although they took turns to guide the fry around the tank normally at the bottom of the tank as I say they had all gone in a week

Thanks
Trev

 

[Tom]

I have found that after near enough one month, the parents will eat all the fry. I found this several times. The 27l will be OK for holding fry for a short while after their first month, but then they will need something bigger. The parents are very good to them until that point.

I have raised Krib fry on crushed (powdered) flake food and nothing else. I've also used liquifry but found it quite messy.

I've been thinking about breeding some recently, but with me going off to uni soon it's not really feasible.

Tom

 

[Iain Sutherland]

All my Krib fry used to also vanish, pretty sure eaten by the parents. However did find some in my external filter a few months after i got rid of the parents so have a little check in there when you do a clean. I also found the breeding nets that go in the top of the tank useless as gourami used to love sucking them out the net...

 

[Ed Seeley]

One thing to improve the survival of any cichlid fry in any tank is to make sure you're feeding them enough and often enough. Often it's a combination of predation and lack of decent food that means the numbers get whittled down to nothing. They do also get better parents with time IME, especially in a community tank, and also, as they grow, their broods get larger and larger. I'd recommend you hatching some artemia for the fry next time and using microworms as they are both excellent fry food and will last in the tank longer than artificial foods.

I have found that after near enough one month, the parents will eat all the fry. I found this several times.

This is totally the opposite of my experience with a range of Pelvicachromis species - they will often care for them for 2-3 months and only get aggressive towards them if they start spawning again.