i have baby kribs!

[HEADIN]

i also have baby kribs!!!

my gf just phoned me and said the female is guarding them and putting them in her mouth!!

omg my first babies wohoooo!!

wats the best thing to feed these little buggers...
she musta laid her eggs a few days ago then. hasnt shown any extreme aggressiveness toward any other fish.

infusoria?
baby brine shrimp?

do i need to up the water changes also to keep the water in good condition?
small or big? i usually do 35% weekly.

i usually syphon my gravel when doing a change, so i keep doing it
and be extra careful not to suck them up or just suck the water up from the other end of the tank and leave the cleaning off the gravel for a while longer?

any info any1 has please fire away as this is the very first time i have ever had fish that have bred lolol very very excited!

[HEADIN]

Ok need some advice. My krib fry are now 2 weeks and I hav
12 in total. They are doing great but the Aggression from mama krib is extreme. she has Every other fish is stuck in the corner as they venture more and more.

My local store are takin some of my fish on saturday inc a rainbow shark, mollies etc so That will help a bit.

But I am also in 2minds wat to do about the kribs.

I dont have access to another tank accept a tiny 2gallon 1 but no filter as of the minute. I cud get 1 and use water, substrate n media from 1 of my 2 filters I have running.

If I remove the female will the babies survive with the male?

I think I might remove her at some stage to prevent any more breeding. I do love the kribs but simply dont have the space to handle the aggression.

Would the fry be ok in a breeder net within the tank 4a while or is that not suitable at all?

Any ideas folks are welcome.

Tank is 30gal. 4foot long.
I moved some of my fake plants around a bit last nite to make a sort of wall between the kribs little section in the hope that it might encourage them to stay there and not go too far and maybe leave the rest alone.

[William]

First of I wouldn´t seperate the pair because that will not do much do reduce the aggression. The male will just pick up the slack and become more aggressive to protect the fry if the female is gone.

Your tank, at 4 ft should be more than big enough to give your kribs space to breed without greatinga problem for the rest of the fish. They really should guard less than half of the tank. The fact that they guard all of it suggest that your decoration do not allow for any natural territorial borders and have a lot of visability from one end to another. By redecorating your aquarium with natural borders and limited lin eof sight in mind you should be able to reduce aggression dramatically and all of your fish should be able to stay in the tank. It is hard to give concrete suggestion how to do this without seeing your present setup. But more plants and decoration sounds like a likely solution.

[HEADIN]

Cheers for that william. Im adding a lot more plants to try and create some extra barriers to break up the line of sight as u suggest. This will be my goal for tomorrow.

Hopefully it
Works as I definately want to hold onto my pair.
Thanks again.

[Jeddi]

I hate to say it but it's only going to get worse. I severely underestimated my kribs' aggression. Now that the fry are bigger, they swim all over the tank and the parents now guard a larger area. The barbs are fine but I rarely see the pleco out anymore and the gourami is constantly being chased and nipped, even when the gourami isn't doing anything.

I agree with more decoration, breaks the line of sight.

[William]

In a well decorated aquarium you can get the territory protected by kribs down to about a square feet. They do protect that area fiercly but the rest och the tank is free for the rest of the fish to use. Atleast that is my experince after a few hundred fry batches with wild caught as well as commercially breed fish used for spawning.

Another thing that can trigger extreme aggression is if to few other fish are around. If there are very few other fish around they will feel secure that spend their energy on guarding a lot bigger area of the tank.

[HEADIN]

well after a few days and some re decorating, i can safely say it has had no effect and they are still at it.. i've added more fake and live plants, and almost have a wall built out of plants in front of their small patch.

they just go on through it and are still at up to their tricks..

excellent parents i have to say and i love the kribs. full of character.
but im definately considering splitting them up in the future so that they can't breed again. if only purely for the benefit of the rest of the fish in my tank so they dont get harrassed as much as they are.

the fry are out exploring and the parents are in top form doing guard duties but its wild.
i never thought they would be so aggressive, but i suppose natural instincts etc. cant blame the fish.

and what stage can fry be rehomed? how old do they have to be?
im considering moving them to the small tank i have and adding a small sponge filter.

thats all i can do with lack of options really or putting them into a breeder net within my main tank but i dont really want to confine them to such a small space.

[HEADIN]

Im very tempted to use a soft green mesh/net that I have, that I use for putting java moss down.

Thinking of putting this in my tank as a divider between the kribs and rest of my tank. Maybe let them have a square foot of space to themselves.

Lack of options on how to sort the problem unfortunately.

[SwordTaleLair]

You could try putting in a partial divider of plexiglass with several small holes drilled near the top for circulation and bury just under the substrate, not all the way to the bottom of the tank. Promise the kribs wont get past that :14: . Not sure about the netting I would worry about their gills getting caught if they really try to break through it.

Its possible since the already are aware they can go all over the tank, they are aggressive enough to go past the changes in their environment, esp if the fry are going past out of curiosity.

Just brainstorming since its better to keep the family together if possible until the fry are ready to be moved.

Good luck.

[HEADIN]

The mesh is very soft and the holes are maybe 2-3mm. The fry would prob not even get through it, but circulation would not be lost. I think this is my best bet at the minute.
Wouldnt have any worries of any1 getin caught. Its good quality material from ebay.

Does it sound reasonable to go this route?

[HEADIN]

Ok so I have gave this b go. placing the soft mesh netting in, acting as a divider between the kribs and the other fish. Put this in last night.

Used suckers with hooks to hold it in place.

Its worked to an extent and keeping the fry in, but mama and papa managed to get over the top today.

Will use some more suckers later and try to get it as tight as possible.

It has potential.

And on another note I saw the female doing the courtship dance and bending of the body thing again that the do.
She was nudgin him as if to say ''come on, im here and urs'' lol horny fish or what!

The fry are quite big now between 10-15mm. There is a lovely sparkle of blue starting to show on them now and they are starting to attack and eat frozen bloodworms.

[SwordTaleLair]

that is awesome! congratulations. Glad the netting is working out. My concern with that is the fish wiggling around the sides. Perhaps a 1/2 to 1" plastic or plexiglass frame made out of a single sheet of plexiglass or plasticwith the netting adhered to the center with silicone would be better? that way you wouldn't lose circulation and wouldn't allow the fish to get around the sides.

Sorry, I am a tinkerer and like to figure this stuff out. :11:

What type of netting is it? I am also interested in breeding fish in the future so I am most interested in your results.

Thanks.

[HEADIN]

i like your idea sword tail. especially if i want to make it 100% proof.

at the minute it is working to an extent. even with extra suckers in place etc.. some of my fish where still persistent enough to get through gaps in the sides and in return some of the fry seemed to get under neath the bottom.

even though i had it well pushed down into the gravel the fish still managed to move it a bit.

however, for the majority of the time the fry and parents stay on "their side".
occassionally the fry do go underneath it, but they dont venture too far away now. i left 2 of the top corners down to allow the parents to get over it in order to guard the fry and they dont seem as enthusiastic to constantly harrass everyone else.

perhaps it has made them feel more secure knowing that for most of the time the rest of the fish will not venture past the net. when they do they get chased straight out and most of the day my other fish will be all over the rest of the tank now rather than stuck in the corner, even pushing right up as far as the net.

so a success to some degree.

the netting is stuff i got off ebay swordtail. i'll find the link for it and you can check it out. really good stuff and cheap aswell.