Kribensis after having fry/broke up...

[ricktfoster]

Hey guys,

I have two Kribs that I got back in early July, with in a week they paired up and had fry. After about two weeks of being very protective of the fry is seems that the male Krib no longer helps the female protecting. He actually has some nips fins and she won't allow him back. Just this morning I noticed that the babies are now missing and the female Krib looks as though she knows she has lost them. I found a couple stragglers hiding in plants though and I'm still attempting to catch them to put them is a safe place. My question is, is this normal for Kribs to act this way after having fry? I've always read they are very good parents and will stick together until they die. Thanks.

[angelcraze2]

Every cichlid has it's own personality, so it's hard to generalize any behaviour as 'normal'. But I know it is common for female kribs to become pretty aggressive with her mate (and other female kribensis!) I know of kribensis females to kill their mate. What size of tank do you have them in, and are the kribensis parents full grown?

I had a pair on their own (no tankmayes) that would spawn in a 33g. Just like you are describing with your pair, my female krib became very aggressive with her mate. The male would keep swimming with the female, but they would swim vertically up and down the tank wall, biting at eachother's face. The female ended up ripping a section of lip right off the male.

I'm not used to keeping African cichlids, although they are not as aggressive as central African cichlids, I noticed a big difference in their behaviour in comparison to dwarf SA cichlids. They are more robust, almost clumsy and kept that in mind. It's almost like the fish are 'built' for their more aggressive behaviour; the male's lip healed beautifully in a short time.

The male would disappear for a week in the cave while the eggs were developing, and both parents led the newly free-swimming fry around the tank, but the fry mostly hung around beneath the mother's bright purple belly. I remember removing the fry eventually, I think it was when they were getting ready to spawn again (2 months) that both parents started hunting the fry.

[ricktfoster]

Thanks for the reply. I have them in a 60 Gallon, with a couple Angels, neon & glolite tetras and bolivian rams. I was unable to retrieve the babies, I think they got eaten.. :( But the Kribs are just under 3"

[Boundava]

Sorry about the fry, hope you can get another spawn from the pair.

[Rocksor]

Cichlids that break their pair bond in the aquarium is quite common. To reduce the chances of pair bonding breaking, you need other fish in the tank and you need to reduce the feeding of the parents. Since you have other fish, the need to protect fry is there. Feeding the parents like usual will typically make the male want to breed again before the female. When the male wants to breed, and the female doesn't, this causes either the male to become overly aggressive or causes the female to reject the male.

Remove the remaining fry, and they might re-establish their pair bond.

[William]

It is also worth mentioning that most species need to spawn a couple of times before they learn how to do it right. How to protect their fry.

[chiefbrody]

The male will attack it's own fry. After a few weeks it views them as competition. I take the parents out and they immediately respawn in there new tank. This has given me huge survival rates 40+ fish every month if you keep it up