A krib and two rams?

[dixaisy930]

I have a 65 gallon tank with various livebearers, danios, dwarf gouramis, a yo-yo laoch and cories. I also have one krib, who has been in the tank for almost a week. The women said he would be fine for a community tank, as long as he was the only krib (she said pairs often will terrorize a tank), which seemed sensible to me. Now I'm wondering if it was a good idea. He has claimed a rock at one end of the tank, and will chase off most fish (he lets the pencil fish do "maintence") away from his rock. However, I noticed today after feeding, he wasn't as protective over "his" rock. When he's in other areas of the tank, he never bothers anyone.

I was recently reading a post by Pointy Kitty about having a krib and rams together, and it seemed to be a really bad idea. I would like to add a blue german ram and a gold ram (currently I have around 40 inches of fish in the tank). Should I just stick with the krib being my lone cichlid in my tank?

 

[dixaisy930]

Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated...

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Thing is, PK's tank was a 3rd of the size of yours which has to be taken into account. I think as long as they can all have territory, it could work.

I am not sure though, so we'll wait for other input.

 

[dixaisy930]

Do you think the krib's behavior is anything I should be concerned about? Eventhough it's not constant chasing, would it be enough to stress the other fish? I've been keeping a close eye on everyone (looking for nipped fins or injuries) and haven't found any.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

No, I think it's pretty normal behaviour. To claim a art of the tank as their home and guard it. Just keep an eye on it to make sure the aggression doesn't get worse and be sure to have the tank stocked to be sure that there is plenty of territory for everyone.

 

[moneywastedonfish]

my lfs said kribs cant go with blue or gold rams as they will get picked on, they suggested boulivian butterflies, they look realy similar in shape to the rams ( i think they are from teh same family?) anyway i keep 2 boulivian butterflies with my breeding kribs with no hassles in a 40gal.
Microgeophagus altispinosa is the name of this species some photos at
http/www.thekrib.com/Apisto/P-altispinosa.html

 

[CFC]

Personally i dont agree with mixing cichlids from the two continents in the same tank, the South American dwarfs just dont have the same levels of aggression as their African cousins. Why not try one of the many other species of Pelvicachromis or another African dwarf species (not rift valley cichlids), they may not be as readily available but with a bit of research and some hunting you should be able to find some.