Dithers For Kribensis

[minnnt]

Just wondered if anyone could suggest any dithers for a breeding pair of Kribensis in a 90 litre tank please.

Thanks in advance.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

A group of African tetras would fit the bill, so depending upon what is available local to you, there are species like

Congo Tetra (Phenacogrammus interruptus)
Yellow tailed Congo Tetra (Alestopetersius caudalis)
African Red Eye (Arnoldichthys spilopterus)
Long-finned (Brycinus longipinnis)
One-Stripe (Nannaethiops unitaeniatus)

From personal experience, try and obtain at least two females per male in the group of 6-9 fish. I started off with 12 unsexed Yellow-tailed last year, but the group "imploded" when they matured and all turned out to be males, inflicting vicious wounds on each other during dominance fights which sadly killed most of them despite extra water changes and Myxazin treatment ("mussels" adopted the final three last autumn, which last I heard thankfully behaved in his 6-foot tank). Having said that, A. caudalis are probably the most fiesty of the African tetras, but it is perhaps something worth bearing in mind.

Away from tetras, you could possibly consider African Three-Striped Catfish (Pareutropius buffei), a midwater diurnal catfish. They do like some water current and the length of your tank may create long term issues if it is less than 100cm. They would need a sizeable group of 10+ to give them confidence.


A couple of African Butterfly Fish could finish the African theme, residing on the water surface. Providing the upper water current is quite calm and they have some plants (mine lurk in floating Canadian Pondweed) and they have 30cm square per specimen, they will be happy enough.

 

[kribensis12]

Lemon Tetra's.

 

[minnnt]

Thanks. I think Congo tetras maybe a little too big for a 90 litre tank?

 

[Tizer]

black neons should be ok, probably the most active dither fish i've used.

 

[minnnt]

Cool. Thinking if getting a shoal. Do you think scissor tail rasboras would be ok to?

 

[Tizer]

i couldnt say for certain, it really depends how well they take abuse from the kribs over territory, some fish stress and burst out in white spot while others dont mind being shoved about a little. You can but try! gluck.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Cool. Thinking if getting a shoal. Do you think scissor tail rasboras would be ok to?

http/www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Rasbora&species=trilineata&id=989 suggests not, as they are too active. SF profiles are not always right, but I must admit as soon as I saw the "scissortail" common name, it made me think of the "blander" cousins of Redline Torpedo Barbs that reach ~15cm and enjoy swimming space.

In a 90l (~30" length), it is going to be tricky getting something that is as least as big as the Kribs which is more likely to tolerate the Kribs' aggression if breeding, while being a relative sedatory fish that does not need room to swim and spends at least most of its time away from the tank floor.

 

[Tizer]

i'll have 20 tiger barbs in my 90l with breeding kribs at some point, could be a good option for you too, or perhaps the five banded barbs, less agressive

 

[Ben M]

I agree with about the tiger barbs. I have them with my breeding pair of kribs, and they are happy (and spawn, although all of the eggs are eaten).

They aren't bullied by the kribs at all.

Cheers

 

[Finding_Nemo]

Dave,

Don't know if you remember, but I have 6 Zebra Danio's & 4 Glowworm Tetra's in my 90L with my Krib pair.

They all get on just fine.

Not had an incident yet.

The Krib's get a bit twitchy with the 2 Pleco's, but they tend to stay out of the way.

The Danio's stay pretty much at the top of the tank.
The Tetra's stay around the middle.
So, no real conflicts, but enough to keep the Krib's busy as protective parents.

Good luck mate.

Pete

 

[roadmaster]

Dither fishes are normally used for helping otherwise shy fishes to feel more secure while target fishes, are used to help reduce aggression by giving the fishes other fishes to focus thier aggression on.
Never had a problem with shy Kribensis unless placed with much larger cichlids and or not enough caves ,rocks,wood etc.
Spawning fishes in my expierience,usually don't appreciate too many other fishes while gaurding eggs,or fry.
Just my two cents.
Would prolly look to larger bodied Tetra's or barbs if just looking for some more activity/fishes for Kribensis who can reach five inches and sometimes make life miserable for smaller fishes.
I have seen adult Kribensis in my tanks give chase to fairly larger fishes than themselves during spawning and while herding fry around the tank.

 

[minnnt]

Hey pete, how's the babies doing? I've recently sold my pair on due to wanting to persue other avenues with stocking and needing the tank space. Shame really as they were lovely, but the missus won't let me havve anymore tanks. Aparently 4 is enough...

 

[Gamegurl564]

Never to many tanks!

 

[kribensis12]

Never to many tanks!

FYI this post is from 2011.