Kribensis Fry

[Finding_Nemo]

Hi all,

Need a little advice please.
We have a 125L tank, with Swordtails, Rainbow Fish, Neon Tetra's, Mollies, Guppies, Corydora's, Clown Loaches, Rummy Noses, Bleeding Hearts, another variey that I cannot remember name of (they are long orange fish that are like bottom feeders), & of course, 2 Kribensis.

We didn't know that there was a male & female, until we saw a load of eggs on one of the artificial plants in the tank.

We put a small pot & half a coconut shell in there & they moved them into the pot.

They hatched no problem.
Looked around 50-70.

After a couple of days, the female decided to take them for a scout around the tank.

BIG mistake.
One decided to go a different direction, & when the mother went after it, the Rainbow Fish pounced on the rest of the fry, eating alot of them.

We have around 28 left, to which we have seperated from the rest of the tank & from the mum & dad.
It has only been 2 days since the fry have hatched, so is this a good thing to do?

We are looking at buying another tank, so we can put the Krib fry in there, and also reunite them with mum & dad.
Again, is this ok to do, or will they be likely to eat them, or will mum & dad be aggresive towards each other?
I thought about using a measuring cup to scoop a couple of baby fry up & put them in the tank with mum & dad, to see what happens.
If they live, then transfer rest in. If not, then won't do it.

Do you think it is worth putting a few of the other fish in the new tank with them to give the male something to guard against?

Also, how many Krib male & females do you recommend for one tank?
I would imagine just the one pair, as they are VERY territorial.

Many thanks for any advice & help you can give me.

Kindest Regards,

Pete

 

[minnnt]

Hey Pete, welcome to the forum!

Congratulations on the new arrivals! If you buy a new tank it will have to be cycled first before you can put any fish in especially fry, i shouldn't imagine they would survive doing a fish in cycle with the fry. There is lots of information on this site regarding cycling of tanks. Could you devide the tank? You could put the remaining babies in a breeding trap designed for livebearers etc and grow them on for a few weeks until they get bigger. If you have another tank already available then move the other fish and leave the Kribensis in situe so not to upset them.

As for the amount of pairs in your 125 litre tank, you are correct when you say that you can only have one pair due to them being territorial aggressive little bleeders!

You could also add a few more caves and live plants for them to hide amongst for a while.

Good luck Pete, keep us informed and get some pics up!!!

 

[Finding_Nemo]

Hi Minnnt,

Many thanks for your welcome & your reply.

I did speak to someone at the Japanese Koi Company in Henlow as it is fairly local to us, & we were looking there at the tanks to buy one.
I told him the existing 125L tank was due a water change, but didn't want to do it while the fry were in there.
He said, maybe I could use the water from the water change to put in the new tank to immediately cycle it, then put the fry & parents straight in.
I wasn't so sure about this. I also thought the tank would need topping up with fresh water & I would have to put some chemicals in to purify it etc, which might upset them.
Is this possible to do?

I do have the fry in a breeding tank at the mo, & thy seem quite happy & safe.

I do have another tank, but unfortunately, it is also full of fish & is only 40L.
It would not cope with the other fish in there.
The filter would just give up I think.

We don't have any live plants in there at mo, as when we do, the tank gets littered with snails.
But, now we have 3 clown loaches in there, hopefully they will sort that little problem out.

I'll keep you informed & get some pics up soon.

Going out now to look at a new tank.
Back later.

Thanks again,

Pete

 

[Tizer]

the fry are quite capable of surviving on their own, they wont produce a lot of waste so it might be best to move them out to a cheap £20 clearseal tank 12x10x10 and pop an airstone in it, or even better a cheap sponge filter powered by your air pump, then do a jug full of water change daily.

your origional tank water wont instantly cycle another filter, bacteria lives in the filter, not the water and takes months to build up.

i just introduced a breeding pair of kribs to my tank today, hoping they dont get too fussy with my breeding bolivian rams plenty of room...unless they spawn eggs in the middle of the tank then i got issues

 

[minnnt]

Hi Minnnt,

Many thanks for your welcome & your reply.

I did speak to someone at the Japanese Koi Company in Henlow as it is fairly local to us, & we were looking there at the tanks to buy one.
I told him the existing 125L tank was due a water change, but didn't want to do it while the fry were in there.
He said, maybe I could use the water from the water change to put in the new tank to immediately cycle it, then put the fry & parents straight in.
I wasn't so sure about this. I also thought the tank would need topping up with fresh water & I would have to put some chemicals in to purify it etc, which might upset them.
Is this possible to do?

I do have the fry in a breeding tank at the mo, & thy seem quite happy & safe.

I do have another tank, but unfortunately, it is also full of fish & is only 40L.
It would not cope with the other fish in there.
The filter would just give up I think.

We don't have any live plants in there at mo, as when we do, the tank gets littered with snails.
But, now we have 3 clown loaches in there, hopefully they will sort that little problem out.

I'll keep you informed & get some pics up soon.

Going out now to look at a new tank.
Back later.

Thanks again,

Pete

No problem mate.

As Tizer said, the filter is where you need the bacteria, not the water, so although it would help by putting the water from the old tank into the new one as not to shock the fish with drastically different water conditions, it wouldn't really help cycle the tank. It's a tough one. If you had to split the fish then maybe you could do as Tizer said and get a cheapo tank and attempt to put some filter media from your existing tank into your new tanks filter along with the old tank water. If your fry is safe in the breeding trap then you could let it settle for a few days and add the fish from your tank that you need to, then put the fry into the main tank. You may find though that if you return the fry to the parents they may eat them anyway as they have had a couple of days away from them? I'm not really sure, but just a warning. Then after a week or so i would put the fry into the new smaller tank after it has matured for a bit longer.

Alternatively you could just leave them in the breeding trap for a few weeks whilst a smaller tank is maturing (with media and water from your existing filter and tank) then add the fry to it. This would make it easier when you need to catch them to sell them.

And if you get yourself some 'tap safe' or similar this will help de-chlorinate the water when you do the water changes. It doesn't harm the fish. Use warm water from the tap at a similar temperature to the tanks.

Clown loaches should help with the snail problem, but maybe you should source your plants from somehwere else if this is the case. You could also buy the plants, seperate them and rinse to attempt to get rid of them. You could do with some really for when your fry are released into the tank along with some small rocks/caves for them to hide that other fish cannot get into.

Cheers, David.

 

[Finding_Nemo]

the fry are quite capable of surviving on their own, they wont produce a lot of waste so it might be best to move them out to a cheap £20 clearseal tank 12x10x10 and pop an airstone in it, or even better a cheap sponge filter powered by your air pump, then do a jug full of water change daily.

your origional tank water wont instantly cycle another filter, bacteria lives in the filter, not the water and takes months to build up.

i just introduced a breeding pair of kribs to my tank today, hoping they dont get too fussy with my breeding bolivian rams plenty of room...unless they spawn eggs in the middle of the tank then i got issues

Hi mate,

Thanks for your reply.

Yeah, I was a bit unsure of using the existing water to cycle the tank "instantly" as said by a couple of the companies I spoke to.

I do have the smaller 40L tank, but the filter in there will suck them up.

Good luck with your breeding Kribs.
They are amazing to watch during this cycle.
We have Rainbow Fish & they seem to be the biggest eaters of the tank & will instantly go for the fry.

No problem mate.

As Tizer said, the filter is where you need the bacteria, not the water, so although it would help by putting the water from the old tank into the new one as not to shock the fish with drastically different water conditions, it wouldn't really help cycle the tank. It's a tough one. If you had to split the fish then maybe you could do as Tizer said and get a cheapo tank and attempt to put some filter media from your existing tank into your new tanks filter along with the old tank water. If your fry is safe in the breeding trap then you could let it settle for a few days and add the fish from your tank that you need to, then put the fry into the main tank. You may find though that if you return the fry to the parents they may eat them anyway as they have had a couple of days away from them? I'm not really sure, but just a warning. Then after a week or so i would put the fry into the new smaller tank after it has matured for a bit longer.

Alternatively you could just leave them in the breeding trap for a few weeks whilst a smaller tank is maturing (with media and water from your existing filter and tank) then add the fry to it. This would make it easier when you need to catch them to sell them.

And if you get yourself some 'tap safe' or similar this will help de-chlorinate the water when you do the water changes. It doesn't harm the fish. Use warm water from the tap at a similar temperature to the tanks.

Clown loaches should help with the snail problem, but maybe you should source your plants from somehwere else if this is the case. You could also buy the plants, seperate them and rinse to attempt to get rid of them. You could do with some really for when your fry are released into the tank along with some small rocks/caves for them to hide that other fish cannot get into.

Cheers, David.

Hi David,

Thanks for your reply.

Yeah, I don't think I am going to try an instant cycle, as advised by Japanese Koi Company.
Maybe that is why most of the fish I have gotten from there have not lasted more than 2 weeks.

I have just bought an AR620 tank, 90L with cabinet, so will get this set up & cycled for a week or so with the existing water from 125L tank, then transfer the fry in & see how they get on.

I am not sure if I am going to reunite the fry with the parents.
I might try a couple first & see how they get on.

I have a couple of companies willing to buy the Kribs once ready.

I do have a few water conditioners such as Aquasafe & the like to de-chlorinate the water etc.

Yes, the Clown loaches should clear the snail problem.
I will get some live plants at some point, but at the mo it will probably be just the Kribs in the new tank, so no danger at present.
Your suggestion of sourcing them somewhere else & washing first is a good idea.
We did try to source elsewhere a while ago, but still got snails.
We'll give them a good wash first.

Many thanks for your advice chaps.

I'll keep you posted & pics soon.

Regards,

Pete

 

[minnnt]

Add some filter media from your current tanks filter to your new tanks filter, this will speed up the process of cycling. Have you thought of moving the fish to the new tank rather than the fry as they 'should' cope better with a new tank than the fry would.

 

[Finding_Nemo]

Add some filter media from your current tanks filter to your new tanks filter, this will speed up the process of cycling. Have you thought of moving the fish to the new tank rather than the fry as they 'should' cope better with a new tank than the fry would.

Well, I was going to clean the existing filters in the new tank, against the filter media, along with some of the water from water change, but then thought a water change & filter clean might upset the existing tank.

Yes, I did think about moving all the other fish to the new tank, but the amount of fish we have & the size of some of them, I think they would be better staying in the existing tank, being an extra 35L than the new tank.
I also thought the fry might be better off in the new tank as the new tank has the filtration system in the hood, so the fry will not get sucked up in the filter, or squashed behind it when cleaned or moved.
I then also thought again about all the other fish in the new tank, as with the filtration system being in the hood, it would show the whole tank to it's full beauty.

Hmmmm, decisions eh!!

I'm gonna start cycling the new tank tomorrow, so will keep you informed.
Hopefully some pics tomorrow too.

Thanks for your reply.

Regards,

Pete

 

[Finding_Nemo]

Ok, as promised, some pics.

First, is the small Aquael Pearl 40 Tank (40L).

Please excuse the condition of the water.
I have not done a water change for a bit.

Second, is the Existing Fluval Roma 125 (125L).

Again, please excuse the condition of the water & gravel as I have not done my scheduled water change due to the female Krib laying her eggs.

2 more pics of the Roma 125 showing the Kribs up close with the female sporting her red belly.

Lastly, here is the new tank - AquaOne AR-620 (90L) that I have set up today & will be cycling it for a week.

Here is another pic of the new AquaOne AR-620 with the cabinet.

A side-on pic of the AquaOne AR-620.

Oh, & a pic of the Krib Fry, currently in a breeding tank in the Roma 125.

We have decided to move the Fry to the new AquaOne AR-620 tank.
They will stay in the breeding tank in the Roma 125 for a week, while the new tank cycles, then I'll move them across at the end of the week.

The Roma 125 & the Pearl 40 will then get cleaned.
The Pearl 40 needs some attention like gravel & such, & I may move the fish into the Roma 125 & have the smaller Pearl 40 as an emergency tank for the fry, or breeding pair etc.

I'm really impressed with the AquaOne AR-620 tank.
It came with instructions, obviously, but also came with a DVD that showed you step by step how to set up & maintain the AR range of tanks, & the voice over for the whole DVD was none other than "Kylie Minogue".

Might be looking at getting the top-end tank in the range (AR-980), & either moving the fish from the Roma 125 into that & using the Roma 125 as a marine tank, or just use the AR-980 as a marine tank.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the pics & I'll keep you informed regarding the Fry.

Thanks for all your help & advice.

Regards,

Pete

 

[Finding_Nemo]

Just as a side note, does anyone have any idea wh the Female Krib is hiding?

It has only been a few days, might be a week since she laid her eggs, so I'm guessing it is because she is not ready to mate again yet with the Male.
Or, maybe coz she has been seperated from her Fry?
She has also lost the red colour on her belly.

Anyone confirm my thoughts or know any other reason why?

Many thanks,

Pete

 

[minnnt]

Your new tank looks smart... you do like you colourful gravel!! lol. Can't help with the female krib though. If she has lost her colour then she won't take any interest in breeding for a while i think.

 

[Finding_Nemo]

Your new tank looks smart... you do like you colourful gravel!! lol. Can't help with the female krib though. If she has lost her colour then she won't take any interest in breeding for a while i think.

Thanks David.

Yeah, depending on what goes in the tank, ornament or fish wise, colourful gravel can really set it off.
But you are right, we do like colourful gravel

Yes, I think this is wht she has lost ger colour, as she doesn't want to mate yet.

Thanks again David,

Pete

 

[minnnt]

no probs mate, keep me posted on the fry!!!

 

[XFiSh_CichildX]

some nice guppies u got there lol those dry are tiny congrats lol

 

[Finding_Nemo]

no probs mate, keep me posted on the fry!!!

Will do mate, thanks.

some nice guppies u got there lol those dry are tiny congrats lol

Hi mate.
Thanks.
We have some guppies in the small Aquael Pearl 40 tank & a few in the Roma 125, but you can't really seem them in pics of the Roma 125 tank.
We might move them all together in the Roma 125 at some point.
Yes, the fry are small, bless em.
They were even smaller when they first hatched.

I might have a pic of them in the tank when they were first hatched, but I don't think it is a clear one.
I'll post it up in a bit.

Might get a few live plants soon & maybe an air stone or something for the Roma 125 & the new AquaOne AR-620.


I'll keep you guys posted of te progress.

Cheers chaps,

Pete