Kribensis Mating Behavior?

[Sesshis_grl]

Hello!

I have bought 3 Kribs hoping to get a pair. If this works out I will rehome the other one. They are acting odd though and I can't tell if this is aggression or mating. One is chasing and pecking. But the other will quiver every time it gets touched. I thought quivering was their mating display, but is it still mating if its not doing it on its own? The chaser actually locked lips with the 3rd one, and they turned in a circle and fought for a couple of minutes. It seems like they just aren't getting along, but with the quivering/lip locking I don't know if they are attempting to mate. I'd hate to break up a pair if I finally have one, but if its aggression it can't be good to keep them in this situation.

I was wondering if someone could be kind enough to sex my kribs? Or if not can someone tell me if this is normal mating behavior?

Thank you!



Here is the chaser

Here is the one that locked lips with the one above, and runs away

Here is the quiver-er, and runs away

 

[KkAaNnEe]

They all look somewhat female to me, males wouldnt have such round pink bellies, you can also tell by the dorsal fin but I cant tell in these pics

Locking lips would be more to do with aggression I would have thought

 

[Sesshis_grl]

I thought so too but I have heard of other cichlids locking lips to pair. I'm really not sure, its hard to find information on breeding behavior. Everything just talks about what happens/what to do after they already form a pair.

 

[peterclarke666]

I thought so too but I have heard of other cichlids locking lips to pair. I'm really not sure, its hard to find information on breeding behavior. Everything just talks about what happens/what to do after they already form a pair.

deffiently all female check out my video for a male and female pair and what ud expect a male to look like , hope it helps

 

[Sesshis_grl]

Thank you so much for the help.

I took them back to the lfs, the chaser was attacking the other 2 to death and possibly killing some of my other fish. Sad because I was really hoping to get something to breed =/ but at least now I know what a boy/girl krib looks like =p

Thanks again

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Yeah bit of trial and error. You going to get another pair?

Ive got a pair who are just starting to breed I hope, shes dug out the coconut cave and there is a neat little pile of sand outside the entrance to it lol

 

[Sesshis_grl]

I would like to, but I'm having mass fishy death at the moment. I need to get my tank stabilized and then I'll think about adding more. I'm wary of getting kribs again though as they seem so territorial. I only have a 29 G so whatever I get needs to play nice with the others until my 75 G is set up =DDDDD

And congrats! I hope you see some fry soon!

 

[Spurry]

i can sell you a pair of Pelvicachromis taeniatus klugei when there ready you can see the male and female and how different they are

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2o9Cy_HGNc&feature=player_embedded

 

[kribensis12]

Here is a time tested technique for sexing kribs. It's almost infallible.


Females:
2-3 inches long
Their stomachs are distended, even if slightly, it just has a rounded shape to it
Normally a VERY prominent red or purple stomach
Normally have a very large amount of gold coloring on dorsal fins
The pelvic fins are almost NEVER blue. It should be the color of her stomach.
The black bar along the fish is slightly less thick than would be a male

Males:
2-4 inches long
Torpedo shaped body
Thicker black bar
Should not have ANY kind of rounded stomach
Pelvic fins will be a blue color
If the stomach does has a red/purple color, it will not be much
Usually not much gold on dorsal fins

 

[peterclarke666]

Here is a time tested technique for sexing kribs. It's almost infallible.


Females:
2-3 inches long
Their stomachs are distended, even if slightly, it just has a rounded shape to it
Normally a VERY prominent red or purple stomach
Normally have a very large amount of gold coloring on dorsal fins
The pelvic fins are almost NEVER blue. It should be the color of her stomach.
The black bar along the fish is slightly less thick than would be a male

Males:
2-4 inches long
Torpedo shaped body
Thicker black bar
Should not have ANY kind of rounded stomach
Pelvic fins will be a blue color
If the stomach does has a red/purple color, it will not be much
Usually not much gold on dorsal fins

one very very important factor left out here though is the shape of the pelvic fins as thats the id factor for sexing kribensis fry as the females have club shaped pelvic fins ... almost look like little shoes in a way and males are pointed and elongated

also the males dorsal and anal fins are elongated with colouration all the way to the tip where as females colouration stops 3/4 of the way down and not elongated

 

[kribensis12]

I did forget the fins. It's important to note that some females do have longer fins. I've seen it before.

 

[Sesshis_grl]

Thank you everyone for the information, that was really helpful and informative! Sorry for the delay, I just got back from a summer job that had virtually no internet X.x.

But honestly thank you, I'm trying to learn how to sex the different fish I'm interested in as my lfs's never seem to know anymore. I would really love to get something to breed in my tank.

@ Spurry: Those fish look beautiful! I'm not looking to add at the moment but whats the basic info on them? How much are you asking?

 

[Hairy_Trev]

Just to add my comments on Sesshis excitement... In my local store I was commenting about being in the mood for another breeding project and the guy suggested kribs.... I bought a pair a few days later and added pots as caves but he was very aggressive and she died soon after.
I decided that he just didn't like her and bought two more larger females... at the start they just hid in the plants and I hardly saw them, but then, 2 days ago, when I got home from work I found the females had got very plump, cherry red bellies and all three were chasing each other.
Last night I noticed the females quivering quickly in spasms... one of them has chosen one of the pot caves and excavated much of the sand, dumping it out the front... I've removed the other female now so it's just him and her in there... hopefully they'll get it on in the next few days!!!

 

[Mick85]

Kribs are very easy to breed. I threw a pair into a 26gal breeder with some caves and they bred within a week. They made great parents too for about 2 weeks then they wanted to breed again and the female started chasing the babies so i got the parents out of there and left the babies to grow.

That's the male on the right, female on the left.

 

[Hairy_Trev]

Just to add my comments on Sesshis excitement... In my local store I was commenting about being in the mood for another breeding project and the guy suggested kribs.... I bought a pair a few days later and added pots as caves but he was very aggressive and she died soon after.
I decided that he just didn't like her and bought two more larger females... at the start they just hid in the plants and I hardly saw them, but then, 2 days ago, when I got home from work I found the females had got very plump, cherry red bellies and all three were chasing each other.
Last night I noticed the females quivering quickly in spasms... one of them has chosen one of the pot caves and excavated much of the sand, dumping it out the front... I've removed the other female now so it's just him and her in there... hopefully they'll get it on in the next few days!!!

OK.... so.. further developments... I'd explained before that the original male/female pair didn't work out with her demise... so bought two more larger females, with much deeper purple colouring in the belly.. to give him the choice of partner...
Things became much more active after that and showed some quivering and courtship behaviour, but also some squabbles, so I made a guess at which of the ladies he'd chosen and removed the other... BIG MISTAKE.... suddenly it all went very quiet again so I returned them to make up the threesome... squabbles again... took her out again.. went quiet again..
I did this several times with the same results, and finally decided to give uyp the idea for now and removed the original male to keep the peace... lo and behold... the two remaining purple belly females began to be more active, investigating caves and excavating a nest. Closer inspection of the dorsal shows clearly they are a male and female!!!
Yesterday, I got home from work and found they'd also started to tunnel for freedom, digging out all the sand from behind their cave but apparently they do like to move their offspring into a hollow... are they preparing for a larger home?
Last night they finaly seemed to get it on and I could see the female swim into the cave, and then turn upside down to swim slowly out.. the male then following with the same actions... I presume to slowly lag eggs along the roof of the cave.
I left them to it and this morning things seem to have gone quieter now, he's mostly staying in the cave and she's quietly cruising the tank again...
If it's 2 days for them to hatch as I've heard, then I could be looking to receive lots of nice new presents on this written off Christmas period!!!!

Best wishes to all, and have a wonderful festive season!