Kribs Fighting Is This One Female

[poohbear1]

Ok I hope I put these pictures on properly.
I got 2 kribs a week ago from a local pets at home. The male keeps chasing what I beleive to be the female and she hides all the time. I went back to pets at home but walked out in disgust as the tank the kribs were in were covered in white spot and one fish had like a cotton wool growth on it and there was a dead one in tank. So I dont want to take them back.
Is this a female (sorry the pics arent good I had to take her out the tank to take them) and how can I stop the male harrassing her.

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[kribensis12]

Hmmm, that is hard. What kind of Kribensis what it labeld as? I think it is Pelvachromis taeniatus " Nigerian Green". It look's like ti might be a female, but it's hard to tell from pic's. Seperate them and see what happen's. What isze is the tank? Do you have any decor, or something for them to hide in? Kribs are very shy and insecure( well, every pair i get are), and they need small gravle for them to dig, and plenty of hiding places for them to hide, and breed. Male or Female, that krib looks really stressed.

 

[Frasier]

I'm 90% sure your Krib is a female. I have kept Kribs in the past with this scenario occuring. I have two suggestions. The first is to put the male in with the tank you had her in for photo separated by a divider. Then completely change the layout of the tank they were originally in. Then place the female back and leave her in there for a few days. Then reintroduce the male into the females established teritory. My second suggestion is buy another female(not from PAH!) and carry out the above suggestion. These means the males attention now needs to focus two ways. What have you got the Kribs with? If the tank mates are the same size or bigger the male can sometimes feel threatened. I would be interested to know how you get on. Good luck.

 

[poohbear1]

She was in a tank labelled kribs and did have a black line along middle but shes lost most of her colouring.
Its a 15 uk gallon tank with 3 plastic plants, 3 real plants, a cave ornament and a teracotta plant pot.
So she has lots of places to hide but she always hides behind the filter.
Im really worried about how stressed she is but as this is only tank I have dont know what to do with her.
The 2 kribs are all thats in the tank at present.
I would be grateful for any help.
Water peramaters are ammonia 0 nitrites 0 and nitrates 40

 

[Davo86]

i'm also pretty sure thats a female.

As frasier mentioned you can remove the male, re-arrange the decor and then let the female establish herself in the tank before reintroducing the male once shes settled.

 

[Frasier]

Before reintroducing both Kribs perhaps introduce half a dozen relatively peaceful community fish(possibly neon tetras of a reasonable size) and possibly two-three corydoras catfish so the male Krib isn't able to claim the bottom or middle of the tank as his teritory. The decor sounds ok. The only thing you will need to do is if you decide to get catfish is buy some tablet food that sinks to the bottom of the tank. I'm sure everything will be fine. Your time and effort will be worthwhile as a pair of Kribs does make a great addition to a tropical set up.

 

[poohbear1]

Im not sure if I like corys so dunno if Ill go with them.
Ive been trying to decide what to put in tank with them.
Before when I had kribs I kept guppies and neons with them and was looking for somethign different but as the tank isnt that big I have to be careful of size and how many. So any suggestions of what I could put in with them would be good.

 

[kribensis12]

I would put them with mollies, platys, guppies, and other livebearer's. No cory's, as the Krib's will kill them. Happens everytime i try to introduce them. It might be a regualr krib, but if so, she might even die from the stress she has gone thorugh. I would defo not get another krib from Pets at Home. Dithers are okay, but not always very good at distracting krib's. My albino female died today from stress, even after i moved her ot her own 20g with plants and plenty of hiding places. Some males are extremely aggressive. Are you sure the other one is a male? IM not completely sure your's is a feamle as she is stressed enough you cant tell by coloring, and her fin's look jst a little pointed, but her body isnt shaped like a torpedo, so that is why im conflicted. I would defo seperate them. You will need to condition the feamle, as she isnt looking too good, and the male will kill her.

 

[Frasier]

I'm not very good at converting size of tank to amount of litres it holds. I' guessing your tank is about 18 inches long? If it is you could go for dwarf gouramis, just a word of warning they can be very timid and will need a close eye kept on them. Have you ruled out any sort of tetra? If not how about emperor tetras?

 

[poohbear1]

Ill put him in a bowl inside the tank tonight so he keeps warm and Ill build a tank divider tomorrow when I can get to shops.
He is definately a male and a nice looking one too.
How long should I keep them seperated?? and should I add other top dwelling fish to tank just now??

 

[kribensis12]

the tank is around 18.01425 gallons US. Here is a good link for you: http/www.markhorrell.co.uk/tools/volume.asp
Then you dont have to have someone tell you the dimensions. Im US too. I would just go w/ livebearer's, as the kribs wouild love to snack on some babies when they breed!

I would seperate them for atleast 1 week, maybe 2. You need to have mature media in the other tank or the male will die. Feed the female Brine SHrimp Adults enchanced with Spirulina. You get them frozen at you LFS. If not, then make sure you feed her something fattenig, so she can make egg's, so she will be ready to breed, or the male will kill her.

 

[Frasier]

I'm British and thought you were too, just trying to be helpful.

 

[kribensis12]

Ohhh, sorry! I just figuerd since you sounded like you didnt know, that you were American!

 

[Frasier]

No worries!

 

[poohbear1]

Ok he is in a big bowl inside the tank till tomorrow when I can get to a diy shop and get stuff to make a divider. Ill go to my lfs and get some good food for her to fatten her up tomorrow.
Thanks for all the help.