P. Kribensis "Moliwe"

[kribensis12]

I'm toying with the idea of writing an article to flesh out the many differences between location variations for Kribensis Cichlids. We'll see.

BUT....

I have a pair of wild caught P. Kribensis "Moliwe" coming in this Thursday morning! I ordered them from The Wet Spot which I have heard good and bad things about, so my fingers are crossed.

For those of you that do not know what they look like, here is a sample picture:

I'm super excited!

 

[Slaphppy7]

Good luck, I've had great success with TWS

 

[GaryE]

This is my favourite Cichlid. I've had wilds 5 times over the past 30 years, and bred them every time. Be careful with the article, as I've had 3 subtly different fish from Moliwe, which is more a limited region than a single spot. I've also seen different Lobe.
Wonderful fish - you won't regret the purchase.

 

[kribensis12]

This is my favourite Cichlid. I've had wilds 5 times over the past 30 years, and bred them every time. Be careful with the article, as I've had 3 subtly different fish from Moliwe, which is more a limited region than a single spot. I've also seen different Lobe.
Wonderful fish - you won't regret the purchase.

Good to know!

I was really hoping to get some from the Kienke location point but I can't find them anywhere. I'm intending to breed and sell these beauties.

 

[GaryE]

I have a friend trying to breed P drachenfelsi Woure, and I really hope she succeeds soon!

 

[kribensis12]

I have a friend trying to breed P drachenfelsi Woure, and I really hope she succeeds soon!

OOOOOO - You should get some pics for us! I've also found the breeding colors of P. Matadi to be next.level. Females can turn almost completely black which a cherry red belly.

 

[kribensis12]

They arrived today in PERFECT condition. Very impressed with quick shipping, cost and quality! Highly recommend!

Here is me unboxing them - I shared an ordered with a friend that order the “Muyuka” collection point.

I also have a video of them in their new tank! I’ll try to add a few more caves once they have settled in!

 

[GaryE]

Moliwe has water that runs down a volcano. It has higher mineral levels and a pH above 7. Mine bred well at 140ppm, while Muyuka, Bipindi, Calabar, Lobe and the others all liked softer water. Even Moliwe, in softer water, produced way larger broods.

 

[kribensis12]

Moliwe has water that runs down a volcano. It has higher mineral levels and a pH above 7. Mine bred well at 140ppm, while Muyuka, Bipindi, Calabar, Lobe and the others all liked softer water. Even Moliwe, in softer water, produced way larger broods.

I've got the pH at 7.2 with a TDS of 60ppm so I should be good on that front. Got any recommendations for encouraging spawning? Regular Kribs would spawn out of water if they could. I will start feeding live daphnia and frozen foods next week.

I also realized that I forgot to include my video of the unboxing. I'll get it up here in a bit.

 

[kribensis12]

Update: I've got about 20 or so fry from them. They became free-swimming a week ago.

I removed them (want to protect my investment incase they eat their fry and then "bite it") immediately and set them up in a 20g with the tank temp at 84F to help accelerate growth. I am feeding them BBS 2-3x a day.

I'll hopefully get a video up this week - they are just getting big enough where it's easy to film them. The female is already looking like she is ready to breed again and guys...... she is GORGEOUS. Seeing how beautiful she and the male are, I can truly see why sometimes Wild Caught's are more beautiful than their tank-bred counterparts.

 

[Colin_T]

Good job on the babies.

If cichlids are going to eat their babies, they usually do it in the first few days. Wild caught fish are much less likely to eat their young because they were brought up by their parents and learnt fish behaviour and brood care skills from their parents.

One of my favourite kribensis type fish is P. subocellatus from Moanda. The females get a pink belly with a frost white edging around the pink. It's pretty stunning but so are most of the kribensis group

 

[Wills]

This is great, love the unusual Krib species but have to admit I dont know enough about them so would love a write up I'd be interested in a map showing where all the varieties come from too. I've seen similar things for fish like Frontosa showing the different colours of populations around Lake Tangkinyka which is really interesting.

Congrats on the spawn too going to be interesting to see them grow

Wills

 

[kribensis12]

Good job on the babies.

If cichlids are going to eat their babies, they usually do it in the first few days. Wild caught fish are much less likely to eat their young because they were brought up by their parents and learnt fish behaviour and brood care skills from their parents.

One of my favourite kribensis type fish is P. subocellatus from Moanda. The females get a pink belly with a frost white edging around the pink. It's pretty stunning but so are most of the kribensis group

Thanks, @Colin_T ! One fry escaped me for a couple of days - and mom/dad did an excellent job. I don't think I've ever seen a fish fry follow it's mom so closely. I suspect she's going to lay again today, so I am undecided if I will pull them or not.

This is great, love the unusual Krib species but have to admit I dont know enough about them so would love a write up I'd be interested in a map showing where all the varieties come from too. I've seen similar things for fish like Frontosa showing the different colours of populations around Lake Tangkinyka which is really interesting.

Congrats on the spawn too going to be interesting to see them grow

Wills

I have been so busy lately, but I would love to write up an article and most definitely - a pic showing all the color morphs and where they are located would be awesome! Thanks for thought!

 

[GaryE]

I've written a few articles on these fish, but they were published commercially and for copyright reasons I can't link them here. There's one in Mandarin with great photos...
If you decide you want a reviewer/editor for the eventual article, shoot me a PM.
The Cichlid Fishes of Western Africa by Anton Lamboj is the best resource, but like all quality fishbooks now, it isn't cheap. Anton Lamboj did the revision of Pelvicachromis that dealt with the what is taeniatus, what is kribensis what is pulcher question.

 

[anewbie]

I've written a few articles on these fish, but they were published commercially and for copyright reasons I can't link them here. There's one in Mandarin with great photos...
If you decide you want a reviewer/editor for the eventual article, shoot me a PM.
The Cichlid Fishes of Western Africa by Anton Lamboj is the best resource, but like all quality fishbooks now, it isn't cheap. Anton Lamboj did the revision of Pelvicachromis that dealt with the what is taeniatus, what is kribensis what is pulcher question.

DId you have a favorite species and if so what made it your preference ?