Problem with breeding kribs

[Cheese Specialist]

Hey, I posted about this problem in the emergency section but didn't get much of a response (thanks to chaos for yours).

This is what I put:

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Hello everyone,

Not posted in this section for a whie but I have a problem. I have a 78l set-up for my albino kribs and I found fry yesterday. See here. They seem well and there's a lot of them.

Anyways, the male is being really aggressive with the female. She has a big bite out of her tail and he lets the 2 mollies closer to the fry than the Mum. He chases her around the tank and I hear her banging off the glass. She is looking very stressed and I am worried about her.

Are the 2 mollies not enough to keep his attention? I am going to put my golden gourami in there for now to see if it helps and I an always take her back out. I thought she'd be good because of where her mouth is, it makes it hard for her (and the mollies who were chosen for the same reason) to eat off the bottom.

Any help appreciated.

Oh, by the way all levels are fine (amonia and nitrIe 0 and nitrAte 10) and the tank has been set up about 3 weeks and mature filter media was used.

Dana

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then I followed it up with:

I decided against adding the golden gourami because I think she's a bit big for that size of tank (about 4") so I added my 3 penguin tetra instead, hopefully that'llgive a bit more action for Mr K to keep an eye on.

Hope poor Mrs K is going to be alright. I considered taking her out but I don't think that's a good idea.

Any help is still very welcome.

Dana

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I hope someone can help. The female is hiding out in the corner beside the filter and if she comes out Mr K chases her away. She's looking all pale and I am still worried about her.

Can you guys help?

 

[freshmike]

I would remove her. Sounds like the male just has some aggression problems and prefers to take them out on her.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Really? Aw

Then what happens? I am not bothered about breeding them, I just thought it would be interesting but I don't want them to be hurt in the process. Should I split them forever or put them back in the 320l where they were before and didn't breed (no suitable caves, on purpose) once the fry are older?

Thanks for your reply.

 

[duendecillo]

I think the male wants to raise the fry by himself, and sees the female as a threat.
In my opinion, the best thing to do would be to get the female out for a while, untill the fry are a bit older, and can take care of themselves easier.
After that it shouldn't be a problem to put her back...

 

[freshmike]

If he wasn't this aggressive towards her before the spawning, then I would just seperate them until the babies have a grown a bit and can fend for themselves (the father no longer needs to protect them) This might JUST be him thinking he is the only one needed to raise the fry...

 

[freshmike]

I think the male wants to raise the fry by himself, and sees the female as a threat.
In my opinion, the best thing to do would be to get the female out for a while, untill the fry are a bit older, and can take care of themselves easier.
After that it shouldn't be a problem to put her back...

Funny. We said the same thing.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Yeah, they were ok before the fry. When she was in the cave (not sure if with eggs or fry) and she'd try to come out sometimes and he'd chase her back in but didn't hurt her.

I am a bit worried about stressing the female out a lot by moving her so often. Would it be ok to put the female in the 320l (community, quite a bit of space since the rearrange) and let the male take care of the fry and then when the fry are bigger and are safer put the male in the 320l as well? When they were in there, there was a lot of shuddering and they were always together but they never had fry/eggs until I put them in the 75l.

What do you reckon. I feel sorry for the poor female. She keeps trying to go over to her babies.

 

[freshmike]

Just move her for now. Are you planning on keeping the fry in the 75 as a grow-out? If so, then yeah, it would be a good idea to remove the male after a while as well....They will become reacquainted in the new tank...hopefully not in such a rude manner...and once the fry are ready to go do whatever you have planned for them, then you can try to spawn them again. As for stressing her by moving her....she is pretty darn stressed already from the sounds of it.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Yeah, I was thinking the fry could stay in the 75l until the grow enough to be rehomed.

When I say stressing by being moved I mean being moved often, like she'd be moved to the 75l to 'serve her purpose' and then once the fry hatch will be moved again. Seems kinda sad.

I think I'll move her now and leave the male to look after the fry. Might move the penguin tetra back now and leave him and the fry in the 75l with the 2 female mollies and then when the fry are a bit bigger, I'll move the male back to the 320l. Maybe use the 75l for something else.

Does that seem ok? Will the kribs be more inclined to breed in the 320l now because they have before or will it just go back to normal?

Thanks for your help

 

[freshmike]

It's hard to say whether or not they will breed more readily in the other tank....there might be something about the closer confines of the 75 that induces spawning a little more. I think she will be fine if you move her...is of course better than the jerky male beating on her all the time. Good luck Cheese.

 

[Chaos]

Everything mentioned above I pretty much agree with as well. Sounds like you got things under control for now by moving the female. And id defintly move the male as soon as the babies are bigger and can take care of themselves. Dont want him taking his aggression out on the wee ones.

I got my webcam turned on this morning moved and pointed towards my kribs house, been sitting here at work watching them go in and out of there all morning, hoping to catch a glimpse of my babies.

 

[duendecillo]

I think the male wants to raise the fry by himself, and sees the female as a threat.
In my opinion, the best thing to do would be to get the female out for a while, untill the fry are a bit older, and can take care of themselves easier.
After that it shouldn't be a problem to put her back...

Funny. We said the same thing.

even more funny because we seem to be the only ones here who don't get their kribs to breed...

 

[jumpman]

Hey Cheese,

Happened the opposite with mine, the female turned on the male and bit half of his tail off! Shows how individual fish can be eh? Penguin tetras worked fine with mine, but you have definately done the right thing in removing her, when you re-unite them without the fry around there should be no problems, just more sweet music!!

jump

 

[iloveyou]

try a water change.. i did a 25% and the next day i had babies

 

[freshmike]

That's not the problem she is having...please read the post before replying. Thank you.