thinking of getting a krib

[cutecotton]

hi everyone after talking to several people on this forum, i thought i might want to try and keep a pair of kribs they sound awfully cute and adorable i've done a bit of research on them, but still got a few questionst o ask before i jump ahead and get a pair

first off, this is my first time EVER having a cichlid, i dont' know mucha bout them except for the kribs (read up on them last night). I dont' know if they're goign to be aggressive towards my other fish, i plan to put hte pair in a 25G with the following fish:

3 otos
3 female bettas
3 guppies (2 female 1 male)
4 shrimps

If the kribs do decide to breed, i'm afraid they are going to turn aggressive towards my other fish (most owrried about the female bettas at the moment, they are prized and spoiled in my tank ). could anyone tell me if there are any conflicts if i add 2 kribs in there?

And another thing, i'm not sure what kribs eat. At the moment i only have betta pellets, regular flake food, and freeze dried bloodworms. Will they come up to the surface and eat (my guppis are pigs they will stuff themselves until they explode), or do i need to get them some sort of sinking food

Anyways thanks if anyone can help a newbie out i'm very excited about them

 

[Vip]

Thats a hard one, i understand how bad you want cichlids but you are running a risk, i could see them attacking a fish that cant defend its self, such as a guppy, they might go for its throat as i have seen this before but they did it to a male betta. Talk to who ever you are getting them off and see if they will take them back just in case things go wrong, but go for it and see what happens, but just remember, like all cichlids they do have a powerful jaw for a little fish.

 

[cutecotton]

cool, thanks for replying. Worse comes to worse i can isolate the female bettas nad put them somewhere else..i'll talk to my lfs, they are usually pretty good about taking fish back that arent' compatible. Is there anything else i need to take spiecal ntoice about wtih teh kribs?

 

[Vip]

Ask for a couple of days as they are shy and might not want to do anything for a day or two, but with the feeding i think what you have is fine, maybe get them a small O.S.I Cichlid flake but you dont have to.

 

[cutecotton]

that's cool. Acutally i just returned 10 of my white clouds beucase i did'nt like htem in my tank (either did myf emale bettas), and i've had them for 2 weeks lfs just took them back without even asking for hte recepit! he just looked at them, said they looked healthy, and gave me my money back

i guess i got lucky i'm going to call later on and see if they carry kribs.

Should i just pick a pair from the store, or get 1 male and 3 females and allow the male to pick a female that he watns?

i've also heard about "target" fish while the kribs are breeding....do you know what those are?

 

[thellama]

you can use danios as 'dither' fish.... they swim fast enough so the kribs shouldnt hurt them...

id just get a male and female.. everytime ive done that theyve bred...

but id worry about your other fish while they are breeding...

they like the bottom of the tank also.. so they will probably kill your ghost shrimp..

you could always try it... and if thinks dont work out take em back lol

 

[moneywastedonfish]

with thefish in your tank the kribs are definately going to be the boss, as thellama said they are prolific breaders so they should be happy without letting the male 'pick' a female.
Mine have a much larger territory than they're size would indicate, they rule the hole tank and the other fish aern't allowed any near they're log.
In my tank having plenty of plants allows the other tetras to hide.


And jeez they are soo pretty when breeding especially the male, ill post pictures soon.

 

[cutecotton]

i got another question i want to make a cave for my apir of kribs...i hae a regular flowerpot, but you kno whow flowerpots have a hole at the bottom for the water? if i turn this upside down and the kribs lay the eggs at the top of the pot..wouln'd it all just float through teh hole?

I was thinking of just using a regular white plastic container and cut a neat litlte hole on it. I'ts big enough, but the plastic is pretty soft, i may glue some rocks and stuff to it to make it look a bit more natural.

wahtd o you guys use for your krib caves?