What To Do With Aggressive Kribensis

[Seal36]

My male and female kribensis have been together for just over a year now, they are on there 6th batch of eggs, 5th together. This time it has all been very different as the female has not let the male fertilise the eggs. That's not the problem the problem is that the female has lost all of her spawning colours which has never happened before and she has been violently attacking the male. So I have a few questions

1. Why has all of a sudden the female turned on the male.
2. Should I remove the male from the tank
3. If I do remove the male where shall I put him as I can't put him in my other tank.
4. I do have a old 40 litre tank which I could set up but have no mature filter media.
5 if I do separate them when should I re introduce them
6. Is there anyway I can stop the female being aggressive
7. Is it worth changing the male with a different one from my lfs and seeing if she gets on better with him.

Sorry about all the questions just really worried about my kribensis as they are my oldest fish and the only ones that I seem to be able to get eggs from. Thanks for all the help

from Tom

 

[star4]

My male and female kribensis have been together for just over a year now, they are on there 6th batch of eggs, 5th together. This time it has all been very different as the female has not let the male fertilise the eggs. That's not the problem the problem is that the female has lost all of her spawning colours which has never happened before and she has been violently attacking the male. So I have a few questions

1. Why has all of a sudden the female turned on the male.
No idea it happens from time to time.
2. Should I remove the male from the tank
No remove the aggressor (female)
3. If I do remove the male where shall I put him as I can't put him in my other tank.
Remove the female, bag her or put her in a bucket with an airline and heater if possible or in the 40l tank. Re-arrange the whole tank so it is completely different then return her this can sometimes trick cichlids into thinking they are in a new environment and they loose the attitude/aggression.
4. I do have a old 40 litre tank which I could set up but have no mature filter media.
5 if I do separate them when should I re introduce them
A couple of hours with tank re-arrangement sometimes works, if not then seperate for a week if you can get a filter for the 40l tank.
6. Is there anyway I can stop the female being aggressive
Nope
7. Is it worth changing the male with a different one from my lfs and seeing if she gets on better with him.
If re-arranging the tank so they have to re-establish their bond does not work then this is an option but there is no guarantee she will accept another male.

Sorry about all the questions just really worried about my kribensis as they are my oldest fish and the only ones that I seem to be able to get eggs from. Thanks for all the help

from Tom

 

[Seal36]

Thank you for all the help. I can put her in the 40 litre and I have a filter and heater for it but I have no mature media for the filter as the media that was in that filter is now in the new tank maturing that filter. Is there anyway I can get the old filter to mature quickly so she can go in there as I only took it out the tank a week ago. Also I have a breeding trap that looks like the one in the picture could I put her in there for an hour so she is still in the same tank as the male but can't get to him would that work or I could put her in that in my 110 litre tank from Tom

 

[star4]

She would be fine in the 40 l for a couple of hours while you re-arrange the tank. If she still overly aggressive and you need to seperate her longer then try your LFS to see if they can loan your or sell you some mature media.

 

[Seal36]

Ok thank you for the help and would it work if I put her in the net pictured above and moved her to my other tank or is the 40 litre the best place for her from Tom

 

[Seal36]

Hi as some of you know my female kribensis has started attack my male after being a pair for a year. I have set up a tank for her with a heater and a filter the only problem is I don't have any media in the filter in her new tank as the media that was in that filter is maturing the new tank that she was in before I moved her. I have a few questions

1. How long can she stay in there with no media
2. I have some filter pads I can put in and some filter start should I do that.
3. If things don't improve between the male and female which one should I take back to the shop.
4. She has infertile eggs in the old tank should I remove them or should I see if the male can fertilise them they have been there since Wednesday.

Really hope you can help as I'm at my wits end from Tom

 

[PrairieSunflower]

She can stay in the new tank as long as you realize you will need to be doing daily water testing and changing water immediately when you detect too much ammonia.
 
Edited to add... that is assuming an appropriate sized tank... as you didn't mention the size of either tank.

 

[Seal36]

It's a 40 litre she will be moving into but as it's only her In there the size won't be a problem. Also what should I do with her infertile eggs and should I put a filter pad and filter start into the water from Tom

 

[star4]

You could put her in the breeding net in the other tank while you change around her tank. Make sure you completely change the area where she spawns. Has she eaten the unfertile eggs or is she still guarding them? if she is I would remove those asap this wont be helping. If that doesnt work then you can put her in the 40l tank, if you cant get hold of any mature media just do daily waterchanges and test the water for ammonia levels, a week wouldnt harm while her hormones settle again.
Hope this helps

 

[Seal36]

Ok thanks how much water should I change a day and if it does not improve should I give the male or the female to the shop and should I put a filter pad in the filter in the new tank or leave it empty and I have some filter start should I put that in there as well from Tom

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Seal,
 
This is NOT an ideal set-up on any level for the kribs and their behavior is showing you this.  If returning them is an option, you should do it.  Returning BOTH as a proven pair, but with some recent aggression, can make them fairly valuable to the shop and you would get more in return for them, than just returning one of them.

 

[Seal36]

Thank you for your concern eagles aquarium but I have had the pair for over a year now and this is the first time there has been any behavioural problems between them. They usually live in a 90 litre tank with 3 caves one at each end and one in the middle. This is the 6th batch of eggs they have had together and the first time they have had a problem with them. I was thinking about returning the female if her behaviour does towards her mate does not improve but I want to keep the male and get a new female as I love the fish and they used to live in a 40 litre tank so there life is much better than it was. Can you explain what you mean by not an ideal set up. If you mean the tank is to small I know that the like a bigger tank but when they were in my bigger tank they killed the other fish which is why they are in a slightly smaller tank and I don't think I can return them as a proven pair as they only lay eggs and haven't managed to get them to the wriggler stage from Tom

 

[eaglesaquarium]

You mentioned the issues where they were aggressive to others in a 110L.

 

[Seal36]

Yes I did but that aggression was over a year ago and stop when I moved them to there own tank and until now they had gotten on very well with each other and with the rummy nose tetras in the tank too from Tom

 

[Seal36]

I have decided that I will take both of my kribensis back to the shop tomorrow as they are very aggressive towards each other