Breeding Kribensis!
Here we have a short account of my experience of breeding Kribs, along with some pictures taken at various stages during their life. I hope this is of some use to you.
Kribs, or Kribensis make great pets, and are fascinating to watch raise a family. They show real character, like most cichlids, especially with a batch of babies to look after. I've kept a wide variety of tropical fish, and Kribs are by far my favourite.
I've recently been fortunate enough to witness my second pair of kribs raise a family. Well, to be more specific, it's a single-parent family at the moment. It seems the mum-krib was so proud and protective of her new offspring, she beat the father to death. Here's a short page about my beginner's experience of breeding kribensis.
Tips and information on how to make your own pet kribs breed
- Get yourself a fish tank
- Put some fine gravel in, so the kribs can dig holes in it
- Whack a plant pot in upside-down, with a hole cut in the side for the kribs to live in
- Purchase the decent man-krib
- Purchase the biggest, fattest red-bellied woman-krib you can find
- Stick them in
- Wait
Kribensis don't seem to be too fussy about water parameters, they're supposed to like a neutral PH, but the PH in my Kribensis tank is around 8, and they do great. I've noticed that I seem to get batches of mostly the same sex babies. This is dependent on the PH, I think. I've also noticed that a clean, bright tank makes a massive difference to how active, and interesting they are, so I make an effort to keep it vacuumed, and the light clean of algae.
After much entertaining flirting and fighting, the new krib couple dig holes and try to select the best place to raise their little'uns. Hopefully in their plant pot. It's hilarious watching them dig. They carefully and methodically remove one or two stones at a time, placing them in a neat pile nearby. They can spend hours doing this, sometimes taking turns to keep watch while the other digs, sometimes digging together. When they're happy with their construction site, the female krib disappears for a few days, then emerges, hoarding a group of tiny baby kribs around.
Baby Kribensis Day One
Like so...
What To Feed Baby Bribs
It seems baby brine-shrimp are the best food for kribensis fry, and makes them grow quickest. My first batch of baby kribs were fed on baby brine shrimp, which I squirted at them with a pipette. That way, they appeared to catch pretty much all the food and missed none. I don't like using the liquid food for baby egg-layers, as it seems to make a bit of a mess. I seem to have pretty good results crushing up a single flake in the lid of the flake food pot until it's really fine. Then, using a pipette from a fish medicine kit, I mix in a drop of water, suck up the resulting liquid back into the pipette, and squirt it right at the little chaps. It always seems to go down a treat. Tonight, (around 3 weeks after hatching) they were invaded by daphnia. :-) The daphnia are actually too big for the baby kribs to eat, but the babies definitely seem to like trying. It must be like trying to eat a whole watermelon in one go.
Krib Breeding Tips
Sometimes, as happened to me, one of the parents may become so protective of the fry that they can attack the other parent. They may injure or kill the other krib in order to keep the fry safe. If this happens, you should remove the parent who is being attacked and leave the possessive parent to look after the fry on his/her own. (If possible, that is).
Dither Fish
I have found that dither fish are essential in keeping kribs active and entertained! Tetras and barbs are the usual choices for good dither fish, which give the kribs something to chase every now and then. It keeps them active, and can stop them directing their anger at each other. I've found that with no dither fish in the tank, the kribs can become really inactive and just sit in caves looking dull. But adding some tetras brings the kribs to life, and brings out their colours, and they straight away get on with their poking around in the gravel, behaviour.
When To Remove The Parents?
I've had loads of people asking me about when to remove the fry. The answer is, it depends. If both of the parents are there as a happy family, I'd leave them to look after the fry. But keep an eye on them, because next time they want start the breeding process again, (maybe after a month), they might reject the babies, instead concentrating on the next batch. If you just have one parent looking after the fry, you'll probably be ok leaving them all in together for a long time, until the tank gets very busy! I found that the mother got along fine with all the kids for seven months. (See below).
Baby Kribs Day Three
Three Week Old Kribs
The little guys are mostly venturing away from mum now, finding their own food. Can you guess what colour flake they had for dinner tonight?
Kribensis At Six Months
...A long gap, and finally some more (not very good quality) pictures. The kribensis tank is now getting very crowded. I'm sure they're not growing as big or fast as they would given more space. It's now pretty easy to tell males from females. The females have a more stumpy round look, while the males are longer and thinner. At this stage there isn't much difference in colour, but eventually the females will start to show a colourful red belly. The older the males get, the further back the tip of their fin stretches. I don't know if it's coincidence, or whether it's dependent on the hard PH 8 water here, but about 80% of the last two successful batches of young kribs have been female...
Kribensis At Seven Months
Sadly, I had to take most of the krib family back to the shop to relieve the overcrowding in the tank.
Adult Male
And a couple of years on, here's one of the fully grown kribs. Not in a particularly colourful mood today, but he shows off his colours on HIS terms, not for the camera!
That's it for now. Feel free to leave comments below.
I don't always have time to answer questions about Kribs personally! Feel free to leave comments though. Thanks
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Comments
38 comments so far (post your own)I got given a breeding pair of Kribs & they've finally had babies after a couple of months...they are sooo cute. Just needed to know what to feed them really but this was really helpful. Thank you :)
Posted by Claire on Wednesday, 19/08/09 @ 15:32pm | #50
i have also a breeding pair that have just had there first brood and was wanting to know a few facts about them this has been good to look at
Posted by eddie on Sunday, 23/08/09 @ 21:03pm | #53
ive just gt my first to male n female, wat do i need for them to have babys? do thy need to hide? or not?
it was nice looking at the pics
Posted by sean on Monday, 24/08/09 @ 22:30pm | #54
i think my kribs have just laid eggs how long do they take to be frys
Posted by andy on Wednesday, 26/08/09 @ 12:20pm | #55
Great read friend pretty much covered all the bases! Definitely a BEAUTIFUL fish I've just RE-set a 20`` long for my first krib resident family...or i hope One bit you might like to know...from what i understand an alkaline Ph(basic) will produce predominantly a male brood and just the same for females and acidic Ph...even MORE fascinating neutral actually creates a more even balance...strange? I think so...at any rate thanks for the info mate
Posted by Michael on Saturday, 12/09/09 @ 17:25pm | #73
hi, i have been given a pair too and as i have 2 tanks i just wondered if they can be kept in a community tank, thanks,,, jord.
Posted by jordan on Thursday, 17/09/09 @ 22:12pm | #77
how long can i leave the baby kribs in the tank with the parents.... tim
Posted by tim on Sunday, 20/09/09 @ 19:36pm | #80
how long can i leave the baby kribs in the tank with the parents.
im at this place too. they gave birth tonight and ive taken about 30/40 of them out and into a breading trap. was this right to do? i will be setting up a smaller tank in a short time for the babys to go into but do i need the mother with them? HELP! :-)
Posted by Mark on Saturday, 10/10/09 @ 19:55pm | #86
hi how long do i keep babys in tank with parents. thanks j
Posted by jude on Sunday, 11/10/09 @ 12:34pm | #88
i've got a pair of krib with babies about 2 weeks old , doing fine at the moment, they seem to like frozen cyclops & brine shrimp. I've also got a pair of albinos but she doesn't seem to like him much, keeps hiding behind the filter, do you think they'll get together eventually or should i get another female to put in? each type are in their own tank by the way!
Posted by kay on Monday, 2/11/09 @ 01:07am | #98
i have only had a tropical tank for around 9 months and have kept mainley guppys but recently my brother told me that if i want to watch fasinatingfish then i should get some kribs and tommorrow thats what i will do but wanted to know how to look after them and you have explained every thing i need to know thank you so much.
Posted by alex on Saturday, 7/11/09 @ 21:16pm | #100
I enjoyed your info on kribs,the funniest thing that happened in my tank was when the babys got scared of some invisable thing they all swam to mom and straight into her mouth! She just sat there with her mouth open until they got brave enough to swim back out....these fish are amazing parents!
Posted by Alona on Saturday, 14/11/09 @ 04:18am | #108
hi i have 4 kribs 2 male 2 female all in the same tank and one pair had 15 fry about 12 weeks ago,i have now moved all my fish from a 3 foot tank in to a 5 foot tank and at first there was a bit of fighting by the males ,now the female krib has chased the father of the fry away who just stay in the cave allday , and the female is trying to breed with the bigger of the two males so should i take out the two kribs that are not breeding
Posted by tim on Monday, 23/11/09 @ 20:40pm | #110
how long would you say it takes a male and female to achieve full size? and is there any paticular food to enhance their colour?
Posted by ross on Wednesday, 16/12/09 @ 15:52pm | #117
Hi,
I have recently watched the amazing ritual of my 2 Kribs breeding. Unfortunately, I came home today to find the male dead.
The woman (man basher!) is in hiding now, but in a different place from where they had nested previously...
My concern now, is that other fish have taken over where the nest had been made, and the woman is now hiding in another alcove in the tank. Is this normal behaviour post breeding? or is this more indicative of all the babies being lost?
Thanks in advance
Expectant parent of new Kribs.
D
Posted by dougontour on Thursday, 17/12/09 @ 17:28pm | #119
I came home from sledging with my son making the most of the freaky deep snow to find my kribs had babys i new they were up to summat thier amazin n sooo cute n the parents are fab they take turns picking up wondering babys n spitting em oun with the others its just so great to watch xxxxxx
Posted by on Tuesday, 5/01/10 @ 22:50pm | #130
GREEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAT!! thanks you have helped a lot x
Posted by Joanne on Thursday, 21/01/10 @ 01:09am | #143
hi ive got a pair of kribs and they have laid eggs twice know and the female has eaten the eggs both times a few hours after laying them should i remove the eggs into a smaller tank as they lay them on a large rock in my large community tank
Posted by chris on Saturday, 20/02/10 @ 23:03pm | #166
Thank you for all i needed to know about breeding and feeding my kribs i got my 1st fry last nite
Posted by Michael on Thursday, 25/02/10 @ 21:46pm | #167
Thanks for all the info very helpful
Posted by Lee clark on Tuesday, 16/03/10 @ 04:11am | #170
I am a 13 year old and i have a great interest in fish. I am trying to breed my kribensis. One of them is bending in half and doing a sort of wiggle, and the other krib is watiching. One of them is digging a hole under some fake coral while the other one is guarding it. One is very colourful. It is a well planted tank and has 3 caves. Can you tell me if they are breeding?
I will be very grateful if you can reply.
Andy
Posted by Andy10100 on Friday, 2/04/10 @ 20:23pm | #179
My kribs are doing all sighns of breeding but the female is not staying in the cave. They have dug a hole but i dont know if she will lay her eggs in there. Im worried because I have a ruby shark, silver dollars, clown loach, goramis, and a different cichlid. I have a plastic breeding pot that clipps onto the side of the tank, if i net out the babys when they are born, will there be any chance they will live?
Posted by andy10100 on Friday, 2/04/10 @ 20:32pm | #180
best cichlid to keep, not to big nor too small,
beautifull colors, and not too aggressive,,
Posted by martin on Saturday, 3/04/10 @ 05:17am | #181
Ok guys, i need a fast response now.. My kribs have had fry, they are in a community tank with a ruby shark and other predators, should i leave them in there or put them in a breeding tank thing? Plz plz plz can i have a fast response because i have been waiting for this moment for over a year.
Andy
Posted by andy10100 on Saturday, 3/04/10 @ 14:07pm | #182
I am trying to breed kribs, i got caves, plants and a male and female brightly coloured, doing a bend and wiggling and a bit of digging. I have ruby sharks, silver dollars, gouramis, clow loach, another little loach, An algea eater and i am not sure if they will succesfully breed if the fry will live if there are predators like that around. Should i take some of the predators back to the pet store or leave them in there and see what happens?
Brian p.s. please give me a responce and i will really be gratefull. Cheers.
Posted by Brian on Sunday, 4/04/10 @ 12:00pm | #184
i just brought some kribs today and hopeing they will breed
gd helpfull info here
Posted by lee on Wednesday, 7/04/10 @ 13:52pm | #188
i got two males and two females but one female is young and the other female is matured and bother males are matured
i bought them without them paired but can they still breed?
Posted by shaun on Thursday, 8/04/10 @ 15:54pm | #194
Hi.
I was so excited yesterday as my friend and i were looking at the fish tank i explained that the kribs might be haveing babies, when mum came out spitting them all out. all day kept an eye then by night time could not see any. excepted that we had lost them all to the other fish in the tank and i have a lot. Then hey next morning all swimming with mum again. sooo cute.
Posted by maggie on Sunday, 18/04/10 @ 09:31am | #205
How long until the baby kribies, or fish in general, can be sold or given away? I have a quite large quite shy male and an aggressive snot of a female, what do you think the chances of the breeding is?
Posted by brianne on Monday, 19/04/10 @ 10:31am | #206
i have my kribs for about a month now and the finaly got some liitle kribs swimming about i wanted some info
very gd info cheers
Posted by lee on Friday, 7/05/10 @ 12:50pm | #236
My Kribensis parents suck in the fry then spit them out. Is this normal?
Posted by Stephanie on Monday, 10/05/10 @ 19:07pm | #241
Yeah, it's normal. They are just moving them about and keeping them all safely together. Funny isn't it!
Posted by Jack Frost on Monday, 10/05/10 @ 19:16pm | #242
Hi very interesting I have tried Kribs a few times diffrant stockests but they never live more than a few weeks dont know if they are killing eac other or what is wrong PH 7.6 softish water temp 78f
Posted by stuart on Sunday, 23/05/10 @ 00:09am | #269
Hmm. Sound ok to me. Is the tank overstocked? Is it properly set up and established? What other fish do you have in there?
Posted by Jack Frost on Sunday, 23/05/10 @ 00:39am | #270
I have 3 little kribs , about 5 ish weeks old,when do they get colours. Not in with mum and dad as they chased them. Thanks.
Posted by amanda on Wednesday, 9/06/10 @ 16:16pm | #312
I find a smallish conch-type shell that the parents will just fit into is a perfect breeding ground. Looks nice too.
Posted by Andy Wilson on Tuesday, 15/06/10 @ 22:35pm | #325
Great information especially for someone who has never had kribs before. My husband put thenm in a tank with our other fish, barbs,tetras etc and for the first time ever without trying we have Babies! could not believe it! Its great watching them. Thanks for all the info.
Posted by Joyce on Monday, 21/06/10 @ 13:16pm | #341
Noticed my first brood of about 30 fry this morning...have found your info very helpful my only fear now is how to control the numbers of fish I have as also have a tropical tank with breeding guppys and a Tanganyika tank with breeding Brachardii...have approached my local fish retailer who informs me that they are not allowed to take or sell on fish from the public.. my only other possibility is a local sealife centre...do you have any other suggestions...I have no more space for another tank...currently running 4...any suggestions welcome
Posted by Joanne on Thursday, 24/06/10 @ 17:31pm | #345