Kribensis

[Marlboroack]

I got a Trio of Kribensis. 2 dull colored and 1 purple belly. The dull one killed the purple belly so i swapped out a dull for a new purple. Now i have a pair( i think). Pictures below.

How do you pair and breed them? Any tips or pointers? I have not done Africans in the longest time and all the information i am reading these days is just 1 breeder to another.. Most information not factual.

Please upload pairs of your Kribs and any information you are willing to share would be great. I'll give you some fry in exchange for very factual information.

This is an ASAP project.

PS. Sorry for the crappy pictures. We all know taking pictures of fish can be a pain in the butt sometimes!

[Tazman]

There is no way to pair them as such...they will sort that out themselves and you cannot force it.

With regards to breeding them, they need a lot of structure in the tank in which to be able to lay their eggs. Upside down flowerpots, pvc pipe..basically anything that is aquarium safe and you can make caves out of.

It also depends if they are old enough to actually spawn yet, given there is not much color in them, would say perhaps not.

Neutral pH will give you a mixed sex of fry, lower seems to yield more towards one sex (cannot remember which off hand, higher and again more the other sex).

Breeding is not something that you can rush into, do not be surprised as well if the first batch doesnt make it. They as parents are learning what to do as well, this is not uncommon in a lot of fish species either.

Good luck but you as I said, you CANNOT rush into this, if it happens it happens naturally.

[stevenjohn21]

when you say a purple belly and a dull one are you thinking they are different species ?
From my own experience the females are slightly duller than the males, however this changes during breeding when the females try to attract the males.
With Kribs you have to let them choose a partner, its best to get 6-8 at a young age and let them develop into breeding pairs. below are the pictures of my male and female....
Male

Female:



A few month later . . . . . 1 proud dad !

[ChelseaK]

Wow these are pretty! Sorry I'm such a goon and don't know much about different species, but are these a type of African Cichlid?

[stevenjohn21]

Hi Chelsea, Your not a goon .... a goon is somebody that doesnt ask the question ! Yes they are a dwarf cichlid called Pelvicachromis pulcheror Kribensis (common name). They are considered a "beginners cichlid" due to there ease of care & breeding. They are great fish and as you can see they have some great coloring !

[ChelseaK]

Very cool looking!... I've been thinking about starting another species.... What kind of requirements do they have? :)

[stevenjohn21]

They can live in a wide variety of conditions but when it comes to breeding i find i higher Ph will give me more males which is fine as i prefer the colors and markings on the males.

If you click on the highlight Kribensis it will give you all the details you need, good luck

[ChelseaK]

It wasn't highlighted. But I'll google it :p