2nd Kribensis Spawn

[mermaid]

My kribs have laid their second lot of eggs

They must have laid them during the night or early this morning, as they werent there lastnight.

They are on the inside of a small plastic flower pot, and both parents take turns guarding the eggs.

I've never seen things from this early on, so how long will it take the eggs to hatch? Also how many days old will they be by the time I need to add some food (microworms) to the tank??

My first spawn had a fair bit a problems, but so far there are 3 survivors who are almost 1cm (about 7mm) big. I'm hoping more survive the 2nd spawn

Mish

[Randall]

Dear Mish,

In what size tank are your Pelvicachromis pulcher housed, and what temperature is the water, please?

Thanks!

Randall Kohn

[Ducksta]

Hey Congrats! They are worse than rabbits huh?

Should hatch between2 and 4 days, depending on water temp and other conditions (temp mostly) After that they will start taking microworms after another 5 days (from what I read, and from experience with other small egglayers), but will still have an eggsac.

[mermaid]

Randall: Mine are in a small 1ft tank. I've moved them to a 2ft before and they did nothing but lose their colour, fight, and sulk on the bottom of the tank. They lived in the 2ft for about two beeks before I decided to move them back to the 1ft tank. Straight away they brightened up and swum around excitedly like "we're home!!". They haven't stopped since, and they maintained their gorgeous colours. As soon as they were put in the 1ft tank they started to get flirty again.

The temperature of the tank is set at 26C but as it is in direct light from a window for most of the day, it can get up to 28C (stayed at 30C during their 1st spawn). Also the PH is really high, way up in the dark dark blue which they seem to love.

Ducksta: I was going to sell them but now I just dont have the heart.. they seem so happy in their tank (they must be, having 2 spawns in it so far!). I try to keep the temp at 26C but sometimes it gets colder during the night as its nearing winter, and sometimes it gets warmer during the day with the sun on the tank. I guess I'll just have to tick the days off on a calender

[mermaid]

The fry hatched! They hatched between 7 and 10:30pm tonight (last check on them around 7pm).

I was shocked to find the eggs were gone, and thought the mum had eaten them as it had only been 1 day since they were laid. So I grabbed my torch and seen lots and lots of little wriggling fry in the gravel.

The mum and dad are caring for them so well! Fingers crossed all goes well with these little ones

[Guest Panga]

Hi mermaid,

Congrats on the second spawn.

I hope all goes better for you than the first lot did

Cheers Troy

[Randall]

Dear Mish,

Well, it seems that your Pelvicachromis pulcher are in a hurry! I expect the eggs hatched so quickly due to the higher temperature. At 76 degrees F, the larvae usually become free swimming in five days. At your higher temperature, however, it may be sooner.

Now, as for the fry, the hatch rate may be less than it should due to the hardness of the water. A "dark blue" pH corresponds to a higher level of carbonates which inhibit fry success. Also, sex ratios in Pelvicachromis pulcher are influenced by pH. A higher pH results in more females. The next time around, is there a way to soften your water? The result should be more fry and a more even ratio of males to females.

Given the size of the tank, it might be a good idea to perform frequent partial water changes as well.

Good luck and much success!

All the best,

Randall Kohn

[mermaid]

Sadly, the male krib ate all the fry last night and then tried to breed with the female again. I didnt think things would go bad, so I went to sleep.

I woke up to find the female floating oddly above the filter.

I quickly removed her and put her in a hospital tank. She now has a broken back, a torn gill on one side (it's open and red), and hardly any fins left. I added meth blue to the water to help stop infection and she seems to have perked up a little bit.

It's so sad because on Easter the female was herding her school of newly swimming fry around the tank. She took such good care of them.

[Randall]

Dear Mish,

It's so sad to read your story; I really feel for you.

This is not the first time that I've heard about a wife-beating or husband-beating killer krib that devoured the fry before aggressively turning on his or her mate. In almost all instances, this abhorrent behavior transpired in a small tank. It seems that if a particular pair is not highly compatible, tank size becomes quite important.

The minimum sized tank in my fish room for Pelvicachromis pulcher and P. taeniatus breeding pairs is a 20-gallon long. For the larger Pelvicachromis species, i.e., P. sacrimontis and P. humilis, I use nothing smaller than 30 gallons. It seems to make a difference.

So sorry that I didn't warn you before the fact. My appologies.

All the best,

Randall Kohn

[mermaid]

!!!! THE FRY ARE ALIVE!

I was home at a different time and surprised my male krib today who was taking the fry for a swim around the tank! As soon as he spotted me he tried hearding the fry back into hiding, which happens to be a pit he has dug that goes underneath their pot!

So I gather the parents must have had a disagreement in how to raise the fry. The female had been raising the fry out in the open, in full view of whoever walked in the room.

I gather the male wasn't happy with that so he beat her up and took the fry

It's still sad but at least I know now that the fry are alive, their daddy didn't murder them!

Their mummy is doing much better now, shes eating and swimming around the best she can.

[fishgranny]

Hi Mish

Sorry about the tragedy but glad the fry are OK. Just before I read this I posted a reply to another thread about Kribs. It was about my experience with pH & breeding Kribs, if you want to read it.

When I have a number of kribs in one tank, I provide lots of hiding places. Half coconut shells are my favourite. The Kribs like them, & it provides a slightly lower pH for the hatching environment.

To soften water, some people add peat moss to the substrate or to the filter chamber.

My most interesting experience was with a 60 gal tank that was 40" inches long & about 18" high, & fairly wide as well. I had Platies & plants in there, & I added a bunch of young kribs to grow out. With lots of hiding places & a regular supply of extra Platy newborn fry available, they grew & thrived very well. It was interesting to watch their personalities develope. It was REALLY interesting once they started wanting to spawn. There were more females than males, & it ws funny to watch how they competed with each other for the males. The females hold their ventral fins in such a way as to make their bellies look larger, & they arch themselves sideways so as to look even bigger - "Look, look, mine is bigger than yours," etc. And once a pair had spawned, the extra females would try to entice Poppa away from his wife & kids, but he would just angrilly chase them away, & go back to helping with the kids. I could spend hours just watching them, & sometimes I did! Better than any soap opera. Kribs are so cool!

Margaret in "Winterpeg"