# Unusual krib color?



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Is this coloration normal? I've been selectively breeding my kribs for this color morph (the red stripe along the dorsal and tail fin). The original pair didn't have this 5 generations ago, but it seems that each generation the babies are more and more red along the top fin and also on their mouths and bodies. This male has not colored up because he is not in breeding condition yet so what you see are non-breeding colors.


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

We receive 'super red' kribs from Czech and they look a lot like this. I always assumed a local variety but perhaps they selectively bred them too.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Hmm interesting. Good to know it is something that can be stabilized and improved on. 

I'll keep going with my project. I've already picked out two of the reddest fish to breed. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the babies.


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## Tattooedfool83 (Jul 7, 2013)

Beautiful fish. I recently got a group of Kribs, have a pair in a 20 that have dug out a cave just waiting for the female to lay. The colors are amazing on these fish.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

If you can get some pics of your pair I'd love to see them


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## Tattooedfool83 (Jul 7, 2013)

She just recently started going into the pot and moving sand out. The male has been tirelessly moving sand for at least a week. That's a 4"pot and the pic was taken a few days. Probally 3/4 of the pots height is now covered by sand they have moved from inside the pot to outside. I don't think there's eggs yet but she's already in protection mode not letting the mollies in the tank near the pot.


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## Tattooedfool83 (Jul 7, 2013)

I'll get a shot of the male tomorrow, lights are off for the night. The male in my big tank has a much redder belly but the male that is paired with this female has awesomely electric blue fins. And he's a beast.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

If you guys don't stop, I will be forced to set up a Krib tank!


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Haha, join us Michael you know you want to! Kribs forever!


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## Tattooedfool83 (Jul 7, 2013)

I won these guys at my clubs annual auction. I got a group of 6, 1 male 5 females. I bought a map separately from my lfs and put the new male and a female from the group in an established 20 and he hated her for a few days and now they are glued to each other. Cool fish, looking forward to eggs and fry


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

The female can turn into a tyrant. Making no difference between species (fish or others, for example you).

If you have a way to deal in a good way with the babies Kribs are great. But if you don't - soon the cool behavior and the amazing colors will be a red alarm.


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## Tattooedfool83 (Jul 7, 2013)

The mAle best pics I could get, he's camera shy


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## Tattooedfool83 (Jul 7, 2013)

How do you know when the Kribs lay eggs?


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

The female will be in the pot with them for 99% of the time and the male hangs around outside chasing away fish.

About a week of that and the the babies start free swimming.

Are you going to raise them away from the parents or let the parents raise them? You'll need to hatch baby brine shrimp if you want to keep the bulk of the babies alive.


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## Tattooedfool83 (Jul 7, 2013)

I'm gonna let the parents handle it. But it appears that the pair in my 20 gallon have laid. She's in the pot a lot and he is always around the outside. Then she comes out and he goes in. Then a pair in my 75 have dug out a cave in a pot in the back and are going in and out. He's bright red and Goes in the pot and then flips upside down.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

OK, how destructive are these fish to plants? Would it be possible to keep them in a soil substrate tank? I've developed some creative ways to keep my shell dwellers out of the plants, but they are less than half the size of a Pelvicachromis.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

They never touch the plants and they don't really dig so they should be perfect for soil tanks, they are a soft water low pH species though so keeping them with African shell dwellers probably isn't a good idea. They spawn inside caves and usually are great parents.


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## Tattooedfool83 (Jul 7, 2013)

Mine are diggers. Both tanks they definitely dug down a couple inches into my substrate.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Kribs can be diggers, but like most cichlids, it's a matter of individual fish personality. Some feel the need the relocate everything, some could care less. The more suitable spaces you offer them to use as a den, the less likely they are to build one for themselves. A tank with plenty of rocks, crevasses, and a few clay pots would probably be enough to curb their interior design escapades. You can keep them from excavating the bottom of an upturned flowerpot like in Tattooedfool's photos if you silicon the flowerpot to a piece of slate or tile.

With regard to the hard water/soft water thing, though, kribs are actually found in a wide range of conditions in the wild. They live all up and down a river drainage system in Nigeria, from the soft, acidic backwaters down to the river delta which is actually slightly brackish. While I wouldn't throw them straight into brackish water if they've been bred and raised in fresh, they can certainly adapt to harder water conditions than people give them credit for.


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## Tattooedfool83 (Jul 7, 2013)

Just moved them out if the cave


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