# Krib Parents Ate Fry Again!



## LindaC (Nov 7, 2005)

What is it that would cause Kribs to eat their fry after they've been exceptional parents for 4-5 days, maybe even longer? My pair had their second spawn unbeknown to me, there coconut hut was burried under a pretty dense patch of Wisteria and after a 50% water change and removal of a lot of the Wisteria, I saw my male and female Krib surrounded by a lot of fry. They didn't look as small as the last batch, which leads me to believe that they were a few days old when I first spotted them.

They stuck by thier fry, blew out food at them, kept any other fish in the tank at bay (I had to remove them and put them in my 10 gallon tank) and took turns watching over them. Then I came home yesterday to what looked like 3 fry left and soon to be none within the next few hours.

What can I do to ensure that their next spawn, providing there is one, the male is terribly angry at the female right now, survives? I think the female is the one who eats them. Anyone else have Kribs?


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Sorry to hear of your woes Linda.

What are the other tank mates? Are there any nocturnal fish in the tank?
One preventive measure you could try is to keep a dim light on in the tank 24 hours a day to keep something from sneaking up on them at night, providing it isn't the Mom eating them.

Don't give up hope, sometimes it takes several tries for them to get it right.


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## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

It could be down to the fact that they basically mass produce them in fish farms and almost always seperate the fry from their parents to increase survival rate. Overtime the fish lose their maternal instincts, the reason I say maternal is because it's usually the female that initiates the eating of the fry and the male will follow.

However, as Jan mentioned, don't lose hope. Usually it takes the pair a couple of tries before they eventually get it figured out.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

Jan's right that it often takes them a try or two IME. They will get better. If the tank is too clean they can struggle between feeds too and you can lose a lot of the babies; this may cause her to recycle the rest.
If the tank is disturbed then they can eat the babies too as they will think they are about to be eaten by something else!
I use a dead cheap 3W pygmy bulb to give my cichlids a dusk that gives them time to put their babies to bed! Having the light on a timer also helps as experienced pairs often seem to know when the light is going to go out and get them ready before.
Be patient, keep them well fed and make sure you don't disturb them too much.
You can reduce any predators in there that you might have to remove when they spawn again, but I find that kribs make VERY good parents even in tanks with lots of fish that might eat their babies.


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

I had three generations of Kribs together in a 40 breeder tank. Are you sure the fry just didn't die of natural causes? When they are that small it can be pretty hard to find the remains.


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## LindaC (Nov 7, 2005)

The other fish that are in this 29 gallon tank with the Kribs are 3 Rams, which I removed as soon as I saw the fry, the Kribs will also be vicious towards them, keeping them confined to the opposite side of the tank, and two Ottos.

I have a moonlight on my tank and the lights are on a timer. Would it help to put a small light on beside the tank even though there's a moonlight?

Yesterday I saw the male with one fry, he's been being brutal to the female which leads me to believe that she is the one who was eating them and it appears that he's trying to keep this one lone fry alive, what a good father he is being! Not sure how long it will last though, the female is trying desperately to get back in the males good graces, she's twisting and curling her body in front of him, almost as if she's trying to spawn again. I think these fish are fascinating.

I have one further question and that's regarding feeding the fry hatched brine shrimp, how would I go about doing that? I saw a small jar of brine shrimp eggs at Pet Smart but I haven't a clue on how to go about hatching them.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

It certainly wouldn't hurt to try a small light by the tank at night, but if it's the Mom eating them, it may not make a difference. Poor Dad.... 
They probably are thinking about spawning again. Just wait until they do get it right - they're like bunnies. 

As for the BBS, the easiest route is to buy one of the breeders made just for that. They only cost around $5 and have complete instructions included. You can do it without the kit, but I'm lazy.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

When females eat fry like that it's usually so they can breed again soon. She's recycled the energy and used it to make new eggs! The male may try to protect the babies for a while, but he'll give up soon. Feed them well and I bet you have eggs within a week, if not a couple of days.

Try not to disturb them, or try to look at the eggs as some people apparently do, and I'm sure your female will make an excellent parent, she's just eaten these as her instincts have told her she won't successfully raise them.


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## JG06 (Nov 5, 2006)

As a quick point of information and without hijacking this thread, how do you tell male and female Kribs apart?


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

JG06 said:


> As a quick point of information and without hijacking this thread, how do you tell male and female Kribs apart?


The females are generally more colorful (unlike many other fish), smaller and have cupped pectoral fins so they can carry the eggs. If you see two adults of each gender side by side, it's pretty obvous, but it's not as easy to tell if they are juvies, or if you only have one gender.


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## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

To add to Jan's description, a mature female usually has a distinct red/pink spot on her belly (similar to female Rams).


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

Are you maintaining your pair in a species only tank or is this a community aquarium? 
-I find it better to maintain a pair only with some small ditherfish that are not aggressive enough to attack fry (we use top-dwelling killie fish for our P. taeniatus "Keinke and P. pulcher "Red" with great success. The killies breed as well). If the pair is being kept in a community tank, they may not have a stong enough bond to eachother to parent under those conditions. In that case, one fish or both will feel threatend enough to "abort" parenting until conditions are better. Stress from other fish as well as their partner can take a toll.

How long have you had the fish? And been paired?
- "Trials" are very common with all cichlids. If this is thier first 5 broods, they will have issues. Once they have bonded strongly and have a tank that is acceptable to them, they shouldnt have issues raising the fry.

I raise all by Pelvicachromis (two color varients of taeniatus and one pulcher morph) in 20-30 gallon aquariums with little to no stressful tankmates. They are heavily planted and have many hiding places and "food factories" for fry. We breed them and let the parents grow out the fry until we want them to spawn again. We pulled out Keinke fry at 3-4 weeks and have them in a 20g grow out and they spawned again. we left the fry in the aquarium this time (no room to pull them if we wanted to) and they are still doing well, actually growing faster than the ones in grow out! the parents ignore them and try to court. they havent had any fry since, and we're kinda happy since we have so many juvies at this time!

I have other kribby stories, but ill save them for another time. I hope this helps.

GL


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## LindaC (Nov 7, 2005)

Yes it does, thank you. In answer to your questions, I've had my female Krib since she was a juvie, a friend sent me 3 but they all turned out to be females. I purchased the male not all that long ago but they seem pretty close, they're always in the coconut shell together and I believe that they have spawned again, the female has been staying in her hut and the male is beginning to chase the Rams again. I will remove them as soon as I know there is fry in the tank.

I plan on rehousing my apistos and putting the rams in my 10 gallon and letting the kribs have the 29 gallon to themselves and 2 Ottos once we buy a house. I do know that they're much better off in a species tank but it cannot be helped at this time.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

LindaC said:


> I plan on rehousing my apistos and putting the rams in my 10 gallon and letting the kribs have the 29 gallon to themselves and 2 Ottos once we buy a house. I do know that they're much better off in a species tank but it cannot be helped at this time.


Don't feel bad Linda. The 125 gallon my Kribs are in is a real mixed tank, with Loaches, breeding Bristle noses, Silver Dollars, a big Bala (the last old survivor from a group), Raphaels, a big old Angel, and some others I'm probably forgetting, but once they got the breeding thing straight, they don't have a problem with the other species.  Of course that probably in part because it's such a big tank too.


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