# Kribensis Breeding Advice please



## djlpurple (Aug 14, 2007)

A couple of weeks ago I noticed one of my Kribensis being more territorial than usual. When I've looked closer she was guarding 3 babies. I didn't know whether to catch them and put them in my small breeding net or leave them, as mum & dad (taking it in turns) were not letting any other fish near them. On the 3rd day they had gone
I have since discovered they are not even live bearers - so I was surprised they had even layed the eggs and hatched etc.
What should I do next time if I find some young from them?
I wasn't even sure I had a male & female.
I've also got a pair of albino kribensis.


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## RussianTort55 (Jun 9, 2007)

Lool yeah once they have hatched you can just scoop them up and put them in a breeder net or other tank. Lucky you, got male and female.


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## Kenorsanc (Dec 10, 2006)

Well so long as you don't disturb them too much and there aren't many other fish in the tank then the mom and dad should be able to raise the babies to a decent size and then when they spawn again then you should remove the first lot. 

They like to spawn in caves so if you give them a terracotta flowerpot on its side then they should spawn in there and you would be able to see it easier.


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## djlpurple (Aug 14, 2007)

Woke up this morning and checked on my fish and there were more krib babies - so I thought right, i'll catch them this time. They were staying very close to the sand and mum/dad was attacking the net every time I tried to scoop them up - any way, they disappeared, I just hope mum and dad picked them up and took them to their shell (where I think some more eggs are) and I didn't smuther them with the sand in the scuffle. I wished I'd left alone

Has any body else had any experience with kribs and their young?
Should I take the eggs out and put into my breeding net?
Should I try to put the mum/dad in the net with the young?


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## Leanne M (Sep 1, 2007)

Kribs make exceptional parents, Often to the point of being a danger to any other inquisitive tankmates much larger than them selfs.:bash::bash:

Just make sure that Mum & Dad don't take them for a swim round the filter intake (they like to do that) and the mortality rate should be negligible.

Enjoy the little bundles of teeth.

Love mine dearly. :smile:


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## Matt (Sep 16, 2006)

If you're serious about raising some young, move mum and dad to a small tank - say 2' - with an air powered sponge filter. Obviously, you'd need to cycle the tank first but using some gravel, water and sponge from the other tank... it shouldn't take too long, just be sure to keep an eye on your parameters.

That way, you'll have near zero fatalities amongst the young... so be prepared for lots of babies! Ideally you'd need a couple of other tanks to grow them on, unless you're prepared to cull some of the babies as they grow.

Moving the babies to a net is only likely to stress them out, as they do better with the parents who do a wonderful job (and obviously moving mum and dad to a net isn't a good idea at all).

I prefer to just leave pairs in the main tank - if any babies reach the size of the smallest other fish in the tank, they have a decent outlook. If you've got lots of other large, greedy fish it's likely that they'll snack on the babies as they stray from their parents. If you're serious about raising the babies though, you'll really need an additional tank.

Good luck either way!


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## djlpurple (Aug 14, 2007)

Thank you Matt
Some great advice.
Our tank is a large tank and the other fish are guppys, platies , neons etc 
We have got a couple of clown loaches and a shrimp though, that could
be a risk to the babies?! It's great when the fish do have babies and they add to to our collection for free but we don't want to 'breed' as such with them. I Just want to give what babies are born the best possible chance.
I'm gonna add another shell or flowerpot into the tank, hopefully that will help. And I shall do, as I did in the first place and leave the parents to protect them.


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

I had over 150 babies in my kribensis tank in about 3 clutches and none survived.. I didn't remove them, wasn't really serious about breeding them. The parents were very good parents but very stupid. They did tend to take them over to the rather strong fluval filter and whoosh!


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