RE: My krib won't spawn

[Ken Laidlaw <kl@roe.ac.uk>]

Hi and welcome,

You do have a lot of fish in the tank but it is large.

Firstly are you sure the kribs are as pair?  The male will have a spade
shaped tail fin and an extended point at the rear of the dorsal fin.  The
female will have pelvic fins that are club shaped and not pointed like the
male's.  If the female is courting the male she will curve her body into an
"S" shape and dance in front of the male.   I have read magazine articles by
Mary Bailey in that she says that some males are just not interested so
perhaps you could try swapping him for another.  Don't add another male in
addition as this may lead to serious fighting.

Have you any suitable spawning places provided?  Unlike your Rams which
spawn in the open Kribs are secretive spawners and like to hide their eggs
away.  The easiest solution is to provide small clay flowerpots turned up on
their rims.  You can either break a notchout of the rim or enlarge the
drainage hole in the bottom so that they can get in and out.

A female ready to spawn will have a red belly that looks swollen.  After
spawning the female will stay in the pot and may not be seen for eight days
when she will emerge with her free-swimming fry.  The male should directly
take part in caring for the fry.  The fry should be fed small foods such as
baby brine shrimp and powdered flake.

What are you feeding the adults?  They may not spawn if only fed on flake
food.  Try feeding frozen foods such as bloodworms and brine shrimp.

Hope this helps,
Ken - Scotland.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kenny Poh [mailto:animator@singnet.com.sg]
> Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2000 23:10
> To: apisto@majordomo.pobox.com
> Subject: My krib won't spawn
> 
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I'm new to this list, and certainly new to the world of dwarf 
> cichlids.
> Although I know that the kribensis aren't apistos, I thought 
> I'd like to
> seek your advise since they are relatively similar (or are they?)
> 
> I've a pair of kribs which I bought as adults and it has 
> already been a
> month since, and I've yet to sense that they've bonded. The 
> female seems
> to be quite keen on the male, as she follows him around the tank,
> displaying to him and even help chase the rest of the fishes 
> away while
> he eats! Still, the male don't seem to be too interested in 
> mating with
> her, although he allows her to be near him. Seems like he's 
> into a  more
> platonic kind of relationship other than sexual.
> 
> They are housed in a fully planted tank of 4 ft by 2ft by 2ft , with
> them are a family of 20 swordtails (5 adults and 15 teens), 
> 50 cardinal
> tetras, 2 pairs of Rams, 9 ottocinclus, 6 corydoras 
> trilineatus and some
> yamato shrimps. pH is about 6.7 and kH is 4
> 
> Question is, are there too many other fishes around? The 
> Kribs seems to
> be the most dominant pair around the tank, and they're not 
> harrassed in
> any way. Or are the pair incompatible with one another ( but they're
> always sticking around each other)? How about the water chemistry?
> 
> One pair of rams is already digging nest sites, though they're always
> being chased away by the pair of kribs. I can understand why the rams
> don't spawn but not the kribs, since I thought that they're among the
> easiest dwarf cichlids to spawn.
> 
> Any advise would be most welcome.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Kenny
> 
> 
> 
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