Re: remove

[thomas park <park00@earthlink.net>]

WndrKdnomo wrote:
> 
> In a message dated 4/24/98 1:02:15 AM, you wrote:
> <<I got 2 wild-caught Kribs in my LFS last weekend.  I am not sure about
> determining the sex of them.  They were fairly pale at first and have just
> started to colur up.  Also, they are quite shy and one appears to be dominant,
> chasing
> the other and forcing it into hiding.  Any good web-sites with pictures that
> you might suggest?
> I've never kept Kribs before, 'nor any wild-caught fish for that matter.  I
> have a wide variety of food on hand to offer them - what is recommended?
> I have them in a sixteen gallon long - could I put in a few rasboras or
> tetras as dithers?  Any other suggestions for tank-mates?>>
> 
> Heather,
> Previous posts have given good leads on sexing the fish, this part is quite
> easy once you know what to look for.  Ken Laidlaw's post covers this pretty
> well.  As far as them being "washed out" you will be amazed at the difference
> in their coloration once they get comfortable in your tank, especially when
> courtship starts. Although the colors on both sexes will intensify, it is ,
> atypically, the female that shows the most intense colors. She will
> practically glow in shades of black, red and gold.
> I would also point out, in regard to spawning, that they are definite cave
> spawners, and are not at all bashful about digging their own.  I have had
> several spawning pairs, and the favorite spawning site seemed to be to dig out
> a tunnel between and underneath two adjacent rocks.  It might be a good idea
> to have any rockwork ( and there should be lots of it) resting on the bottom
> of the tank, rather than just sitting on top of the gravel.  If you provide an
> artificial cave, it should be arranged so that the female can excavate gravel
> from inside.
> After spawning the female can be rough on the male.  Having dither fish might
> be helpful , also the bigger the tank the better in this regard.  This is one
> species that seems almost to spawn better when other fish are around, I could
> never stop mine from spawning in community tanks.  Depending on the set-up and
> the type of fish present, they can be suprisingly effective raising broods in
> a community tank.  The best tank-mates would be fish that tend to occupy the
> middle or top strata of the tank, and that are not too predatory by nature.
> As far as feeding goes, you should find that they are pretty easy to feed.
> Any high quality flake food, along with live, fresh, frozen or freeze-dried
> food will be fine. The more live or frozen food, the better, of course.
> A final note: this species seems to be very suceptible to environmental
> factors determining the sex of broods, that is, the pH and/or temperature that
> the brood is exposed to during the first month or two of life can skew sex
> ratios wildly.  This sounds crazy, but apparently the gender of fish is not
> determined genetically, ( they don't have an X/Y chromosome determining gender
> like us humans).  I have had several broods turn out all one sex (male). I
> think that it varies by species, but as I remember it, low pH favors males,
> higher temperatures favors females.  Anyway, if you run into this problem, and
> you may not, it might be worthwhile to look into these factors.  It is the
> conditions during early life, and not the water conditions at the time of
> spawning, that are important.
> Good luck with these fish, they are one of my all time favorites. Given the
> right conditions, they are gorgeous fish, and almost no-miss spawners.
> Jeff
> WndrKdnomo@aol.com
> 
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