Kribensis Cichlid Stats
Minimum Tank Size: 20 Gallons
Care Level: Moderately Hard
Water Conditions: 5.5-6.5 pH and Soft to Medium Hard
Temperature: 24-26 °C (75-80 °F)
Maximum Size: 4 inches (10 cm)
The Kribensis (Pelvicachromis pulcher), also known as the krib, the rainbow krib and the rainbow cichlid, is a small freshwater fish native to Africa. While mainly found in the rivers of Nigeria and Cameroon, they are also listed as an invasive species in Hawaii.
In the wild, they primarily inhabit rivers and streams, but are only found in areas that have dense vegetation. They inhabit both calm and fast moving waters, and will normally be found living in small caves that have excavated underneath plants.
They stay relatively small in the home aquarium, with males growing to about 4 inches (10 cm) in length. Females are quite a bit smaller, and their bodies are much rounder than the males. They will usually only grown to about 3 inches (7.5 cm) in length, though it’s not uncommon for them to be a fair bit smaller.
Kribensis are a relatively short lived cichlid, and usually only live for five years in an aquarium. There are reports of some living longer, but five years seems to be about the maximum age – even for ones that are well taken care of.
Housing
Kribensis cichlids are not an overly demanding fish and will thrive if they are provided with a spacious, well maintained aquarium. A 20 gallon (90 litre) aquarium should be viewed as the bare minimum, and a 29 gallon tank (131 litre) is almost always a better choice.
In their natural environment, they spend much of their time in loose groups, or in small caves that they have painstakingly dug out among the roots of aquatic plants. They will do quite well on their own in an aquarium, but if you want to enjoy all of their fascinating behavior, you should keep at least a handful together (Trust me, they’re very boring on their own.)
When setting up their aquarium, it’s important to mimic their natural environment as closely as possible. The substrate should be a small grained gravel or sand that they can excavate, and numerous small caves and hiding places should be provided.
They will happily accept artificial caves and these caves can be provided through one of several methods. One of the easiest ways to create “caves” in an aquarium, is by placing clay pots (making sure they’re not painted or glazed) on their sides to simulate a cave. Most kribensis will claim clay pots and will defend them like pit bulls for the rest of their life.
You can also build caves out of rocks, but any caves that you make should be secured with aquarium silicon. Kribs love to excavate and if your home made cave collapses or falls apart, it can squish your fish – or worse, break the glass of the aquarium. Another option is to use a PVC pipe. It can be cut in half, and using aquarium silicone, rocks or sand can be glued on its surface to turn it into a natural looking cave.
Once the setup of the aquarium is all planned out, it’s time to choose a filter for the kribensis cichlids. Usually the best choice for a small fish like the kribensis is a high quality HOB (hang-on-back) filter. I like to also use a sponge filter in conjunction with an HOB filter, since it seems that some kribensis can occasionally be a bit sensitive to water quality.
I would strongly recommend choosing an Aquaclear Power Filter
Feeding
There is a lot of controversy surrounding the question of what you should feed kribensis cichlids. Most of the information out there clearly states that kribs are ominvores, but several recent studies seem to indicate that the majority of their diet is made up of algae and plant matter.
Needless to say, whether you view them as an omnivore or an herbivore is going to make a big impact on what you feed them. Until the matter is studied further, probably the safest thing to do is feed a plant and algae heavy diet, supplemented with flakes and live or frozen food.
Their main food should be an herbivore flake or pellet food, with my personal favorite being Hikari Sinking Pellets. These should be regularly supplemented with regular feedings of a high quality flake food or shrimp pellets.
When choosing a live food to feed them, their favorite live foods are blackworms, brine shrimp and daphnia. Because they spend most of their time in caves along the bottom, they tend to ignore top dwelling live food like mosquito larvae.
Kribs have similar tastes in frozen foods and their favorites are bloodworms, brine shrimp, daphina and blackworms. Any frozen food should always be warmed up before it is fed to them, and the easiest way to do this is by filling a small container with warm tank water, and allowing it to thaw for about 15 minutes.
While a high quality herbivore food is usually sufficient, they should also be fed a variety of vegetables. The only ones that I have ever gotten them interested in are zucchini medallions and shelled peas. Any others that have been offered to them are generally ignored.
Breeding
Breeding kribensis is relatively easy, but because of their secretive nature, you won’t see much of what is going on. Unlike nearly all of the available African cichlids, they require soft water to breed, and in many cases won’t breed in hard water.
They are easy to sex – especially when they are older. The males are much larger than the females and also have a pointed pelvic fin, whereas the females are more rounded. Males will also have less gold coloring in the dorsal fin, but that can be hard to identify if you aren’t familiar with the species.
For spawning to occur, they have to be provided with a cave, and like earlier stated, a clay pot overturned on its side makes a perfect cave for them. Once breeding has been initiated, the female will lay long rows of eggs on the cave.
The male and female will then take up guarding the cave, though most of the guard duty usually falls to male, while the female spends most of her time caring for the eggs. You will rarely see the female during this time, though she will come out for feedings.
After the eggs hatch, both parents will protect the fry and herd them around the aquarium. They will normally care for them for about a month, and then they will drive away the fry and may start breeding again.
Hi i was just wondering how many fry would survive in the wild
I’ve never come across any indepth studies of Kribensis cichlid reproduction in the wild, but I know that most of the well studied fish have a fry survival rate of around 5-8%. So about that many make it to adulthood in the more common fish, so I would assume that kribs would close to that number. However, they are biparental cave spawners, and provide parental care, so the number of fry surviving in the wild may be higher due to them being guarded and hidden away.
How many do they have a anyone time
They can lay up to 300 eggs, but fry survival rate tends to be far below that. In a normal tank, you would normally expect around 30-80 fry, and that’s with really excellent care. I’ve heard of people rearing more than that, but that’s exceedingly rare.
do you know if all the eggs hatch around the same time or over the course of a week or two?
They usually hatch within a few days of each other, and all of the fry will normally be free swimming within a week or so. That’s when you usually see the parents emerge with the fry, and start herding them around the tank.
My kribs are in the cave but won’t breed there in a tank on there own what should I do
Sometimes you just get a pair that won’t breed. But before you try and switch them up, you can try adding some driftwood to that tank, and you can try raising the heat a little bit more towards the maximum heat for the fish. If neither of these work, it may be time to try a new male in the tank.
Check the ph of the water and make sure the tank is crystal clean. They are picky about having clean water.
I would do lots of water changes, and feed powdery small foods so they think that there is plenty of decent food for fry, additionally you should make sure that the water is slightly acidic, and at the right temperature, keep the nitrates low and small foods are my top 2 tips for inducing spawning
Are these fishes compatible for a community tank? Or should they be raised in species tanks like other, aggressive cichlids?
They can sometimes be compatible with community tanks. I know quite a few people who have achieved success with them, though once they start breeding, all bets are off in smaller tanks. You would also want to focus on fish that semi-aggressive themselves, so they can stand up to these fish. But if you have a large enough tank, and are careful with their tankmate choices, then you should be fine.
I have a mixed community tank of 240 litres and though my cribs are very protective of their fry, the other tank mates tend to give them a wide berth when they have young. I always try and remove the fry into a separate tank or fry trap to give them the best chance. As they will get picked off by the other fish. The fry will survive easily on their own with a good fry food. I manage to keep around 30 out of each batch.
That sounds great, and you must be doing something right to have that many fry survive. These fish can be finicky in my experience, and the fry can sometimes be difficult to raise.
And it’s always a great experience to watch the parents raise the fry. It’s one of the best aspects of fish-keeping.
After hatch, how long you take to separate them !!
I have/had (long sad story) a pair that it took about 3 years for them to finally mate! They were in a 29 gallon community tank and had claimed their own piece of the pie. Their cave was driftwood that stood up and had a doorway at the bottom. They had been acting scary. She would banish him from their cottage and then the next thing I’d know, she would be on the outskirts. Then they would chase each other around the tank (uncommon) and act like they wanted to kill each other! Soon after, there were fry, which I separated after about 1 week. Mom was getting exhausted shooing everyone off. Dad was in another 10 gallon with the snails because I didn’t know if he would eat the fry. Next time I will know. I had 5 Corys, 1 six inch rainbow shark, 6 otos, and one green tiger barb that identified as a cichlid. It was so delightful watching mom herd her family. They were like little ducklings! I think there were 30 and I ended up raising 9. 2 Female and 7 males. I traded them for some sand and am building a new 29 gallon tank. So, Dad ended up passing away from pop eye recently. It was the saddest thing ever. Mom is lonely, but eating and ruling those pesky Corys. With the 29 gallon planted tank, I plan to add another pair of these fish (somewhat juveniles) and let mom live our her days. I can’t part with her. I can’t re-home her. We’ve been across this country together. I brought her to UT from FL. She’s got to be about 4-5 years old. They are fascinating to watch because they flash their colors according to their moods. I will always love this particular cichlid. Just waiting for my tank to finish cycling and then I will put everyone back in, with mom going in last or with the new pair I’m getting.
Our Kribs have spawned and had little fry free swimming around the tank with them 3 times now, Each time, however, after about 4 days swimming around, the fry suddenly disappear and are gone! We think maybe Ma and Pa Krib are eating them? Is it ok to separate fry from their parents and if so, when is the best time to do it?
You can separate the fry from the parents, but you will need a fully cycled and mature aquarium to put them. They are very sensitive to water fluctuations, so if you put them in a new tank, they will quickly die off.
However, I don’t think the parents are eating them though. It’s not uncommon for parents to eat them the first time while they are learning the ropes, but it’s very rare for them to continually eat them. Are you sure they are getting enough food? And is the water alright?
Hi I have a pair of kribs in a small community tank, happened to notice them being a bit more boisterous towards the other fish which seemed strange as they had been fairly relaxed but upon closer inspection realised I have a bunch of krib fry being protected heavily by ma and pa krib! This is their first successful breeding in my densely vegetated tank and seem to be living amongst the roots of the plants and gravel being checked on every 10 seconds by ma and pa.
I wanted to ask if anyone has any info towards keeping the fry happy and healthy and also if they do survive will they be OK to be kept as a shoal in the tank with the other fish?
Regards
Chris
There’s not too much more you can do for them when they’re born outside of a nursery tank, outside of making sure the water is in perfect condition, and crushing up flakes for them to eat. You could also try feeding them fry foods like microworms, or baby brine shrimp, but it’s hard to target feed when they’re in a community tank. But even with little you can do, the parents should keep them safe and as long as they get enough food, most of the baby kribensis should survive to adulthood.
And assuming the tank is large enough, then the kribs should be fine forming their own little territories in there.
I have a breeding pair of Kribs and they have layed eggs twice. The first time the eggs disappeared over night. I thought they were eaten by one of the other fish. But they layed eggs again and I separated the nest with the parents from the community. And each day more eggs disappear. I can only assume that it is the ma and pa eating them. I feed them well and the water is perfect condition. What’s going on?
Cichlids often take a while to get parenting right. It’s not unusual for the first few batches to be abandoned or eaten. But they should get the hang of it soon.
Also, when you say you separated them, did you have a fully cycled aquarium already set up? Poor water quality could ruin the eggs and the stress of being moved could also have affected the parents. It’s often best to breed them in place if at all possible.
Thank you for your advise. At least I know that this is some what normal. Hopefully the next bath will be a success.
Here’s hoping. They’re quite good parents once they have a spawnings under their belt.
My kribbs have layed eggs is it normal for the femal to be chasing the male and biting him
Is it the first time they have laid eggs? Sometimes, it takes the parents a while to get the hang of things. The male might be trying to eat the eggs or behaving in another way she doesn’t like.
I have just bought some Krib fry and they are going into a nursery tank, 65 litres with a couple of pregnant guppies and a pregnant Mollie. I presume this will be okay? Once big enough, they are to go into my 500 litre community tank. I have read that in a large and moderately stocked tank, this should be fine? Tez.
I might be a little worried about a molly depending of their size. The molly might eat the fry, which would be annoying right after you bought them. But beyond that, it should be fine, as the tank should be mature with those fish in, and that’s key for raising fry.
As for the community tank, they are one of the better dwarf cichlids. though you want to stay away from semi-aggressive fish: the kribensis will just hide and won’t come out very often.
Thanks Rob. I have them in a breeding net at the moment. I have taken the Molly out and returned her to the large tank. The pregnant Guppy has now had babies so she will be going too. Will the Krib fry be okay with the Guppy fry if i release them from the net? Tez.
They will be fine with guppy fry, and they should coexist well until they’re around the size of a dime.
My two favorite fishes are Kribis and Red Tailed sharks. Sre they compatible in a tank together?
Are you talking about the Rainbow Shark. The gray one with reddish orange fins? My Kribs mated in a community tank with a Rainbow Shark. As long as the kribs have their own territory and the shark has his own place to hide, they will be fine together. As far as cichlids go, this breed is pretty docile. Mostly. Usually. They will chase, but I’ve never seen them nip….
I recently acquired some Kribs in a 37 gallon tank. It was a breeding pair and 3 babies that survived from the first successful batch they had. The mother was sick when I got her and she didn’t survive the trip home. Now the father is without a mate. Will he pair up with a new girl if I get one to put in there? Does she need to be the same size as him? Does she need to be the same color morph as he is? Will she leave the other babies alone (they are currently 1/8-1/4″)?
There’s a chance he would pair up with a new female, but it’s not a guarantee. When breeding kribs, most people start with at least six fish, that way you’re almost certain to get a few of them to pair up. While you could add a female, the odds aren’t great for getting a breeding pair.
However, if you move forward, the female should be as close in size as possible to the male and she should leave the babies alone.