Breeding kribensis

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Ajtennis said:
How do u know if the eggs r fertilized? The female has been hiding in the cave with the eggs but the male not seems to go in.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Click to expand...

Hello; The pair will court for a time before the actual mating takes place. They can sometimes be seen swimming near each other and will do a sort of waggle or dance for a bit. During this time the male will dig out some nesting sites. (I always used halves of broken flower pots suck into the substrate.) (I found that at least two such pots to be helpful.) (I also came to use sand substrate for a kribensis breeding setup as it seemed easier for the male to dig and move about.) After the male digs some nesting sites the female will check them out. For some reason she will pick one and they will finish cleaning the nest to her satisfaction. They will mate in the nest and usually the female has placed the sticky eggs on what would be the roof of the nest cave (the underside of the flower pot). The eggs stick. The male would fertilize the eggs. When from 20 to 50 or so eggs are laid and fertilized, the male leaves the nest cave. He will stand guard near the nest but remain on the outside a few inches away. The female will stay in the nest fanning and cleaning the eggs. (If you have positioned the mouth of the flower pot right some of this behavior can be observed.) When the eggs hatch they will likely drop to the floor of the nest cave and wiggle around for a while as they absorb the remaining yolk sac. Once they become free swimming you should see the male and female escorting a small cloud of fry around the tank as they forage for food.
 
Mine hav spawned twice already but I don't think the male did anythingplus the female actually lays her eggs on the side of the cave. Would it b better if I add a few more females?


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
Ajtennis said:
Mine hav spawned twice already but I don't think the male did anythingplus the female actually lays her eggs on the side of the cave. Would it b better if I add a few more females?


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Click to expand...


Hello; If you are indeed correct that the male did not do anything, then it follows that the eggs were not fertilized. In such a case the eggs will not hatch. I have not encountered this issue before so do not have any thing constructive to add. It is not the way things went for the numerious spawnings I have observed

My thinking is that if you add more females then at some point a male will pair with one of the females and stake out a territory or stake out a territory and pick a female. The other females will likely be chased as far away as the tank will allow. At that point they should probably be removed. I am not aware of a male spawning with more than one female at the same time.
Do you already have the extra females and the extra tanks already set up to house the rejected ones? If not, why not give the pair that you have in place a while to see if they can work things out.
 
Ajtennis said:
I'm thinking this because I removed 3 of the eggs from the last spawn and they turned a whitish yellow


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Click to expand...

Hello; Sounds like you disturbed the nest while the eggs were still under the care of the female. This does not seem to me to be a proper thing to do. One of the nice things about kribensis as parents is the extra special care they take of their eggs and fry. A very large number of fish take no care at all of their eggs and fry. By disturbing the nest you may actually disturb the adults to the point of spoiling the process.
I imagine that some eggs are often not fertilized in any number of spawning attempts and that left alone the famale will take care of things.

May I suggest that you do some searches of this and other web sites for information about kribensis and how others have set up breeding tanks.
For some fish it has been necessary for me to take steps to protect eggs and fry from the adults, but for the kribensis i have always have good results by giving them a breeding tank with a decent setup and leaving them alone.
 
Got it, I've done a lot of searches and some websites suggested if they look like they have been eating their eggs than u could remove a few.. But I'll try leaving them alone next time


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
I would strongly suggest you do not remove or disturb the nest. You may be disturbing the breeding process and/or cause the female to eat her eggs from stress. The male only goes near the egg when he is fertilIzing the. He does not stay with the eggs. The female is the only parent that will "sit" on the eggs. The male will usually hover around the nest protecting from other fish. The eggs if fertilized can br tan, golden yellow, or even light brown but if they are plain plain white they are no good. Also just because some are white doesnt mean they are all bad. Sometime the male misses his spot but the female will eat any eggs that turn white and are no good. The eggs should hatch a few days later and she might move the fry around to another spot. Do not add any fish while they are breeding. This will only cause stress.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom