Kribensis behaviour

[karma_llama]

Hi all,
I finally got my kribensis last weekend but now have some questions about their behaviour and telling the sex.
1) They are all about 1 1/2 inches long, does this mean they are quite young, i.e. not mature yet?
2) I've been trying to tell the sex but am struggling. One of them keeps flushing its belly deep purple and red, 2 of the others have shown faintish red 'blobs' on their sides, and the fourth one hasn't shown any red colouration at all. Any ideas!?
3) If they are old enough and i do have a mix of males/females when are they likely to pair up and what behaviour should i be looking for to indicate courtship or them having paired up?

Here a pics of three of my kribs

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Orion]

From what I have been told, and seen myself, the males tend to have a more elongated dorsal fin, with the color extending all the way to the tip of the fin. The tail also comes to more of a point on the males than the females.

The first two would appear to be females, and I really cant tell good enough on the third one. They do look young, so I would say you still have a little while before they start to breed, or are able to better tell the sexes apart.

When they are breeding, they will flash colors at each other, and apear to shake as well.

HTH

 

[wayne]

Once you've seen male and females the differnce is obvious, especially the caudal tail fin. The top two for sure are females - round end to tail fin. If it's more pointed or diamond shape the 3rd might be a male - it's hard to tell.
Good loooking kribs though - many of the ones you see for sale have much duller colours than these.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

I'll agree with what the two above said.

When breeding they will, shake and dance. You'll know

All look like females pictured to me, like stated above its hard to tell on the last one. And i agree with wayne, these are some nice fish and you usually don't see this quality around for sale.

 

[karma_llama]

Thanks.
Looks like i'm going to have to keep an eye open for some males then!!

In the store all four fish were quite dull looking but as soon as i got them into my tank they all coloured up as you see them above, they must be happy!!

The krib in the second picture does the shaking you describe and makes herself purple when the others swim past. I she trying to attract a mate then (she's out of luck if they're all female!)

 

[karma_llama]

UPDATE - I think i have a pair!!!

Unusually the top two kribs pictured above have formed a pair, leading me to believe that the top one is infact a male (his fins are a different colour to the other three).

The two will eat side by side in front of the coconut cave and chase the other two away.

Should i remove the other two females?

Fingers crossed for a spawn x x

 

[wayne]

Go to this link, and click on the photo of Pelviachromis pulcher.

http://www.cichlidae.com/gallery.php?genus=Pelvicachromis

See the 'spade shaped tail? Male.

Or even beter , this...
http://www.thekrib.com/Apisto/P-pulcher.html

And compare the tails. Very different.

 

[karma_llama]

both those pictures of the male krib on those links look like mine. He actually looks slightly different in person, and i know you all think i'm just saying 'hey look they've paired up' when they're both females but in all honesty if you were to come and stare in my tank for hours like i have been doing you would see that one of them (top pic) is actually different from the others.

I guess i may not manage to convince you that it is male (a very young male as they are) but thats whole heartedly what i believe from watching them and i'll post you some pics of my first krib fry!

I just have to say that regardless of the sex so far my kribs have been awesome!!! (thanks to everyone on the board for suggesting them)

 

[ridgewalker]

When I first looked at the pics I thought the top one may have been a male. I didn't say anything as everyone else seemed convinced it was female. I have two kribs which look similar, the anal and dorsal fins are pointed and the tail fin is kind of diamond shaped. But when they hover about or even swim backwards the tail goes more rounded as they fan it out. I thought that was what yours were doing.

 

[Avalon]

Pic 1 could be a male. Pic 2 is definitely a female. Not sure on the third pic. Males have long, flowing fins with the caudal (tail) fin being diamond shaped. Females have a heavier abdomen, blunted tail fins, and usually will not have a spot on their caudal fin when breeding.

Breeding behavior is very easy to recognize. The female will usually create a territory and do her little dance to lure a potential male into it. Deep maroon abdomens along with flashing fins usually indicate a mating ritual. Once mated, they make very good parents. While male kribs can have multiple partners (harem spawning), they easily make excellent parents when kept alone as a single pair. They will usually make lifelong mates.

Sometimes, I think depending on the male, if he doesn't like the other female kribs in the tank, he will harrass them to death. If he does like them, harem spawning will begin if there are adequate territories.

 

[karma_llama]

Thanks avalon thats really useful information.

Yeah ridgewalker, they were stationary at the time of photographing and when he swims his fins look more pointed.

The top one is a male and the second a female. The bottom pic was also a female as is my other one not featured. I had to remove the krib in the last pic beacause she was smaller than the others and has a bit of a deformed head (nickname bobblehead!) resulting in her being picked on and constantly chased.

All the mating behaviour you described above has been taking place over the last day or so and the male seems happy with two females, one of which really is deep deep maroon and desperately trying to impress the male.

Guess i have to wait and see what happens, i dont mind waiting tho because in the mean time they are so interesting just to watch, very entertainng fish.