Tank mates for a pair of Kribensis?

[sweevo]

I'm new to the hobby and have had my tank since just before christmas. After bedding the tank in and planting i've recently begun to populate my tank. I've added to the tank in stages as follows:

8 x Glowlight Tetras
8 x Cardinal Tetras
2 Orange/Red Chromides + 2 Kribensis

The tank is 36" x 12" x 18"

I'm now looking to add just a couple more fish and then i'll be sticking at those stocking levels.

My dilema is that the male Kribensis is somewhat grumpy and occasionally will spook off the chromides if they're rooting around the bottom of the tank and he's close by.

I was originally going to add two Rams but i'm now worried that the Kribensis in question will harass these new fish. I get the impression (by looking online) that they will spend a lot of their time in the bottom of the tank and are thus more likely to cross paths with the Kribensis in question quite frequently.

The chromides seem to spend most of their time in the upper two thirds of the tank and so don't come into contact with the grumpy kribensis that often and seem happy enough.

Are my fears well founded or will Rams be able to cope with living with this sometimes troublesome tank mate?

 

[Paul]

Krbness can get aggressive at times, so I'd monitor the situation closely.

 

[SoulFish]

kribs are too agressive for most community fish, especially when breeding, orange chromides are also brackish water, rams wouldnt mix in there well

 

[sweevo]

The Kribs were returned to the shop this morning.

WWIII broke out last night in the tank so I removed them. The kribs appeared to have paired up and then proceeded to go for anything that moved in the tank!

It's very annoying that in all the books i've read before taking the plunge and getting my first aquarium, the Kribensis is said to be at home in a community tank. From the looks of it, thing couldn't be more untrue!

Thanks for your comments anyway. The remaining tank mates all seem to be returing to normal now. I'm just glad I was around when it all kicked off.

 

[SoulFish]

they arent community and definnately not once they pair up

 

[WetChicken]

I bought a male and female which she was pregnant and gave birth a few days after. They were pleasant until the birth, and then they chased EVERYTHING in the tank. I moved the whole family to another tank (slipped a 2 gallon Ziploc bag around the ornament which they immediately evicted the plecostamus from lol) and were doing good until I replaced the heater which killed everyone except mom.
She's now back in the primary tank and is only a little nippy at feeding time. Looking for another dad since raising the little ones was easy and fun.

BTW Only replying to this ancient thread since it was the first in my search result...

 

[Cole]

I've had great luck with Keyhole Cichlids with community fish. I've had problems with mixing kribs and community fish in the past...I've had a couple make the "psycho-switch" as well.

 

[nanu156]

If you go all Females you won't have an issue, it's the breeding pair thing that is problematic.

Keyholes are top swimmers and again can get super nasty if they form a pair and are feeling the urge to murder, cichlids are always a gamble in a community tank, this includes kribs, rams, angels etc

Personally i would have kept the kribs and got rid of the rest of the fish... lol