let's play "sex those kribs"! with pics

[cappieBridget]

They are both about 2" and one has no "extra" colors but black and white, rounded fins, no eye spot. The other has very vibrant color, exspecially since adding the new one, very pointed long fins, and a very obvious eye spot. Did I get lucky and make a pair?
here they are:

*edited-the colorful one has taken immediatly to the new one and has been following it, but the other seems shy.

 

[Menagerie]

A little "rule of finage" I learned that seems to work is by looking at the points on the fins. If the dorsal fin is pointed, then the cichlid is male, if the finage is rounded, the cichlid is female. This is true of the kribs I have and I after watching my Mbuna for years and knowing who is female, the rule works well in that tank too.

 

[cappieBridget]

yay! I thought so but was confused because I thought the females had more color, but I also know that can very by fish. So, do you think the male wants to mate and the female isn't ready? or, is that just how they aquaint themselves?
thanx!!!

 

[TJcanada]

This is my pair,... if it helps at all.

While there has been no spawning between these two the male constantly courts his gal and is never far from her side.

 

[cappieBridget]

o.k., that's like mine. Which is which? I am thinking male bottom, female top? and now it seems like he'll follow the other around and charge it's side, is this the mating call?

 

[TJcanada]

My photo the male is on top, the colourful smaller one is female below. She's pretty spunky LOL This is the second female, the first female I got didn't like my male apparently ? so I returned her and choose this pretty gal. I've had them for 6 months and they seem quite happy with eachother. The hardnes of my source water (well) would be a discouraging factor for breeding,... but that isn't why I got these two - just wanted a pair to watch. The male does colour up nicely when he's courting or defending his gal,... in the pic they are just cruising for nibbles

What I think you might have is two females,... because of the 'aggressive posturing' you describe. No expert by any means.... but after watching the krib tank at the LFS that is the behaviour I noted between the females - the dominate's were quite colourful and the submissives were duller in colour... the males didn't know what to do with themselves LMAO

 

[cappieBridget]

the dominate's were quite colourful and the submissives were duller in colour... the males didn't know what to do with themselves LMAO

typical no offence if your a dude

I was worried it was 2 males 8O

Now I don't know what to do :?

Mine are in the opposite with the fins though. The more colorful one has the long pointy fins, the dull one is dark and has round fins, the bottom one completly round with no eye spot. Isn't there an easier way? Of course I would get the ambiguous fish

 

[TJcanada]

Hey, we're both learning here

From what I understand about Kribs, having mulitple females will cause a hierachy - similar I presume to a dog pack... females compete for the males - he's the lucky devil who get's a harem (every man's dream )
You mentioned earlier about how different in markings these little cichlids can be, while they are all similar no two are really the same.

Having looked at your photo's over and over it appears you have a set because of the dorsal fin length,... but the colours, to me anyways, say otherwise...??? While the males are quite handsom when in breeding condition the females still outshine them in appearance. The only other thing I can think of is the female is not a good match for the male...? So his efforts are in vain.
Here's an article you might find interesting http://cichlidae.com/article.php?id=161 . Here's another http://www.timstropicals.com/Inventory/Dwarf/RainbowKribInfo.asp

I stood in front of that Krib tank at the LFS for what seemed like forever, watching the interaction, was really interesting. I was tempted to get several females along with the male I had picked.

FYI, I'm a gal.

 

[cappieBridget]

[ quote]FYI, I'm a gal.[/quote]


YAY! I was thinking a pair because they are so different in every way, even though they have mixed signs of gender. I agree! I think the female is not wanting to mate, maybe because she's not mature enough or because she's the newbie of the tank or because he's coming on to strong. He's definitely showing some strong breeding colors to her She kind of gives him the cold shoulder and swims off. They haven't done any jaw locking or whatever that fighting they do is. It seems more like he's in heat and she just batts her eyes and wiggles her fins far, far away and makes him p*ssed, I'll have to find more females for the poor fella

after reading the links you gave, I have to assume that the colorful one I have is a male trying to spawn as he has a brilliant red stripe running across his dorsal fin to the very tip and his belly pinkens up. The female has round fins and isn't showing any color really. She seems to darken when she hides from the male though, almost to camouflage herself to the surrounding plants.

 

[Menagerie]

Some kribs are simply not colorful until they are ready to breed and even then they may not get overly colorful.

females compete for the males - he's the lucky devil who get's a harem

Depending on the dynamics of the fish, the top female will be the only one who gets to mate and the sub females are chased away mercilessly. Often the recommendation is multiple females per male to distribute the aggression of the male.

 

[TJcanada]

Often the recommendation is multiple females per male to distribute the aggression of the male.

See, this is why message boards are good,...
I've found that my little female is more aggressive in nature than the male, he seems pretty relaxed ... ? They interact well together (he courts she seemingly ignores him LOL)... she takes pot shots and chases several of the fish in the communtiy,... sometimes he backs her up sometimes not 8O

 

[Menagerie]

I've found that my little female is more aggressive in nature than the male, he seems pretty relaxed ... ?

That’s what makes my favorite abbreviation here at AA: YMMV! Cichlids are great fish

 

[cappieBridget]

I am now thinking that the colorful male is not the only male but the dominant male and the other is the scaredy cat male. I am going to get 3 females for them today, IF I can find any females around the pet stores. Alot of places by me won't carry them because the pet stores called them "too aggressive". What in the world are they thinking? My 2 males are in a tank with 9 long finned zebra danios, 2 blue gauramis, a bumble bee goby, a candystripe pleco and a male GBR and they are all fine. The only problem or confrontation so far has been my dopminant male chasing away the other male krib. So, anyway, I'll get some females today adn update to let you all know how things are going. Thanks for all of your help, I love it here!

 

[Menagerie]

My 2 males are in a tank with 9 long finned zebra danios, 2 blue gauramis, a bumble bee goby, a candystripe pleco and a male GBR and they are all fine.

For now. When they breed, you will see a change in behavior. I had some in a 50 with GBR and apistos and that did not work out well--my other community tank members did okay, but they too were often chased.

 

[cappieBridget]

I bought 3 more today. Very small, maybe 1.5 inches. I think I have figured out a way to sex them now. They are all very colorful except the one and I found this:

They have a golden brown spot on the back edge of each gill cover. In males, this spot is edged with blue; in females it is edged with yellow.
The anal fin is a pale lilac and the pelvic fins have bright pale blue front edges with blue fin rays.
In males, the body of the fin is violet and red in females. The female's pelvic fins are shorter thean the males .

Do you agree that this holds true? I need to find a diagram on the body parts of a fish...

 

[JRagg]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_anatomy

That may help for the diagram part. I'm not a crib person, so I can't attest to how well that works for sexing.

 

[cappieBridget]

thanks

It's pretty hard for me to distinguish if the fins are pointed or rounded. 3 of them are very small and the fins look rounded and squarish but aren't the fins going to keep growing>? I mean, how do I know what the fins are going to grow like. Isn't there an easier way? I have been staring at these poor fish for a long time now, through the green algae bloom going on and I feel like I am going to go blind They are all very colorful but 1, but once they get close to each other, it's like looking at a rainbow. Are they having an orgy or something? Do they color up when they are fighting? Sometimes they are curling their tails together and like bumping their bodies next to each other. I don't know if this is fighting, but it looks like when livebearers spawn.
I am just confused. Thanks for your help everyone~!

 

[Menagerie]

Fighting is obvious and you will see nipping and lots of chasing. Sometimes you will see them fight by chasing each other in a circle, but often one will stop and aggressively attach the other's side. If it is two males, the subdominant one will quickly lose its color to show it is subordinate and to end the fight.
Two colorful fish bumping up against each other is probably a sign of breeding behavior. Keep in mind they may do this over and over and you may never see eggs or fry.

 

[cappieBridget]

They just started to get red, I mean blood red color to their bellies, I think 2 of the females out of the 3. One looks a bit violet and the males get light pink bellies and green around the gills. I have just put in 3 halved flower pots and a tree trunk that they visit but I'm waiting to see anything obvious. How exactly does spwning work with them? Just swimming close and bumping sides and then the female lays the eggs or do they bump, lay eggs and the male fertilizes them and leaves mommy to gaurd? I read somewhere before but keep getting confused abnout what fish I was reading and the eye spots on the tail fooling the female into thinking they are more eggs and I think that is a mouthbrooder which the krib isn't . Sorry, that was a mouthfull, no pun intended, lol. Thanks!

Oh, one more question, do you think that is to many fish in the tank? 5 kribs, 2 blue gauramis, 1 bumblebee goby, 1 candystripe pleco, 2 small ottos, 3 danios (normal size), 1 GBR and 3 rosy barbs in a 55 gallon.

 

[Menagerie]

eye spots on the tail fooling the female into thinking they are more eggs and I think that is a mouthbrooder which the krib isn't

Normally, they are egg spots, used to lure the female mouthbrooders into taking sperm into the mouth to fertilize the eggs. That definitely does not happen with kribs

Oh, one more question, do you think that is to many fish in the tank? 5 kribs, 2 blue gauramis, 1 bumblebee goby, 1 candystripe pleco, 2 small ottos, 3 danios (normal size), 1 GBR and 3 rosy barbs in a 55 gallon.

No, but I tend to "overstock." The true test is water quality and fish "happiness." If the water parameters are stable and fish are beating the crud out of each other daily or just up and dieing, then it's safe to say your tank is well stocked.

they bump, lay eggs and the male fertilizes them and leaves mommy to gaurd?

That's close to what happens. When my kribs spawned, both parents guarded the fry, I completely missed the egg stage!