Are krib fry indestructible?

[Gasman1976]

Hello, from a new member, just wanted to share a bit of a long story, so bear with me.

I was hoping to start breeding my Kribs so i had them in a breeding tank around 3 weeks ago.
Unfortunately, whilst they looked paired, the heater broke and I didn't have a spare, so I put them back in the community tank. I emptied the tank to give it a bit of a clean and left the substrate slightly wet to encourage some regrowth in some crypts I had in there.
I ordered a new heater which came just before Xmas so I refilled it and bunged the heater on (I don't think I even dechlorinated as I wasn't planning on putting any fish for a good while).

I just noticed that the tank is absolutely full of little krib wrigglers now, are these things indestructible or something? I'll try to look after them from now on, but it was a major shock.

Anyone have a similar experience?

 

[bettamax]

if they are wigglers then they were born very recently and probably right after the change but i don't have any exp. with Kirbs but have fun and take good care of them. because of the lack of good bacteria from such a drastic change they are at a fairly high risk of disease so keep a close eye for that and treat what u catch fast so it don't go out of control. have fun with them

 

[bettamax]

oh and they are not in any way indestructable

 

[Gasman1976]

So we are 10 days down the line and there are around 15 fry, each is about 5mm long now and eating crushed flake with no problems. Very fascinating watching them learn to identify the food and become more "brave" as they get bigger. It's a pity they missed out on having their parents with them(I would have liked to see the accompanied trips that the female is supposed to do with her fry, but maybe we can do that with the next batch-she's colouring up nicely again).
They are in a 35L tank, do you think this will be big enough to grow them out? I'm sure bigger would be ideal, but unless they are robust enough to go into the main community, this is not an option.

 

[Hholly]

Wow! That's cool! Good luck!

 

[Gasman1976]

Still all thriving, they are about 5mm long and feeding 3 times a day (crushed tetramin), you can see lots of details now like them raising and lowering their dorsal fins just like the parents.
Really enjoying this process. Can't wait for my shrimp to breed too.

 

[bigbanker]

that's great!

 

[Mrjoshua313]

My first batch is about four months old. They really are amazing. The parenting is fun to watch also.

 

[meegosh]

My angelfish says no, they are not indestructible.

Congrats on the surprise fry! Always fun to see how life finds a way sometimes.

 

[Gasman1976]

I may be putting this to the test a bit further now, the pair have bred in the community aquarium now, I just saw the mother taking the new batch of fry out "walkies", this leaves me with a bit of a dilemma.

1) leave the fry where they are so I can observe the parenting behaviour (though they'll have to take their chances with some juvenile angels)

2) try to remove the fry to the other tank, where they'll probably suffer against their much bigger siblings (or get eaten).

Another tank is not an option, so nature will have to take its course somehow.

 

[Mrjoshua313]

What in in your community tank. When my Kris's first mated it was a community tank and they get VERY protective of their fry.

 

[Mrjoshua313]

What in in your community tank. When my Kris's first mated it was a community tank and they get VERY protective of their fry.

Sorry hit send before I was done.
We had to move everything out of one community tank and place in another. So they weren't beat up to much.

 

[Gasman1976]

There's 2 angels, a gold nugget plec, 3 clown loaches, 3 adult kribs, a GBR, 4 black widow tetras, a shoal of neons and a shoal rummy nose.

 

[Gasman1976]

Must just be my krib fry that are indestructible then. The ones from the community tank have been thinned out a bit, but there's still 6-7 swimming around despite the inherent danger from the predators in the tank. In amazed, just go to show what a good job the parents do of guarding them.
The first batch are still growing well, hoping that the parents will take a break for a bit now they are actively looking after a brood.