Raising Kribensis

[Big-j]

Ok my Kribs spawned and the fry are around 4 weeks old, not large by any means but nearing maybe 1/3 of an inch or so? Anyway they swim freely and well, which leads me to my next question, when can I remove them completely from their parents so the parents can spawn again?

 

[LyndaB]

First, what are you going to do with the fry? Sell them? Keep them? The parents will spawn about every 4 weeks or so. I always kept my krib fry in the main tank with the parents. By doing that, you curb the spawning and it becomes a much more realistic schedule for you. I think my adults spawned every 2-3 months when they had krib growing out in the same tank. It's easy to become overwhelmed when you end up with 150 fry per spawn.

 

[Big-j]

I am selling the fry, but I'm going to Monroe, Louisiana today to get a 20g long tank for a grow out tank, should that be enough?

 

[Big-j]

Just got a 20g high tank set and white sand for my grow out tank, is there anything else I need for growing the fry? They will have no ornaments or plants unless y'all think it'll help, just regular feedings.

 

[meegosh]

If it is a dedicated grow out tank I would have kept it bare bottom. It will make cleaning up after them a lot easier.

 

[Big-j]

Ok good to know, anything else?

 

[meegosh]

I had faster growth with multiple smaller feedings throughout the day. I've since put them in my community tank and when they spawn the eggs get eaten before they hatch. You can easily end up with 100's of kribs in just a few months.

 

[Big-j]

How long does it take before you can distinguish between sexes?

 

[LyndaB]

From my experience, about 4-5 months.

 

[Big-j]

Ok and how often do the parents spawn once the babies are out of the breeding tank?

 

[meegosh]

Mine were spawning pretty regularly. About every month or so.... I did the opposite though. I put the parents in a separate tank to breed and then remove the parents after they are free swimmers.

 

[LyndaB]

That's a really good idea....

 

[Big-j]

That is good, but wouldn't that cause you to set up a new tank for each batch of babies?

 

[meegosh]

By the time I had conditioned the female for her next batch the fry would be big enough to not get eaten by the parents. I had a 10g and 20H that I was using for breeding/grow out tanks. Between the two of them I would have the 20H as a growout and the 10g as the spawning/fry tank.

 

[Big-j]

See I never conditioned my pair, they just up and spawned, I never even knew they had spawned till I saw a swarm of fry