Kribensis Eggs Help

[Cornstar]

After removing my other tropical fish, leaving only my 2 kribensis and my albino bn pleco, my female kribensis started hiding in this cave.

After a week of hiding, I decided to check if there were any eggs on the roof and found none. As they continued to hide, I decided to check again and noticed a lot of orange eggs on the floor. I think I startled them because the male kribensis attacked me and made a little cut on my hand. I was wondering if it was normal to have eggs on the floor (sand) and how long should I wait until it hatches?

Also, I have many MTS that come out at night, should I worry that they'll eat the eggs? I am also afraid that my emperor 400 might suck the fries when they start to swim around, I currently covered the intake tube with my girlfriend's stocking.

And I will leave the eggs alone now that I am sure my kribensis are not sick.

[bs6749]

I don't have any experience with kribs, but if they are like other dwarf cichlids when breeding, the hatching times are temperature dependent and they will hatch sooner at higher temps. Additionally, this may take 60-84 hours to occur. The fry will probably take another 4-5 days before they lose their yolk sacs and go free-swimming in search of food. If you want, you can turn the filter off and add an airline to the tank to ensure that they fry survive.

I wouldn't worry about the MTS as the parents should move the snails out of the way should they get too close. Many cichlids spawn on the surface of the substrate, so it's no surprise that they spawned there, even if it is inside of a cave. Only the apistos that I've kept ever spawned on the interior roof surface of a makeshift cave. The other dwarf cichlids preferred the surface of the substrate or on driftwood, amazon sword leaves, pieces of slate, etc.

[Cornstar]

Ahh! The eggs hatched and the crawlers are out! What should I feed them?! :O

[bs6749]

You do not need to feed them until they go free swimming, since their stomachs are still developing and they are living off of their egg sacs still. I would try to hatch out some baby brine shrimp for them and squirt high concentrations of BBS into their general location with a turkey baster. You should have 3-4 batches of BBS growing at all times for the next 2-3 weeks. Stagger the cultures so that you harvest the BBS within 18 hours of them hatching as they lose nutritional value after that time. You might also consider hard boiling an egg and taking a half pea sized portion of yolk and mixing this with water and spot feeding, again with a baster. Also try finely ground up flake foods, spot feeding as mentioned above.

[Cornstar]

Would the egg be more nutritious than the bbs? I am currently trying to grow some bbs at the moment.

[bs6749]

Not sure about being more nutritious, but it will work. Also see if you can find cultures of microworms, banana worms, vinegar eels, walter worms to feed in case the BBS are too much work. I suggest microworms.

[LyndaB]

I only ever fed mine Golden Pearls and Decapsulated Brine Shrimp. They also fed on any nutrients in the java moss and on the driftwood.

[Cornstar]

I'm just wondering, what should I see when they are free swimming? Would they be without their parents? Or would they be swimming at all times? How often should I feed them? I leave the house at 8:30am and get home at 9pm.

[bs6749]

When they go free swimming there should be a "cloud" of them around the parent/parents. They start off as wigglers that have yolk sacs and they MAY try to swim upward but they eventually divebomb to the bottom of the tank. When they are able to swim and maintain vertical position is when they have gone free-swimming.

[Cornstar]

They are currently are trying to swim but still end up on the floor a few seconds. So should I not feed until they are truly swimming?

[bs6749]

Correct. You will probably see them go free-swimming at some point today if they are only on the bottom of the tank for a few seconds. So be prepared to feed later tonight or sometime tomorrow. They are right on track with the typical 4-5 day timeline to lose their yolk sacs and start swimming, just like other dwarf cichlids.

[Cornstar]

Originally Posted by bs6749

Correct. You will probably see them go free-swimming at some point today if they are only on the bottom of the tank for a few seconds. So be prepared to feed later tonight or sometime tomorrow. They are right on track with the typical 4-5 day timeline to lose their yolk sacs and start swimming, just like other dwarf cichlids.

Thanks a lot! How often should I feed when they start swimming?

[bs6749]

As much as you can without polluting the water. Probably 2-5 times per day would be best. If you can do it first thing in the morning, then late afternoon, and right before you go to bed that would be awesome. Live foods will stay longer and will allow the fry longer feeding periods.

[Cornstar]

I have been trying to feed my kribensis 3 times a day. I use a little bit of first bite powder mixed with water and inject it with a baster. I also try to feed them BBS. Turns out that I have a high ammonia spike because of this feeding. I have been doing minor pwc every night to keep it down. What should I do?

[Cornstar]

Sorry, I don't think I was articulating well enough because I was a bit freaking out.

Long story short: I have a dilemma. I do not want my fries to starve, so I feed them often. Feeding them often leads to ammonia/nitrate spike. I lowered the nitrate through 15% pwc every night but the ammonia is still there. I do not want to kill my fries, what do I do?

[bs6749]

When raising fry of nearly any type, it is imperative to remove nitrates from the water. Some are far more prone to succumb to nitrate poisoning, such as rams who tolerate very little nitrates in the tank. You will have to do water changes of 25% or so each day to ensure that the water is clean. As the fry get older, they are far less prone to nitrate poisoning but in the beginning it is required to keep the fish alive.

I highly recommend you float a great deal of guppy grass in the tank. Marimo balls are also nitrate sponges and will remove lots from your tank. Fast growing plants are very beneficial to removing nitrates.

Also, if the fry are large enough to be removed from the tank with a net, then you might consider rehoming them in a 10g tank without the parents. This will make the water changes much easier. Do 5-8 gallons per day in a 10g tank and they will be fine.