Very aggressive breeding Kribensis pair

[Kelly]

I had a pair of Kribs in my 220 that spawned and boy did they get aggressive. They took over the whole tank and pity any other fish in the tank. They would take turns swimming the length of the tank and attacking various fish even when the fry were not present. Once the fry were old enough to fend for themselves, about 3 weeks I removed the parents and put them in my 55 gallon with 6 danio's as dither fish. Total Damage? - One young Bolivian Ram with tail completely ripped off, 2 dead Emperor Tetra's, one dead Otto Cat, One Green Tiger Barb with fin ripped off and probably won't survive.

The pair are completely calm in the 55 but I bet when they spawn again, watch out danio's!

Since removing them from the 220 gallon 2 days ago the other fish in the tank are so much more relaxed and their colors are becoming extremely brite.

I'm thinking of putting them along with the danio's on the classifieds free to good home with at least 30 gallon dedicated tank, I like this pair a lot but I want to get rid of my 55 and I won't put them back in the 220.

[exv152]

I think this behaviour is typical of kribs that don't have enough hiding spaces. I have a few myself, and although they're aggressive fish when it comes to breeding and protecting their young, IME they tend to get worse when a tank is not densely planted, or doesn't have well defined territorial boundaries. They'll then protect the whole tank as their territory.

[Kelly]

That is probably the case, they did have plenty of hiding places and tunnels but I only have about 1/4 of the tank planted so far.

[Kelly]

Happy to report that the Bolivian ram's tail is growing back nicely and the green tiger barb is doing well and I expect it to survive. The Krib fry hat were born in December are growing so fast in the 220 that they are now bigger than the Bolivian Ram fry that were born in October. It's amazing how peaceful the tank is since removing the Kribs. By the way the Krib parents that I moved to the 55 gallon are doing so well that I think they have a new batch of fry in the cave. Gotta love this hobby.

[Kelly]

The green tiger barb succumbed to her injuries, I was hopeful and she looked like she would pull through but sadly she died. The Bolivian Rams tail is almost completely re-grown. The Krib parents do have a new batch of fry, looks like about 60 to 70. I removed the surviving dither fish (danios) from the 55 gallon because they were getting beaten up by the Kribs, 3 died and 2 are now in my 220 which was not the plan, didn't want danios in that tank. I'm going to try to trap the baby Kribs in the 220, I count about 12 that survived and are now big enough that they are starting to become a bother to the other peaceful fish, time to move them out to their own tank, an 8 or 9 gallon. I think they'll be big enough to give away in a couple months.