help with kribensis

[roninja]

hi all,

i've had 2 kribs for about a month now and they've been acting pretty strangely lately.
i'm not sure what's going on - is it aggression or are they getting ready to spawn/mate?

the female's been following the male around a lot, and every so often they'll peck at each other and almost touch lips.
it's kinda weird to watch, but i'm not sure if i should be worried or not.
any advice would be great, thanks

[florabuzz]

I've never seen that behavior with my kribs, but when they're in the mood, they do this quirky little dance where they shimmy at each other. Then they start making a nest, clearing out a cave or something, and get pretty protective of it.

[roninja]

they do this weird side to side thing and kinda shake at each other, reminds me of a dance, i tried to capture it on video but they're super camera shy, best i could get is this http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=0czBmOpH67M&feature=youtu.be

[florabuzz]

looks pretty standard, might be having some trouble with the yoyos though - mine get a bit testy when they're defending. don't think they know to keep a safe distance, and mine are still tiny so bigger ones could be a real nuisance. love the accent by the way

[sly_lash]

Those are aggression moves, seen 'em before in other fish like kissing gouramis or paradise fish when they're going at it.

[Asteron]

I think the female's trying to show off to the male, but he's more interested in keeping an eye on those YoYos. They do look quite big for your tank, to be honest. I'm not sure your Kribs will get the peace and quiet they need to breed successfully. The male seems pretty worried about the YoYos, and even if they do manage to lay eggs, I'm not convinced your tank is big enough for them to coexist. When my Kribs have young, they chase off all the other tank inhabitants from a 2ft area around them. My tank's 120x50x60 and that's barely enough space. I checked your profile and I'm guessing you've got them in the Roma 125l? Sadly, I think that's just too small for all of them.

[roninja]

looks pretty standard to me, but yeah those yoyos might be causing some stress, mine get all worked up when defending too. Guess it's a bit of a pain when they're still learning to stay out of the way, especially with bigger ones like yours. By the way, love your accent.

haha wasn't planning on mentioning it, but a mate asked me about it and yeah, I've got a soft spot for the yoyos, but they're a handful. Like clumsy dogs, always getting in the way.

cheers for the input, I asked because I've got two female pearls that do the whole lip-locking thing when they're around the male, and I know that's a sign of aggression.

hmmm, that's a bit of a bummer, what do you reckon I should do? Rehome the kribs or the yoyos? Wish I could start from scratch, didn't think I'd get so into cichlids.

[florabuzz]

I've found it works a charm to give the kribs their own space when they start getting all lovey-dovey, then once I've got some little ones swimming about, I'll reintroduce them to the main tank. Right now, my yoyos are still tiny, so not as much of a concern, but I can imagine it'd be a different story if they were bigger.

[sly_lash]

Cichlids have a lot of personality, that's for sure. They're gonna keep you invested in them. You'll know if they're getting ready to mate, they'll start doing some weird stuff with each other's fins, especially around the egg spots.