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Taking the female out won't stop him from being aggressive on his own.

I've noticed kribs have really distinct personalities. In my experience, a lone krib usually does fine in a community, but when they're paired and spawning, that's when the aggression kicks in. See how he goes. What's the rest of your tank looking like, fish-wise?

I've got neons, rams, catfish, angels, Molly's, and assassins in the tank, no apples though, they're not exactly fish.

Those fish should be alright, just keep an eye on things.

I've got a male krib who's an absolute grump, always has been. Bought two young ones about 18 months ago, supposedly male and female, but turned out they were both males - great start. So I bought another female, thinking one of the males would pair up and I'd return the spare. She paired with one, but I kept the other male, feeling a bit sorry for him as he got rejected whenever he tried to court the female.

Lost my female about six months ago, and her mate just passed away last week - no idea why. Saw a beautiful female in the shop this week, thought I'd give my lonely male a chance, and got her. He's had her for three days now, and he absolutely despises her - wouldn't you think he'd be over the moon? Luckily, there's plenty of space, so I'm hoping he'll come around eventually. She's coloured up beautifully, and being smaller than him is supposed to be a good thing.

So much for trying to do my fish a favour - I wish I'd just left things alone.

Krib update - my grumpy male has decided the female is good enough for him. He's stopped chasing her aggressively around the tank and now lets her follow him about. When she wanders off, he's now going looking for her. I've seen her displaying to him, but not him to her yet - though I'm sure he will in time. She's really coloured up beautifully and is a pretty little thing, he should be grateful I went to the trouble of getting her for him after all.

Kribs, they're a handful. Had a group, got a pair, but not before a fight and two fatalities. Ended up with one female, two males - figured the space in my 340 would be enough for them to sort themselves out. The female picked the larger male, they spawned, and had a batch of fry. But two weeks later, she killed him - no signs of illness, just found him at the bottom of the tank. The remaining male took care of the fry, then paired up with the female. Same pattern, two weeks later, he was gone too. I'm guessing she was the culprit again.

Picked up a new mate for her yesterday, over 3" - significantly larger than the previous two. Hoping this one won't meet the same fate. My experience is that the females do most of the nipping, so I'm not holding my breath that removing her would solve the aggression issue - unless, of course, there are eggs somewhere.

My grumpy male krib has finally decided the new female is worthy of his attention. He's stopped chasing her around the tank, now letting her follow him about. When she wanders off, he goes looking for her - quite the gent. I've seen her displaying to him, but he's not returned the favour yet. She's a pretty little thing, he should count himself lucky.

She's lovely, my male's really calmed down now, seems like he's found a new mate in my big angel fish, they're always together, it's hilarious watching them follow each other everywhere.

dreamhunt wrote: ↑Thu Sep 04, 2025 4:41 am Taking the female out won't stop him from being aggressive on his own.

What's the size of your tank, specifically the footprint. Mine's 30 inches by 12, and I've had my fair share of aggression issues with my pair of kribs. I've found that adding more cover really helps - I've got a load of live plants and five caves, all tucked away under driftwood. The key is to block the fish's view across the tank, so they can't see each other all the time. I've used big pieces of driftwood with caves dug out underneath, and also tried using large pipes pressed into the soil. These make great krib caves, and they're really easy to set up. One thing I have noticed is that live food seems to make the aggression worse, but it does encourage spawning and brings out the colors in my fish.