How to Breed Kribs

A variety of dwarf cichlid, kribs are a fast-reproducing type of fish that can produce fry many times a year. A breeding pair in good health can breed every one to two months all year. Kribs may breed easily and have a lot of fry, and they don't need much intervention when taking care of them. Kribs usually make attentive parents and can raise their own fry.

Instructions

    • 1

      Keep a breeding pair in the tank, but there should also be a few other fish. Once the female has laid eggs, the breeding pair will become aggressive toward other fish. If this instinct can’t be exercised on other fish, they will become aggressive toward their mate. It generally takes only a couple of days for mating to occur.

    • 2

      Let a male krib and a female live together and they will soon mate. They don’t need any special conditions to do so, but they do need something in the tank that resembles a cave. In the wild, kribs do their breeding in caves to shield their eggs from other fish. Keep a pipe, castle or other item in the tank that the fish can use like a cave.

    • 3

      Stay away from the cave. Kribs take an active parenting role and will guard their own eggs. They may get overly aggressive if you start to touch the cave or attempt to get to the eggs. Allow the parents to keep the other fish away and to watch over their eggs until they hatch.

    • 4

      Wait for the krib eggs to hatch. This can take anywhere from three days to more than a week. The parents will take care of the fry while they are young, though it is possible for them to eat a few of them in the process. Sometimes a parent will take a few fry to a different area in the tank by holding the fry gently in the parent’s mouth.

    • 5

      Watch for any aggression between the breeding pair. The only time you may need to remove a fish from the tank is if the parents begin aggressively fighting with each other. If this occurs, it is possible for one or both of the adults to become injured.

    • 6

      Watch for any aggression between the breeding pair. The only time you may need to remove a fish from the tank is if the parents begin aggressively fighting with each other. If this occurs, it is possible for one or both of the adults to become injured.