[shane3fan]

Anyone every have this happen? Buy a fish or a plant and get it home and regret it?

I purchased two kribensis Thursday night at my LFS. They had been in their tanks for about 4 months and I always thought they were pretty. They didnt have anywhere to hide in the LFS tank and were surrounded by Mollies. So they seemed to have pretty cool personalities--they would come up to the glass and hang out, didnt matter how many people were watching.

Well----I get the home--they immediately went into hiding--one in one cave and one in another--and I havent really seen them since.

I know that is pretty much normal behavior-but I feel like I purchased some duds. They dont know that I got them so I could look at them--but it kinda sucks having fish you never see.

 

[nismo tetra]

Well you have to remember its a new environment for them. All fish like to hide a bit when first introduced. Give them time to get situated and realize its safe to come out.

 

[Ariel301]

That's sort of the nature of bottom-dwelling cichlids, unfortunately.

 

[mosasaur]

I always had this problem with kribs, it is why I stopped trying to keep them.

 

[elihanover]

It gets worse when your spouse yells at you for it.

 

[mistergreen]

Give them time to situate. Have dither fish like the mollies in the lfs might help.

 

[mumushummus]

Non, je ne regrette rien. I'm a after day sleeper before I buy something.... so I buy!

 

[shane3fan]

Give them time to situate. Have dither fish like the mollies in the lfs might help.

Not really feasable at this time. They are currently in a 10 gallon by themselves until I finish the cabinet for the 29 or the 30 gallon.

 

[NJAquaBarren]

Give them time. They will get used to the environment and less shy. Eventually you'll start to appreciate their "visits". It will be a treat.

 

[F22]

try not feeding them regularly, just drop one pellet in every time you walk past the tank... this way they will start to associate people with food... and you will see them more... you can actually train your fish...

 

[MoonFish]

I'll get better if you have a pair and they try to spawn.

 

[CL]

Non, je ne regrette rien.

Great song.
I agree with everyone else about giving them time to get used to the tank, though I've never kept kribs, personally. I mainly just wanted to comment on the song

 

[cah925]

I recently got some emperor tetras and they have been terrorizing my cardinals and rummynose. Both groups of fish were huddled in one corner of the tank near the bottom. Anytime any dared to venture out, the emperors would chase them back into the corner. I finally got tired of it and took the emperors out. Now the cardinals and rummynose are happily swimming all over the tank.

 

[shane3fan]

I recently got some emperor tetras and they have been terrorizing my cardinals and rummynose. Both groups of fish were huddled in one corner of the tank near the bottom. Anytime any dared to venture out, the emperors would chase them back into the corner. I finally got tired of it and took the emperors out. Now the cardinals and rummynose are happily swimming all over the tank.

Yeah, but you are a Gator fan--how am I supposed to take anything you say seriously?? :icon_eek::hihi:

 

[wendyjo]

I got some loaches I wasn't happy with after a few days. I returned them. The guy at Petco said he never saw anyone return live fish but their policy didn't say they had to be dead so he refunded me.

 

[Alpinist]

I bought a pair of kribs from the LFS store recently, and put them in my 33gal planted tank. Less than a week later I had krib fry. They are currently in the yolk-sac wiggler phase and should be coming out into the world soon.

 

[lauraleellbp]

Yeah, but you are a Gator fan--how am I supposed to take anything you say seriously?? :icon_eek::hihi:

SCORE!! Go Noles! [/end threadjack]

I think the Kribs will be out and about more after they've had time to settle in.

On the other hand- how sure are you that you got a M/F pair? If you ended up with both the same sex, you may have WWIII on your hands if they do decide to come out...

 

[shane3fan]

Im honestly not sure of the sex. The LFS couldnt tell me for sure. Im fairly certain I have one of each though. One is very plain looking while the other is more 'ornamental'.

 

[Alpinist]

The ornamental ones tend to be the females. The best way to tell is the shape of the caudal fin (tail). It ends in a point on the males (spade-like), and is rounded in the females. Females also tend to develop more color in the belly region when they are getting ready to spawn, but that is not the only indicator. Mine is guarding her fry right now and all the color is gone from her belly and she has a very dark line running down her lateral line. She's on a mission to keep her babies out of the vicious mouths of tetras.

 

[lauraleellbp]

Actually, that may not be a good sign.

If the fish were compatible with each other, they're more likely to both color up.

If one is brightly colored and the other one very pale, there's a good chance that one has clearly established dominance over the other.

Just keep a close eye on them for aggression. There's not much room to get away if one should start attacking the other.