Breeding Pelvicachromis pulcher
One of the prettiest small cichlid in the hobby is Pelvicachromis pulcher, popularly known as kribensis or the krib and sometimes called pelmats. This cichlid was first described by Boulenger in 1901 as Pelmatochromis pulcher from the type locality of "mouth of Ethiops River in the Niger delta". However in 1954, Ladiges called it Pelmatochromis kribensis, giving rise to its common name of kribensis or krib which has stuck. Pelvicachromis was created as a subgenus of Pelmatochromis by Thys van den Audenaerde in 1968 and elevated to full generic rank by Meinken 1971 resulting in the krib now being being scientifically named as Pelvicachromis pulcher.
P pulcher is one of the most popular cichlids not only because of its lovely colours but also because of the ease of maintenance. Males, which can grow upto 12 cm, have a dark brown stripe below the dorsal fin and another along the lateral line. The pelvic fins and the stomach area of the male is pink. Females which are a lot smaller than males, are particularly colourful, having a rosy red stomach area especially when gravid. Both, males and females, usually but not always, tend to have black spots ringed in yellow on the dorsal fin and also in the caudal fin, which have shades of pink, yellow and brown. Males tend to have an elongated and pointed dorsal, ventral and caudal fins, while that of females tend to be rounded.
There are many colour variations of kribensis depending on where the fish were first collected. Moreover, not all cichlids traded as kribensis are P pulcher. Some of the kribensis could in fact be other species of Pelvicachromis. The Pelvicachromis genus contain a few named species such as taeniatus, humilus, roloffi, and of course pulcher. However there are also P sp. affinis pulcher, P sp. pulcher and P sp nigeria, as well as the many colour forms available. P pulcher’s natural environment ranges from small streams and ponds to larger rivers tends to be of soft acidic water. The banks are thickly planted with vallisneria, nymphea and other plants interspersed with roots of trees and fallen branches. P pulcher favours the plant thickets while small spawning caves are dug under the tangle of roots.
Kribensis in the aquarium
A couple of years ago, I set up a small tank for a young pair of kribensis. On a bed of fine gravel was placed several pieces of bogwood for decoration and to provide cover for the fish. Realistic looking plastic plants (Tetra Second Nature Plantastics) added colour to the aquarium, while live Java moss covered some parts of the aquarium bottom. The water consisted of 50% hard London tap water and 50% RO water in an attempt to reflect the natural habitat of the kribensis. The water was kept in pristine condition using a small Tetratec internal canister that also provided a current within the tank, while water temperature was maintained at 250C with a 100W Tetratec heater thermostat.
A couple of years ago, I set up a small tank for a young pair of kribensis. On a bed of fine gravel was placed several pieces of bogwood for decoration and to provide cover for the fish. Realistic looking plastic plants (Tetra Second Nature Plantastics) added colour to the aquarium, while live Java moss covered some parts of the aquarium bottom. The water consisted of 50% hard London tap water and 50% RO water in an attempt to reflect the natural habitat of the kribensis. The water was kept in pristine condition using a small Tetratec internal canister that also provided a current within the tank, while water temperature was maintained at 250C with a 100W Tetratec heater thermostat.
The pair of kribensis settled down quickly into their new home, no doubt helped by the presence of the shoal of Ameca splendens that shared the tank being always out and about. Within two weeks on a rich diet of Tetramin flake and small earthworm pieces, the kribensis were growing not only in length but also in girth. The female was starting to show a rosy belly area, which she liked to show off to the male. Whenever the male approached her, she would rush forward, bending her body into a V shape and almost pushing her belly into the male’s face. A spawning was obviously not far off.
The spawning quarters consisted of a half clay pot laid on its side to form a closed cave, the only entrance being the drainage hole. The female was in and out of the cave, trying to entice the male into following her. The male entered the cave occasionally but only spent very short times in the cave. The female had also excavated some sand out of the cave, depositing this just outside the hole. When the female spent almost all the time in the cave, I knew that spawning had taken place. The cream coloured eggs deposited on the cave roof were larger than expected at about 2 mm.
Moreover, they appeared to be suspended by a short fibre and were able to move with any slight water current. The females care of the eggs involved careful mouthing of each egg. I actually observed all this at the second spawning. The male rarely entered the cave now but spent a fair amount of time just outside. Both he and the female got rather aggressive attacking the Ameca splendens when they came within shot. I now removed the Ameca splendens since the intention was to raise a good number of fry. Some seven days after spawning, the female emerged from the cave with the fry in tow.
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The female led the fry to various parts of the aquarium sometimes with the male also in attendance. Each time the group stopped, the fry would browse on the natural micro organisms on the gravel or the bogwood. The fry were fed a combination of pre-soaked powdered flake food, Tetra Delica and microworm. This was placed in the locality of the fry using a plastic pipette. The fry took all the foods including the Tetra Delica, which easily broke up into a suspension. The fry were growing fast and soon graduated to larger foods including chopped up white worm. The food was usually place in one corner of the aquarium, which caused the male to rush over and with nodding movements of the head would signal the fry to come and feed. Soon the fry were very tame
I left the fry with the parents for about four weeks. Within two weeks of the first spawn, the female appeared gravid again. The female started displaying to the male again but both parents continued to care for the fry with at least one of them staying with the fry at all times. When the fry were finally netted out, the female started excavating in the cave again. By now the male had grown considerably and was no longer able to enter the cave. As soon as the female started spending more time in the cave, I raised the cave to take a look at the eggs and to observe female care. Only a small hatch resulted from this spawn, as the male was not able to enter the cave to fertilise all the eggs
Conclusions
Kribensis have been available to aquarists for a few decades now. They are colourful, do not grow too large and have interesting habits. They are cichlids but in spite of this they do not get overtly aggressive. Although they did try and attack the Ameca splendens after they had spawned, they never actually managed it. Seeing a pair of kribensis with their shoal of fry has turned many an aquarist into a dedicated cichlid hobbyist.
Kribensis have been available to aquarists for a few decades now. They are colourful, do not grow too large and have interesting habits. They are cichlids but in spite of this they do not get overtly aggressive. Although they did try and attack the Ameca splendens after they had spawned, they never actually managed it. Seeing a pair of kribensis with their shoal of fry has turned many an aquarist into a dedicated cichlid hobbyist.