LetDiceFly

Well here is the story. About 1 year at the advice of a lfs, I bought a pair of kribs for a 5 gallon tank. I know now that this was horrible advice, but at the time I didn't know better. One of the 2 immediately died, it must have been sick before I got it because there was no evidence of foul play. That remaining krib was alone in that 5 gal for almost a year, except for a little while when he had large platy fry with him, whom he ignored. When in the 5 gallon he rarely came out of his barrel except to eat.

A month ago, I decided I wanted to put a betta in the 5 gallon, so I moved the krib (and his barrel) into my 10 gallon tank with a cory and 2 female platy. Everything was fine for a month, the krib spent most of his time in or around his barrel and was non-aggressive. Then about a week ago, I noticed that instead of being content to guard his barrel he was ranging around the entire tank harrassing all the other fish. The platy do well staying out of his way, but the cory suffered quite a bit of fin damage and I ended up moving the cory into the tank with my betta.

Now the 10 gallon only has the krib and the 2 female platy. The krib seems intent on driving the platy out and harrasses them almost endlessly. Of course in a 10 gal the platy have no where to go, and so now they stay at the surface of the tank looking like all they want to do is get out.

I'm looking for any suggestion to resolve this, none of my fish in this tank are happy. I moved his barrel from the middle to the far end of the tank, and this made things a little better, but hasn't solved the problem. Unfortunately, I do not have the room for the obvious solution of a bigger tank.

TFA101

Yeah, the bigger tank is proably the best idea. And, not to be harsh or anything, pet stores, such as petsmart or petco have nothing on their minds and dont know squat (no offense to those who do. I know some people that have great knowledge). Anyways, back to what i was saying, the krib should be in a minimum of 20 gallons if you want to keep it single. This gives them more space to swim (and more space for others to retreat). The best solution would be to get a plastic divider compartment thing, or you'd have to get rid of either the platys, or your krib. I've gone through some experiences on this kinda thing with a red tail shark. I feel your pain.

(Except he jumped out of the tank and died)

PS
LOVE THE BETTA!!!

Allie

Cichlids are aggressive. Kribs shouldn't be in less than a 20g be cause they do get aggressive. They need caves and plants to feel safe.

Barbrella

Agree with the above. Territorial and aggressive cichlids should never be kept in small tanks.

If you can't provide what he needs and what will keep your other fish from being maimed or killed, the only suggestion I have is to take him to a petstore. Perhaps they'll take him.