Kribensis Color Change

Hi all!

I have a kribensis pair (at least, I hope someday they will pair) in a planted 29 gallon. They have not yet paired, though the male has finally stopped chasing the female so aggressively so hopefully that is a good sign. They live with a few skirt tetras.

My male, when I am near the tank is very vibrant. His stripe is very dark and his fins are colorful. However, when I'm not standing by the tank, he has a tendency to get extremely pale. He'll color back up again as soon as I walk towards the tank. Is this normal kribensis behavior? I'll attach a picture of him when he is colorful. I can't get one when he loses color because he will gain it all back as soon as I hold up the camera.

In addition, he must have been bullied in the fish store. He arrived with a damaged tail and it hasn't gotten worse, but it also hasn't got better. Is this normal? My female almost completely regrew hers.

For extra information, tank stats are:

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 10 ppm

40-50% water changes bi weekly to weekly (depending on how busy I am).

 

My kribs are constantly changing color. Sometimes they’re plain gray, sometimes they’re an incredibly vibrant rainbow, and most of the time they’re somewhere in between. How long have you had the male? His fins should regrow in around a few months. If it’s been longer than that, it might be permanent. If it hasn’t spread, I don’t see any reason to be worried, but if it hasn’t healed, that’s also a bit odd.

 

That is what I figured, but I just wanted to make sure.

I've had him for over 2 months now and the only change is that his fins have grown a little longer, especially his dorsal fin. I thought it was odd too, but I figured he was probably okay since they haven't gotten any worse.

 

Many cichlids change colours by mood or situation. My Apisto has different colours for display, startled, stressed, foraging, neutral, feeding... I remember from my Pelvicachromis years ago they also had at least 3 modes of colours.

 

Many cichlids change colours by mood or situation. My Apisto has different colours for display, startled, stressed, foraging, neutral, feeding... I remember from my Pelvicachromis years ago they also had at least 3 modes of colours.

Mine have about 5 different colors that they switch between.

 

My Peacocks/Haps will change color based on pecking order. I've never seen them do it quite as fast as my Krib though. Very cool!

 

My male completely chewed up the female's tail when I put them together, and she grew it all back within weeks, after they got used to each other. Are you feeding him enough proteins?

 

I think I am! He also bit off most of the females tail and it has grown back. In addition, the tails of one of the black skirts is growing back.

In addition, the non damaged parts of his tail is growing. It is longer than it was when I bought him. It just won’t grow back together.

 

Hi all!

I have a kribensis pair (at least, I hope someday they will pair) in a planted 29 gallon. They have not yet paired, though the male has finally stopped chasing the female so aggressively so hopefully that is a good sign. They live with a few skirt tetras.

My male, when I am near the tank is very vibrant. His stripe is very dark and his fins are colorful. However, when I'm not standing by the tank, he has a tendency to get extremely pale. He'll color back up again as soon as I walk towards the tank. Is this normal kribensis behavior? I'll attach a picture of him when he is colorful. I can't get one when he loses color because he will gain it all back as soon as I hold up the camera.

In addition, he must have been bullied in the fish store. He arrived with a damaged tail and it hasn't gotten worse, but it also hasn't got better. Is this normal? My female almost completely regrew hers.

For extra information, tank stats are:

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 10 ppm

40-50% water changes bi weekly to weekly (depending on how busy I am).View attachment 752354View attachment 752355View attachment 752356

A lot better than my luck I thought I had a pair for a month they both have been extremely pale and he wouldn't stop chasing her I separated them today hopefully they get more color some has come back

 

I ended up separating my pair as well. They never ended up breeding and the male was moved to a more aggressive tank.

 

I ended up separating my pair as well. They never ended up breeding and the male was moved to a more aggressive tank.

Well I was able to return them to the pet store and get a firemouth cichlid fish it's going great in the tank he's very beautiful ❤️ I have tiger barbs and a shark redfin and Cory all go pretty well I plan on making it a fully aggressive fish tank eventually!! Thank you though because I thought I was doing something wrong....but it worked out

 

Sounds like a beautiful tank! I've got an African cichlid tank and started a Betta sorority in the tank that used to house the kribs. Both aggressive in their own ways haha.

 

As originally the thread was about colour changing fish, I just took some fotos of my Apistogramma hongsloi last night in several different colourations. All three pictures were taken within less than 20min.


foraging - Colour reminds me of a dead leaf. The swimming behaviour resembles a floating leaf aswell, with the head slightly tilted down.


neutral - this is how the fish looks when patroulling the tank


territorial - I took the picture with a small shard of a mirror held to the side of the tank. That's usually when he shows the bright colours.

Aren't chromatophores a great invention of nature?