2 female kribs - any issues

[Jayhawk]

I'm re-posting this in a new thread because I think it's been missed in the old thread:

I found a couple of lovely kribs at a LFS today. I'm pretty sure they're both females, but they acted more like a couple than the obvious male huddled in the upper corner of the tank looking all washed out (the two females I bought had dug out what looked like spawning pits).

Anyone ever kept a pair of females before? I'm OK not having a spawning pair (although I've only kept them as male/female pairs before). Another LFS is getting in a good sized shipment of kribs in a couple of weeks, so I could get a male if need be...but if the two females are happy - they can be together for all I care!

They tend to swim around together, nudge each other from time to time, and do that shimmy dance (that I've always associated with krib spawning) at each other. Is this weird or are there populations of kribs where the males are more androgynous?

Eric

 

[tjudy]

I would say that there is a 90% chance that keeping two female kribs together without a male will not present any problems. I have done it many times. I have kept large groups of ten or more females together without serious fights. The presence of a male wold change that though, and the females would then get very territorial. I once had a tank of female P. subocellatus... five of them. They lived peacefully and never colored up. I put a male in one day to see what would happen. It was a heck of a show...

 

[Jayhawk]

Thanks Ted - I was hoping they'd get along fine. I'll just leave them be and not get a male unless the two females have a serious falling out.

Eric

 

[Jayhawk]

Well, my two female kribs are guarding eggs right now...they've only been laid sometime in the past hour, and the larger female (maybe?) certainly looked like he/she was fertilizing them.

So, what color should the eggs be tomorrow if they're fertilized?

Or, do I just have two confused female kribs?

Thanks,

Eric

 

[tjudy]

THe eggs should stay a orange-yellow if fertilized. White if not.