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How to look after
Pelvicachromis pulcher
Kribensis, Purple cichlid
(Boulenger, 1901)

(Other members of the genus Pelvicachromis)

ADULT SIZE: 10 cm

WATER CONDITIONS: Not critical

TEMPERATURE RANGE: 24-28 C

FOOD: Feed Pelvicachromis pulcher live and dried foods

DISTRIBUTION: This species comes from Nigeria

AQUARIUM CARE: A generally peaceful cichlid, except at spawning times. Due to it's attractive colouration, ease of breeding and small size it is a very popular aquarium fish. Prefers a well planted tank with bogwood, caves, leaf litter, and low level planting.

Kribensis make good community fish until they spawn, when they get very aggressive. In a larger (4 foot) community tank, spawning is possible as long as there is plenty of planting and hiding spaces, otherwise other tank mates will be chased incessantly.

BREEDING: Displaying Kribs are surely a sight to behold. Most strains are easy to spawn, and will guard their young. They herd their shoal of fry around the tank, taking very special care of them. Fry will take refuge in the parents mouth.

Have you bred Pelvicachromis pulcher? Why not fill in a breeding questionaire?, or examine existing Pelvicachromis pulcher breeding reports

Pelvicachromis pulcher
Kribensis, Purple cichlid

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Pelvicachromis pulcher
Kribensis, Purple cichlid
breeding notes

BREEDING: Displaying Kribs are surely a sight to behold. Most strains are easy to spawn, and will guard their young. They herd their shoal of fry around the tank, taking very special care of them. Fry will take refuge in the parents mouth.

Have you bred Pelvicachromis pulcher? Why not fill in a breeding questionaire?

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This page summarises breeding reports provided by visitors to this site, along with some statistical analysis. Please feel free to contribute - whatever your experience! 5 breeders have filled in breeding reports, a summary of the results are shown in the graphs below. You can read the full reports here. To add details of your experiences of Pelvicachromis pulcher, why not fill in a Breeding and maintenance Report.
Would Pelvicachromis pulcher be a good addition to a community tank? Never Doubtful, only with VERY calm fish Only with species of similar size Yes, a good community fish	How would you describe the disposition of Pelvicachromis pulcher? Very timid Slightly timid Neutral Somewhat aggresive on occasions Very aggressive
In which water conditions do you keep these fish? Very soft and acidic Moderately soft and acidic Neutral Moderately hard and alkaline Very hard and alkaline	At what average temperature? 10-15°C 16-19°C 20-23°C 24-27°C 28°C+
	How would you describe sex ratios when breeding Pelvicachromis pulcher? If you are unsure please leave this question unanswered. Almost all males Somewhat male heavy Roughly equal Somewhat female heavy Almost all females
In general, how difficult is Pelvicachromis pulcher to keep and breed? Very easy Easy Average Difficult Very difficult	How sucessful have you been at breeding Pelvicachromis pulcher? Very unsucessful Fairly unsucessful Average Fairly sucessful Very sucessful

Remember, each record represents only one persons experience; if you had different results, or used different methods, please share your experiences

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Water conditions: Moderately soft and acidic	Water temperature: 24-27oC
Disposition: Somewhat aggresive on occasions	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Long term (fry appear with adults)	Breeding problems: none
Sex ratio: Roughly equal	Breeding difficulty: Easy
Sucess: Fairly sucessful	Years Experience: 2
Other Comments: females like to line the insides of caves with eggs for the male to fertilize. For me, a cave with a 3x3x3 inch interior with a quarter sized sized opening brooded around 65 fry. 9 of them made it to adulthood, I assume the others were eaten by the male. I wasn't trying to breed them, and they were in a tank with 5 Kuli Loaches, 10 rummy noses, 2 chocolate gouramis, and an ancistrus; they were VERY territorial and aggressive until the fry could fend for themselves. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0VBlVPblv0
Date this record created: 16th November 2012	Breeding date: 2012
Breeder:	Location: Portland, OR

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Water conditions: Neutral	Water temperature: 24-27oC
Disposition: Somewhat aggresive on occasions	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Long term (fry appear with adults)	Breeding problems: none
Sex ratio: Somewhat male heavy	Breeding difficulty: Easy
Sucess: Fairly sucessful	Years Experience: 1
Other Comments: Become aggressive when spawning, so other fish must be able to hold their own. Had 1 case where the male killed another female, not his mate. If there aren't other fish in the tank the pair may turn on each other. Spawn in caves/ceramic jars.
Date this record created: 27th February 2012	Breeding date: 2011
Breeder:	Location: Johannesburg, South Africa

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Water conditions: Moderately soft and acidic	Water temperature: 24-27oC
Disposition: Somewhat aggresive on occasions	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Long term (fry appear with adults)	Breeding problems: none
Sex ratio:	Breeding difficulty: Easy
Sucess: Very sucessful	Years Experience: 1
Other Comments:
Date this record created: 24th January 2011	Breeding date: 2011
Breeder:	Location:

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Water conditions: Neutral	Water temperature: 24-27oC
Disposition: Active, but not aggresive	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Long term (fry appear with adults)	Breeding problems: none
Sex ratio:	Breeding difficulty: Easy
Sucess: Very sucessful	Years Experience: 5
Other Comments: Kribs are easy to keep and breed. Put a pair together with some food and they will almost certainly do the business. The female gets intensely colored around here belly; which she displays to the male. If you see this, chances are breeding is going to happen soon. I've supplied local shops in my area with kribs for years!
Date this record created: 29th February 2008	Breeding date: 2008
Breeder:	Location:

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Water conditions: Very hard and alkaline	Water temperature: 24-27oC
Disposition: Somewhat aggresive on occasions	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Long term (fry appear with adults)	Breeding problems: none
Sex ratio:	Breeding difficulty: Easy
Sucess: Fairly sucessful	Years Experience: 3
Other Comments: This is probably the easiest (and therefore most abundant) of the West African cichlids to breed. Mine bred in a 4 foot community tank - well planted with lots of rocks, caves and wood - they had all the usual community tankmates: tetras, barbs, gouramis etc. The female displayed heavily; shaking and shimmying her red belly at the male. I never witnessed the eggs, but soon the pair were guarding a shoal of fry. On occasions one would get lost, and the male would catch it in his mouth and spit it back into the shoal. The male kept the other fish a good 18" away from the female and fry at all times, become a little aggressive, but as the tank was well planted no harm came of it; everyone just hid when they saw him coming. The fry got to a good inch long in that tank before I removed them.
Date this record created: 5th January 2008	Breeding date: 1995
Breeder:	Location: