First Bristlenose Breeding - Have I covered all the bases?

[inatthedeepend]

I was planning on trying to breed my plecs in September, doing a 75% water change, lowering the temp, etc. This was going to give me time to study up and make sure I had everything in place, and there would be no rushing around at any point in the proceedings.

The Bristlenoses had other ideas.

Running the tank at 23 degrees C as standard, with high flow and good filtration (fluval 405 external, inlet funnelled through two "jets") has resulted in my bristlenose plecs breeding. I have to commend the male, as having been presented with what I would have thought is the perfect lair (an artificial log) he insisted on burrowing under driftwood and a flat stone! Whilst he was fanning I managed to catch a glimpse of some beautiful orange eggs.

This is what I have as my "nursery preparation" plan:

1) Remove the Goldfish to a different tank to ensure that they don't get a chance of eating the fry
2) putting a foam filter over the inlet of the external filter to prevent fry from being sucked in
3) Plenty of courgettes and cucumber on standby
4) Plenty of algae wafers on standby, as well as the goldfish flake and sinking pellet food they all seem to enjoy

Questions I have though:

I currently have a 3" sailfin in the tank - will he/she be safe to leave there?
I usually add a plant fertiliser to the tank on a weekly basis - does this pose any risk to the eggs/fry?
The tank is 125 litres, with plenty of nooks, crannies and hidey holes. Should I remove the female? Although the male is guarding the eggs, he's not at all bothered by her.
Is there anything else I should be planning?

[JamesFish]

The male is a great parent the fry will be fine long as nothing eats them or they don't go up the filter.

Have a look at the pebble farm stuff and pea's I find are safer and less hassle to deal with. Its my opinion other have theirs. Boil for 10 minutes shell and split into 2. As they are more than happy with the frozen type once cooked is easier than hunting down fresh veg.

[inatthedeepend]

Everything's on standby now - the plec tank is now free of goldfish, and I'm standing by. Since we're not sure when the spawning actually happened, or exactly how long it's going to take for the fry to hatch it's just a waiting game now. Picking up a pair of tights tomorrow to put over the external filter inlet (going to put a filter foam inside it).

It's nerve wracking, this bit.

[inatthedeepend]

And... I have baby plecs I know bristlenoses are an easy plec to breed, but I'm so chuffed right now! I don't know how many have hatched but I don't think it's a big clutch, from what little I can see of the brood by peeking into the male's lair. The only think I have to do is to shield the filter, and since the fry are still in the egg-munching stage I have a little while to go yet. The cucumber is going to be changed daily in the tank, as well as feeds of algae wafers and premium goldfish pellets - which sink (although I'm not going to be feeding too much of them because they're quite heavy on the protein). I'm looking forward to watching them grow.