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I have two males and two female adults in my 75gal tank with many other catfish and 1 small African cichlid (bruscheri?) at the moment. I have some small community fish that shouldn't be a problem. I had seen one or two babies one morning after not knowing to expect them, and expect they were snacks for the large eupterus or the cichlid.
Now that I have more eggs? How do I keep them safe to reach juvenile size? I have a fry tank I could hang on the side, but no spare tanks I trust to keep the water healthy.

I've used a hang on breeder to rear ancistrus fry before. I just moved the whole cave in, dad and all. I wouldn't recommend this long term though.

The type I have offers no active flow. It has the floating bottom with small holes. Is that a concern?

Well, my cave is too large for my fry tank. Don't the eggs Need to stay with the Dad?

I think your best bet is to leave them where they are for the time being. Once they all hatch, the dad will keep them in the cave for a few days. At that point you can remove the fry to a safer place.

Too late. Any advice for next time would be appreciated. Setting up a breeding tank is not an option, but I would prefer to not just be farm - raising catfish food next time.

So you say they should be expected to stay in the cave? I haven't seen that. Just eggs, then no eggs. This time I did not see a single fry, though unfortunately we were gone for 2 days.

Yep, I leave mine with the father for days at a time. If there are no predators in the tank, just leave them be and the father will raise them until they come out on their own. When I don't need the extra babies (because I have lots to sell already), I just let the father raise them. I only take them out to raise in a breeder box when I want to maximize my yield. Even then I wait until the eggs are hatched and the yolk sacs are mostly gone.

I've got a similar problem, except the male rejected the eggs on the morning they were laid. I'm trying to rescue the abandoned eggs using a netted fry basket above a strong airstone, hoping it will jostle the eggs enough to keep them viable without dad's acceptance. Here is the thread. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks, and good luck, Anthonyck, with your ABNs too.

Cheers, Eric

Just use an external breeder box with an air stone...to keep eggs moving. Any fish in the tank will eat the eggs if given a chance. In my experience, even guppies and swordtails will try and eat the fry. They mostly end up just killing the fry by crushing them in their mouths. So, if you just want to raise the plecos..try species only tank for best results. Beware even snails will eat eggs. Good luck. After years of raising plecos...it doesn't matter the kind...it's still exciting to see eggs and get fry...All the reason for the hobby...getting enjoyment from it and if you can make some money, all the better. Good Luck

I successfully salvaged three fry from the latest breeding. They are alone with snails and nematodes in a small tank for now. Dad has been moved back home. Moving the whole cave worked, but I didn't get the Mollie who was being medicated (antifungal) in time to save all of them. I was about an hour late, I think.

I had another breeding shortly after my last transmission. I moved the whole cave with Dad again into the small tank. A few eggs were left behind (less than 12?) so I put those in the fry box with one of the filters circulating into it. I only got 2-3 viable fry from that, which I moved to the other tank. Those that stayed with Dad produced about 20 fry. 6 or so are of the darker variety, and the rest are golden. All are doing well, along with 2 remaining from the prior group.

Congratulations! Well done.