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Upon returning home today I noticed that my male calico bristlenose was on his back at the back of the tank behind a large amazon sword, dead. I had raised him since about an inch and he made it to just under 4. he was in his second tank (from a 64l to a 120l) and had 4 batches of fry with his female (two batches in each tank). The problem is, he had been guarding a 5th batch in his new slate cave. They are still eggs, no fry have hatched out. since I don't own an egg tumbler I have created a contraption involving a fry trap and some airline. Will This do? I will try to attach a photo.

I do weekly water changes of around 20-25%. the current water values are: pH 7.2, ammonia 0.2ppm, nitrite 0ppm and nitrate 10ppm. I have changed the substrate recently (about 2 weeks ago) as the old substrate (a mixture of sand with a grain size larger than small gravel and plant substrate) somehow had baby pleco poo infused into it so that whenever the adults moved they created poo clouds. I also added 3 massive sponge filters to go with the big canister filter that they already had. I plan to remove the canister filter at some point over the next couple of weeks. I believe that the climb in ammonia and nitrate could be down to the change in substrate and the previous water quality. However, I still don't know why my prized male passed away, especially at such a critical time.

were the spawning's back to back? if so the male could have been starved. they don't eat while they mate or while there on eggs so they can go for 3 weeks without eating. if they do this more than once without 2-3 weeks of recovery they can die.