Breeding calvus drama

[chester_fb]

Hey guys.

I've got a breeding pair of black calvus that are living in a community tank, this is the 3rd or 4th time they have attempted to breed.

Previously the female would guard the eggs while the male would protect her and keep the other fish away, this would be fine until overnight the eggs would get eaten and the calvus would be back to normal swimming around.

This time I would like to prevent this, I want to know if I can relocate the shell into a fry saver or similar, or will the eggs die without the female calvus?

Or am I better off just leaving it and let nature take its course

Thanks

Chester

[Josh]

Move the shell and the female if you have to move them. She will continue to fan the eggs until they hatch.

[brucem]

It may not be the eggs that are disappearing, but small fry. Sometimes the parents will guard the shell more intently when their fry have hatched and become free swimming inside the shell. It might be worth, the next time you notice this intensive behaviour, seeing if they have fry. The fry can grow out happily in separate tank. If you're using a fry saver, the fry are very small and can fit through the mesh on some fry savers.

If they just have eggs, the female does play an important role in keeping the eggs happy and healthy until the fry have formed. It's a matter of getting to know your fish, observing the number of days you think a female has been "on eggs", and timing your harvest of fry just right.

Once you have fry, they don't need mum and dad.

Good luck

[intangcity]

do you have bristlenose in the tank?it could be a midnight raid from them

[chester_fb]

Thanks for the replies guys, I'll keep an eye of them

No bristlenose in the tank, the calvus are the biggest/toughest in the tank. And normally can keep the rest at bay