Have a surprise batch of pleco babes otw

[Samantha]

I have a big tank with about 20 guppies, one betta, and three BN pleco's. The pleco's decided all of a sudden they are going to make babies, and lots of them (Just found the eggs a bit ago). My question is, should I worry about the betta or guppies bugging the new babes once they hatch? The eggs themselves look a little big for either the types of fish to bite, but I have never had to deal with BN fry before. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and we can't move the eggs, as the silly female(s) decided to lay them in the gravel instead of any of the areas that would have been smart... Go figure.

[Morgrid]

The male fish should gaurd the fry. However if they are not in a cave, it is highly unusual and I suspect that they either may not be fertile or they may not look after them. They might hatch though and if so they would be hard to catch. I suspect there will be some predation but some might make it. If you provide the fish with a cave you will have better luck in the future.

[Samantha]

There is a driftwood cave but the silly (or stupid) female is laying them everywhere but (in the gravel, on top of deorations)... The male is protecting them though, he gathered them and put them under the driftwood, at least most of the eggs, he's been nudging them with his snout. Do they eat anything besides the baby brine shrimp/micro worms? I don't have either as I was not planning on having babes to raise. With the guppies I used boiled egg bits, would that work here? Thanks for posting btw, I appreciate it!

[toddnbecka]

I've raised hundreds of BN fry on NLS pellets. I recently got a 5 lb bucket of grow formula, can send you some if you like. Reasonable price, $1/oz plus shipping, first class mail would be $3 for up to 12 oz of pellets. Priority mail would be $6 for a small flat-rate box if you want a larger amount.

[Samantha]

I'll stop by the capitol aquarium store tomorrow and see if they have any in stock. They should as I use the NLS pellets from them for feeding my other fish. I'll see if they have the grow formula. Thanks for the info and the offer, if the locals don't have any I may take you up on that. Last thing I would ever do is let babes go hungry :-)

[Morgrid]

Hmm, the male usually holds the female captive in the cave until she is spawned out. If there is more than one exit in your cave that might be the problem.