Mean egg eater

[Sena Hansler]

Definitely remove him then :) I would be safe and remove maybe 20 hours in.

[indjo]

@igoatfish:
1. I give male a long rest (1-2 months) in solitary. Make the breeding tank opposite to his environment; if his tank is planted, then use bare breeding tank and vise versa. If he still eats his eggs. . . . he will always eat his eggs. Either retire him or artificially hatch his eggs.

2. Artificial hatch eggs. You can use extra shallow water then immediately take both out once spawning is done and hope for the best, OR you could scoop out eggs and move to bowl with new clean water. If the eggs are good, they should hatch but you may have less than usual.

[iGoatfish]

Sorry indjo I did not read your post before my last attempt with him (the egg eater). I tryed breeding him again. This time he really did a number on the female. He is just so big! Any way I tried something different this time. I used a shallow dish bin maybe 6 high x 10 x 12 as my breeding tank with floating plant with extra large root system. Sorry i am not sure what plant is called. Also put in a extra small home made sponge filter that hade been in use for about a month or longer. So the spawn went as expected took about 24 hrs the female got beat and she produced about 300 eggs. Then 18 hrs after I pulled the daddy and left the eggs to fend for themselves. Every thing looked good till the nest fell apart and that's when i started to see a little bit of fuzz and by day three all the egg where just fuzzy mush. I did see a few eye and tails on day 2. So what should i do next? I have a large female that should be ready next week. Will putting the eggs in a shallow bowl with clean water stop the eggs from going bad? I guess Indjo already answered that one. Any way I'll up date this post and let every one knows how my next try with him goes. If any one has any ideas please let me know.
Mahalo for all your help!
Aloha

[Sena Hansler]

Do you have another male you could breed?
One idea that comes to mind, is breed another male while breeding this fella. Scoop the eggs into the good father's nest, and he should take care of them.

Another thought... When does he start eating eggs? Keep him in, until you see him eat the eggs, or before the time frame he starts. I've done it

For the females, use teak leaves to condition them. Same leaves used for fighters, Indjo I believe was the one who suggested them to me! I'll use them for my plakat female when breeding my giant... They strengthen the scales, which will help keep her safe from rough attacks.

[iGoatfish]

So today I am quite proud of my self. I was able to get two pair of my fish to spawn at the same time :) I took Sena's advice with foster father method. I took the egg filled nest of the egg eater and combined it with egg filled nest of the good father. When I combined the two nests eggs went every where. But I was very excited see the good father gather all the eggs and put them back in the nest. Well now I guess I'll have to wait and see if any of bad dad's eggs hatch. Maybe I should have culled the good fathers eggs. To late now ;) I'll repost once the fry start to develop. I also want to thank every one for all the great advice! You all have been a big help! Aloha