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Hi all. It appears I'm going to be moving around the first of October. I reduced my fishload by getting rid of many, but I have a young pair of BN left. From what I can tell the male hasn't left a broken cup in 10-14 days though he does move around in it. I already plan to take a bucket of tank water from here to put him in when he arrives at the new place, but beyond that, I'm not sure what to do. Is there a safe(r) way to move him and any fry/eggs when it comes time?

How long/far is the move? It might be easiest to keep the cup with male and fry in a bucket with an airstone, unless you're talking hours on the road.

The move is only 10 miles or so. The cup doesnt have a bottom, instead its rim is buried in the gravel so I have to figure a way to lift it from the tank to begin with. If I separated the male from the cup just for the move, what would happen when I tried to rejoin them?

He might reject the eggs, but are they eggs right now, or wrigglers, or ready to leave the cup anyway?

Thats it, I have no idea whats in there. The position of the cup makes it impossible to get a good view, especially with daddy in there. I guess I'll just try for the best. Maybe I'll move them to my 10g and transport it half full

Don't move a tank with water in it; you risk breaking the seams and having water everywhere! Best bet is to get some form of slate or a flat piece of something and use it as a floor to the cup, then move the entire thing to a bucket with airstone for the move.

I would gently lift the cup to see what's going on. If the babies are all brown (or yellow/white if they are albino) rather than the juvenile orange colour, then you can just siphon them up into a suitable fry container. If they are orange, then suggestion above on moving the entire cup is good.

I have moved eggs with dad, and didn't loose any. But it's not ideal.

However, they should lay another batch 4-5 weeks after the previous spawn, so I wouldn't worry overly about if you lose them.

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Mats

I had to move one of my tanks with a male bristle nose guarding eggs .I lowered the water level to 3" and lifted very carefully.
I only had to go a few feet,the male did not even notice . I have about thirty fry swimming that tank now.
mule

Well, the male came out of the cup and I caught the female in there briefly. I can't see signs of fry/eggs now so must have died if there was anything. Makes it easier to move at least though babies would have been nice.

Seems more likely that the fry has been released. Do you have any fish that could eat small other fish in the tank?

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Mats

Only thing in there right now are the BN pair, 4 corys, and a betta - who could eat fry I imagine

The betta got moved to that tank when I cut back on my fish and closed down the other tank (10g) he was in as I prepared to move. Obviously I wasn't expecting any breeding behavior.

I haven't seen anything that looks like fry