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I have a male L46 munching on the eggs he is supposed to be guarding. I have seen this in the past, but attributed it to the immaturity of the male. I've recently heard that this may be a normal occurence and all males do it during their extended time "in the cave".

Thoughts?
Opinions?
Experience?

Kevin Korotev

Are You sure he is munching or just bouncing them like a basket ball. bouncing is normal but munching probably to infertility.
Good Luck !

Hi!

Well, Hypancistrus ' egg are sticky together, but don't stick to the substrat like Ancistrus' eggs. The male in his cave, chew the grap, turn it in many way, but I think it is mainly in a way to keep the eggs clean. He will also consume dead embryos and unfertil eggs.

If the male feels insecure due to disturbances form other tankmates or because the cave is too big for him , he might end up eating the eggs...

I have also seen some males eating constantly the eggs even if everything was perfect...

The best solution is to change the male...

I had such experience with a L28 male...
Cheers
Yann

Sorry to hijack the post, but Armand, how are those zebras doing that I sent you? Any luck breeding them?

Yann,

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm glad to NOT hear that it is completely normal and expected behavior...and may be preventable.
Kevin

Hi Kevin

I've had experience of the male eating 2 clutches of eggs. Both times were after an extended period of husbandry. i.e 3 feamles one after the other spawning in his cave, all broods where succesfull. The first time it occured, the male had reased 4 consecutive spawns, the fifth spawn occured after the female trying desperately to enter the cave for 4 days! The male ate the eggs the day they were spawned. The next time as after 3 spawns, he ate the 4th.

Apart from these two cases, he is an exceptionally diligent male. I think he just needed some time to re-coup, and the spawns were forced upon him.

good luck

rob