Thanks kfenk:)

Well I have a bucket full of rain water that I can use exactly for this purpose, plus the rocks I have been doing, so looks like they will love me:)

Well it's more of a food for the fry of small fish like tetras and rasboras. Bn fry will eat anything the parents eat. Altho you could put some rocks in that rainwater outside to let algae grow on em. Will be a awesome treat for the adult and fry bn

I added the bucket of water last night and I will add the rocks this morning when daylight hits:)

I still definitely only have the 2 babies, I have not seen any more in the tank anywhere and if there was more, they surely would be out and about now too.

Oh well, 2 is better than none and now I get to watch these lil guys grow up. They seem to spend most of their time on the front panel of glass which is great cause I can see them easily and watch them, one is a tad smaller than the other but both seem to be doing fine.

Now I'm getting impatient for the next spawn, I can't wait to go through this again, it is just so great to watch this entire process. Mum and dad are definitely acting the same way they did for the 2 weeks before the last spawn, so all looks good for it to happen again

I would love to know what happened to the rest

I'm assuming there are only BN's in the tank and you took precautions with filter intakes.

Hi everyone:)

Just thought I would pop back to update and to ask another question (sorry for all the questions)

Up until 3 days ago, my 2 only surviving fry were powering along and since then I can only find one. There has not been a day go by yet that I have not been able to spot both of them at some stage but now I can only see one. So I don't know if he's just hiding really well or has died but the other one is still going strong.

Now to my question, going on the dates from when mum laid these eggs, this coming Sunday is 4 weeks.
She is well and truly gravid again but this time she is different and I'm getting worried there might be something wrong.
Last time, the night before I discovered the eggs, I thought she was going to explode cause she was so fat and she has been looking like this again for near on a week now but daily looking a bit fatter each day.
My concern is that now, cause she is just sooooooo fat, all her scales are sticking up on end and at first it was just around her fat belly area but now it's going right down to her tail and I am now wondering if this is normal or has she got something wrong?

The other difference this time that I can see is dad's behavior. Last time he had picked his cave well and truly a good week or more before she laid and he didn't really leave it but this time he has about 4 different spots that he chops and changes to all day every day and they are not playing the chasing games they played for days before she laid.
They are both still eating normal and swimming around normal, so that's a good thing surely but I am just a bit concerned about mum.

So am I worrying over nothing or should I be a bit worried about mum?

ok, if there is something sticking up from her skin then there is def something wrong as bristlenose do not have scales. they are scaless fish (hence the need to medicate at half dose).

I would check the links in the pleco hospital for bloat. if she is huge and its not in the same spot as last time it sounds like bloat.

check out those pics and there is a lot of info about dealing with it there too. However, if i even suspect bloat I get the deshelled peas in there ASAP!!

Thanks Doug:)

I have dealt with bloat in other breeds, especially the Molly's when I had them but with them they got like fat really quick, with the mum it has been at what seems a normal gravid pace it's just not stopping I suppose.
To me at first it was sort of like when us human mums have a 2nd/3rd baby, each time is different and each time we can get a bigger belly, so I was thinking it was the same for the BN cause she might be carrying heaps more eggs this time.
I didn't know they didn't have scales, so yes it sounds like something is wrong (bummer) cause to look at her you would think she has scales that are all standing on end and they are like this from where her body starts to where her tail fin starts.

I will go over and check out the other thread and find out what to do with this pea remedy you are talking about.
The problem with doing something like this is, the cherry shrimp. Can cherry's eat the peas too and if they can, they will get straight onto them too and maybe mum will not get what she needs but I have no other tank for her to go into at the moment:(

Ok, I will be back to update asap, thank you sooooooo much for your help, I really appreciate it.

I know it can be hard but pics are the best way to help others identify the problem. If it is bloat then as you have dealt with it before you should know what to do. Otherwise there is a sticky at the top of the hospital thread with all the info you need.

Just thought I would update this thread and let you know what's happening.

Kfenk- I have dealt with bloat before but only in Molly's and I honestly did not know that B/N could get it too, let alone how to deal with it, so that is why I was asking questions. I'm sorry for asking questions in my search for knowledge and obviously being a PITA to those more knowledgeable.
I promise to not ask any more questions about bloat.

Ok, I gave the peas like suggested but she did not eat any of them but the shrimp loved them:)

I basically just watched her and with in a few days after my last post here, I sort of came to the conclusion that if she had bloat, she would be dead by now, plus she was still eating ok and swimming ok.

So nearly 2 weeks later she is still really fat (if not fatter) and she seems more than ready to lay. It's been 6 weeks since she last layed eggs and she honestly looks like she's just fed up the poor thing.
The male is not being helpful, he has his cave and hangs out in there and I thought there was going to be results 2 days ago when he let her in and then they chased each other around a bit etc but every time she hangs around for too long near his cave he chases her away, so clearly he is just not ready yet.

I'm annoyed that they are taking so long cause I have to put them into the new 5ft tank and I was not sure if this was a good idea right before they are due to have eggs but I am left with no choice now, they (along with all the shrimp) are being moved into the new tank tomorrow.
Knowing my luck, they have been watching me set up the new tank and waiting for it to be ready and will lay tonight just to avoid me moving them for now!!!

Anyway, so it wasn't bloat thank god.
Thanks everyone for all your help.

You may be right about them watching you

Quite often a pair will spawn when moved to a new tank.