my female bn is starting to fatten up around the mid section and i think she is getting ready to lay her eggs but the male wont go into any caves or hides and i am worrying that she will lay the eggs and he wont fan them any ideas as im desperite many thanks

she wont lay the eggs if the male wont fan them. The male has to be willing to fertilise them. Eggs get kicked out when the male gets spooked, or stressed, or becasue the sticky coat on the outside is not strong enough. if she is looking gravid and the male doesnt want a bar of it then she will reabsorb the eggs and save the energy for later. There is nothing you can do to force the male to cave up. sometimes you just have to let the male have a break or allow him to start breeding when he wants to.

the one thing you can do is provide him with a selection of caves just incase the reason he is not caved up is that he doesnt like his current cave.

thanks doug i thought she might of got ill from not dropping her eggs its good to know she will be ok im going to get some more caves this weekend many thanks

I thought I would have had the same problem as you with my young pair of albino longfin bristlenose. She was nice n gravid and he didn't really show any signs of caving. Then all of a sudden he started hanging around a cave and within the next day or so he was fanning a clutch of eggs. Think maybe she ambushed him while was checking out the cave lol. Give them time and if the male is ready they will spawn.

thanks for the help will let you all know if and when they have spawned many thanks