Eggs for the first time!

Hey

My plecs gave me a great big surprise on Tuesday in the form of eggs! Tuesday and yesterday the male didn't leave them, but this morning he is venturing out more and the female has sat over them a couple of times. Should I be worried about that? The male has gone in a couple of times tonight and fanned them, but to begin with he just didn't leave.

Also, some eggs have gone a darker colour, almost grey. Is this that some of them have gone moldy?

Any advice would be great. I am a complete novice at this!

Congrads mate! Feels good doesnt it!

If this is their first spawn then that is totally normal. The male will learn not to leave the eggs in time. The eggs that have gone a darker colour are the infertile ones and again, in time the male will learn to pick them out and boot them. and his ... urrr, aim...will get better meaning that he will fertilise more of them. from a first spawn you normally look at a 20~50% survival rate. but if he learns quickly as most do that will be up to nearly 100% in no time.

hope your ready for it

Good stuff mate
Like Doug said, the dads have to start at "zero" to get to "hero". After a couple of tries he will get it right and before you know it you will be needing LOTS more tanks. I know.......I now have 14 tanks in the lounge room! Fortunately for me I also have a VERY understanding wife

Thanks for that!!! I'm happy to only have a few hatch from this spawning as I have a lot to learn about it all

Is it normal for the tank to be a cloudy colour afterwards? This happened when I had fancy goldfish that spawned, and I've noticed it with this tank also.

I dont believe the spawn will have caused the cloudy water as this is normally attributed to a bacterial bloom. Did you do a water change or clean the filter before they spawned? My tanks cloud up occassionally after this. They will sometimes cloud after adding fresh veg too. Although it looks bad it wont harm your fish. Just leave the lights out for a few days and do small water changes. Also, if you have another filter that has been running for a while, use it on the tank too. Its good bacteria will help even things out.
HTH

yeah, the cloudy water is not from the spawn. It is most likely from food or a bacterial bloom after cleaning the filter and ammonia spiking. either way, do a water change and maybe add in some benificial bacteria if you have som one hand.

good luck with the fry

Wow Congrats on your eggs, Your male will get it right as he learns..
Love that saying "From Zero to Hero"...Love it