Bristle-Nosed Plecs Help Please

[godfather2]

I have a problem this year with bristle-nosed plecs I have bred quite a few of these the past couple of years (in upvc tubes with one end blocked off) but just lately I get the male and female do there courtship dance about the tubes female lays her eggs male fertilizes them and the day after the eggs are outside the tubes does anyone know what is going on cause my sixth pair has just done the same they are in six different tanks with no other bottom feeders and only small livebearers as tankmates

 

[KittyKat]

More set up information please.

For some reason, the male is rejecting the eggs..

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Best bet is you now need to use a larger cave. As they grow, they do need more space. I had this happen to me once with a bn couple and I upgraded to a larger diameter and longer terracotta cave from my pvc one and never had the problem again with them.

I have seen something similar with my Pekoltia compta group. I watched a courtship one day that ended in the male's claimed cave which was simply too small to allow for them both to fit and spawn. It was amazing to watch the male working to coax the female out and into an adjacent larger cave. He eventually succeeded.