Unexpected Ivanacara bimaculata spawn

[apisto2024]

Ivanacara bimaculata unexpectedly spawned today. Curious why the female was sticking belly up towards the roof of the cave.
TDS is around 120 PPM, GH and KH are both at around 30 PPM each. I initially had A. macmasteri here but decided to transfer those to a nice 20g since the fish size-to-tank scale felt more correct.

I was supposed to replace 25% of the water today with RO which Ive been doing gradually since I had them initially in tap water (Im trying to get the TDS down to be under 40 in this tank).
Now I am curious if the eggs will even hatch w/ this TDS level? And doing a water change will probably stress the parents or the slight change in water chemistry will probably cause the eggs to die?

 

[MacZ]

I doubt the eggs are viable at the moment, so don't expect anything to hatch. And no, the waterchange will not stress them to much. Just keep it at siphoning some water out and adding some back in and that's it.

 

[Apistoguy52]

No clue as to how pliable the bimaculata eggs are as far as water chemistry. IME, about the only thing that will hurt viable eggs is quick/drastic changes in water temp. Messing with the pH (moving lower) and conductivity (higher or lower) has no meaningful effect.

 

[Mike Wise]

To add to Apistoguy52's comments, tank raised pairs often breed successfully in water values less favorable than what is found in the wild. The water hardness isn't especially hard as it is.

 

[rasmusW]

Congrats.
It’s a beautiful fish. My pair is doing a great job at raising their second batch of cool kids. -and they both take part in it.

-r

 

[apisto2024]

Congrats.
It’s a beautiful fish. My pair is doing a great job at raising their second batch of cool kids. -and they both take part in it.

-r

Thanks! I actually like how tight the pair bond is, even tighter than that of discus pairs IME. The female doesnt mind the male in the cave with the eggs and they seem to always swim around around. Also they dont look like they are prone to pecking other fishes - when the tetras come too close they just slowly "escort" them a comfortable distance away then swim back to their cave without really trying to make contact.

 

[apisto2024]

Thanks all for your help! @Mike Wise @Apistoguy52 @MacZ

 

[Rob_Knox]

Did these develop any further, I am currently working with some bimacs and looking to gather other people’s experiences as much as possible.