White pleco eggs..

[babysteps]

So, a few days ago my bn's spawned for the first time. I noticed that the male was in his cave constantly fanning a nice size clutch of eggs. I was happy that they were all Orangish/brown in color cause I heard that this means they are viable.
Well I just looked again today. "Daddy" is still religiously guarding and fanning the eggs but from what I can see, all the eggs have turned white. They don't really look fungasy(sp), just white.
Does this mean they are no longer viable and will not hatch? I thought if they weren't viable then the male would just eat them. Or so I've heard.
So should I remove the eggs, or what? It's been about 4 days (I think) since they spawned.

Sorry for all the questions. I've only ever bred livebearers so I'm still new to the egg layers.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[pinkertd]

You are right, when they turn white they are not viable. I do not see them get fungused while they are being fanned. Just let him be. Within the next day or two he will begin to eat them. My males wait until hatching day and it's just amazing that they know what to do. A lot of times if it's the females first spawn, she's been carrying those eggs in her belly for quite some months as she matured, so they are not fertile. But now you know she can do her thing, he can do his thing and he's a good daddy, so......feed them well and mark your calendar for about 5 weeks from now and you'll probably be blessed with a viable batch of eggs.

What type of BN's do you have?

 

[babysteps]

Thanks pinkertd.

They are just normal, short finned bristlenose's. Black with white spots all over. The male is about 3 inches and the female just a tad bigger. I thought they were still too young to breed since they still look so small but I guess I was wrong. I got them in February, so I've had them for about 9 months.
Do you know approximately how old they would be? How old are they usually when the pet stores receive them?

 

[pinkertd]

They are probably close to a year then. Right on time for maturity to spawn.