One more note re raising the fry. I, aming others, have come to believe that the zebras at least and maybe other Xingu Hypans, need to consume some a bit of poop from more mature individuals to get some of the needed digestive bacteria. When I set up a new grow tank for Hypans, I make sure to move poop from the breeder tank into it along with the fish.
Because there are usually a few more mature fish in a grow tank, they should insure there are the needed gut bacteria available when new fry are added.
The reason I concluded that the poop was essential goes back to my early days with zebras. I pulled 51 fry from my first fry hunt in the breeder tank. But, early on I had a couple of equipment mishaps which caused me to rescue about 20 fry and they were the first to go into the grow tank. This was months before I did the fry catch above. In between those two dates I was worried about too many fish in the breeder tank and I pulled a spawns. I took the cave with the dad and the eggs and moved it to the grow tank.
When I moved that cave into the grow tank, I noticed then that the fry in the grow tank were a lot smaller than the ones I was able to spot in the main tank. I was not sure why this was at that time. But over the next year or two in talking to others breeding zebras and in reading posts on he subject, that other noticed what I had. Fry left in the breed tank seemed to grow faster than those put into grow tanks very early on.
I chose to work with plecos because, in terms of spawning, they do all the work. In a species tank fry are not lunch for anything. Plus I did not have to pull eggs or wigglers. Once in a great while I would have to put an egg or two back inside a cave. I have a dedicated turkey baster for that
One of the best Hypan breeders I have met over the years always pulls eggs/wigglers to start life in a container specifically for that purpose. But soon after they go free swimming they go back into the breeder tank. However, this person is a commercial breeder and a fish store owner who shoots for the maximum reproduction and survival rates.