Now that the fry are close to swimming the pair start taking turns on "fry patrol" eyeballing the gravel for any stragglers. Nothing is out of the pot in this photo...but the pair know it's close and just don't take any chances.
Along with the increased patrol duties, their overall attitude gets kicked up a notch. Not only with my presence...but also with each other. I think this behavior (mostly the female banging on the male) is due partially to keeping each other vigilant in their jobs. Here's the male expressing his displeasure at my lens.
You can see the fry in the pot with the female and some scattered fry outside the pot.
It's easy to overlook the fry. Here's a close up of the picture above.
No doubt the next photos will be the brood outside the pot. Here's their maiden voayage within the safety of the pot.