My female hid in her seedpod almost the whole time she had eggs, I actually didn't realise she had them until she brought the babies out. She will be very busy looking after them, if you can give her a bit of live food like daphnia or blackworms I'm sure that will help, it won't affect the water quality as quickly, is more nutritious for her and she can eat it over the day. Looking after your motherfish will help her look after the babies 🙂