Hello again and thanks for keeping us posted 🙂
The male has started to do his nipping/head down/fins fanned out display towards the female again…I am guessing he wouldn’t be doing that if he were caring for eggs elsewhere in the tank?
actually he would court her anyway, they may have larvae and eggs together from different spawn in the cave, also the spawning may be separated in between two days from time to time. Be prepared to anything. I have males who care for the eggs nonstop and males who only sometimes visit the cave to have a look and take a quick care for the eggs and run to court females and feed themselves again 😀
regarding the leaves, oak is also great and you do not have to bother with cycling the tank. As long as you have the pH low enough and the water is not cloudy. I do that with the all fish from waters this acidic, there are different bacteria involved and it all runs differently, so if you are able to feed reasonably, there is no harm to be done for the fish. On the other hand, they seem to thrive where they are for now, so no reason to hurry and you can fine tune the tank to your liking. Have fun!