clown fish eggs

[iloveswfish]

my clown fish laid eggs again this is the second time,but i have noticed that they are picking at the eggs....i have read that is normal....should i leave them alone or should i put them in another tank...and how long does it take to hatch if they are going to hatch...the first batch did not hatch.... i would appriciate your opinion...

thanks

 

[revsgirl]

:bump:

 

[weaponsofmassdesign]

Mine laid eggs for the first time about a month ago. They messed with them all the time. As far as I know they are just keeping them clean like when they clean the rock before they lay them. If you wanna try to hatch them move them out of that tank. I was gonna try a 5.5g when mine lay again. It seemed to be about a week and a half or so from the time I noticed the eggs till they hatched. I just let nature take its course this first time and they got a morning snack. Something happened that day where I was home when they hatched so I got to see them swimming around. Otherwise I would've completely missed it.

 

[laskopyre]

The first few times they lay eggs, they may either eat them or they are not fertilized. They are getting used to the process. As they get better at it, the nests will get larger. I would say to wait a bit before attempting to raise them. Mine still eat them every once and awhile. They get bad batches (eggs turn white), and I just chalk it up to nature.
As for hatch time, it's based on type of clown and temperature. Ocellaris normally average 6-9 days. I keep mine at 80 degrees, and they hatch 7 days after being layed. They lay eggs every 11 days. To tell if they are going to hatch, the eggs go through a color change. They start out orange, till they get to silver. When you can see the eyes reflect the light, and the egg is silver, they wil most likely hatch that night. Normally 1 hour after lights out the hatching starts.