orange spot sifter breeding?

[omahareefer]

I recently purchased a pair of orange spot sifters and they have laid a clutch of eggs. I know nothing on how to take measures to rear these or if it is possible. Situation is this-55gal. reef with only 2 other fish, hawk, yellow watchman, they laid the eggs on the bottom of a rock and the male, I assume, enclosed the (den) with the female inside. I know this because I can see through the bottom of the tank, her and eggs. I am wondering if anyone knows the proper steps to take to save the hatch and what I would need to do so.
thanx,
omahareefer

[billsreef]

[welcome]

I had a breeding pair of orange spotted gobys, Valenciennea puellaris several years ago. I had a clutch of eggs about every 2 weeks. The eggs took 3 days to hatch at around 80F, and the larvae were very small. Unfortunately I was never able to keep any larvae past 2 days. The best trick I was able to use to get the larvae out of the tank was to remove the rock the egg mass was attached to on the day of the expected hatch and place an airstone under the egg mass. Within a couple of hours after the lights went out at night the hatching would begin.

For a first food you might want to try getting a rotifer culture going.

Good luck.

[FMarini]

Hi:
congrats on the breeding. The key here is to get the egg mass or the newly hatched fry out of the tank. Once this happens you can concentrate on getting enuf high quality nutrition into the fry.
I have not had sleepers breed, but i've assisted a friend w/his psuedochromis and this sounds similar. It was critical to get the eggs out w/ the parent (who most likely is oxygenating the eggs) and allow the hatching to occur in the confines of a small tank (like a 10 or 20 gal).Once the eggs hatch remove the parent and start feeding immediately w/ rotifers. (if you've never cultured rotifers before youre in for a treat)-you can get starter cultures online (www.inlandaquatics.com), and feed the fry a couple of times daily. After 1 week the fry sare large enuf to eat baby brine shrimp(which are a cakewalk compared to rotifers). you'll ned to feed baby brine for 2 weeks at which point the fry are large enuf to take available ground/shaved foods. One thing that might help is a very established sand bed or refugium, where the fry can be isolated and allowed to dine on the copepods and critters which inhabit the sand bed.
My suspicion will be that the eggs left in the main tank will hatch but the fry will become tank food.
good luck
frank