Thanks bang guy
step 1. Make sure your rotifers are going well before thinking too hard about pulling the eggs, If you dont have the food to feed the larva, they will die, and you will be discouraged. take the time to get the rotifers going well, study gestation and spawning frequencies. Slip a tile in place where they spawn. They will spawn on the tile which make it very simple to move at hatching time.
I set up a sterile tank on the day of hatch/transfer. You dont want live rock in the hatch/larval tank (too many critters that will eat the larva). I do you water from the parent tank, but not for bacteria/cycling purpose, but more so for temp and pH. Nothing but a heater and an air line. I use 2 air lines with a soft flow. One under the heater, and one under the eggs with the bubbles passing over the eggs (surrogate father).
most species have about a 7 day gestation depending on temp A few species go much earlier. In the winter, some of mine go 8-9.
What type of clowns are you dealing with?
When I transfer my eggs, my 5 gallon hatch tank is nearly full. An air stone under the heater . I prop the tile up with an upper corner of the tile leaning against the end of the tank at a slight angle with the eggs on the underside of that slight angle, and an air stone under the eggs with the bubbles lightly passing over the eggs. a suction cup stuck to the bottom of the tank will help keep the tile from sliding.
I add the rotifers right after I Xfer the eggs. I also toss in a little phyto to keep the rotifers nutritional.
The next morning, siphon out almost ALL of the hatching water, but I do it through my rotifer sieve so that I dont siphon out the larva, nor the rotifers. (unplug heater first)
then add water back to the 5 gallon, but only a gallon or 2 (just to cover the heater so you can plug it back in). I shine a flashlight through the bottom to see the rotifer density. You shouldnt need to add more yet, because the larva hast eaten any yet. after the water change is complete, I tint the water green with phyto. green enough so that I can barely see the babies. this will keep the rotifers nutritional enough, and also keep the fry in the center of the tank hunting for food, instead of having their noses stuck to the sides of the tank ( a depth perception thing)..
If you get this far, then we can continue