clown eggs hatching....NOT

[Evansbr]

My clowns nests have been maturing fairly well, about 75 percent of the nest gets fertilized and matures to the point of silver eye balls everywhere. I put in a larval catcher and I use a LED penlight to aim light at the hole in the collector waiting for the hatch to enter it. I get a couple of eggs to hatch and get caught in the collector. however the vast majority of the nest just stagnates for a couple of days until the parents clean off the spot prior to the next spawn. Temp is at 80, the LED light isn't aimed at the nest but does add a little light to the tank. my salt level runs at 1.018 nitrates at 20. is it the light keeping them from hatching? I use a clear plastic box for the body of the trap. should I use something darker and hang light above?
I am so close!!!! I have rots, nanno, now I just need babies.
Oh, they decided to lay on the live rock in the tank instead of provided "moveable" materials, so I can't just pull the rock without disrupting the pair.

 

[jnowell]

I've had really good luck just letting them hatch in the tank. I have moon lights on my hood, so about 5 minutes after the lights go out, I shut down all the pumps, 10 minutes after that they start hatching. They are attracted to the light (moon lights) so I just take a coffee cup and scoop them up 30-50 at a time as they hatch and transfer them to the rearing tank. It's really not as hard as some make it out to be...takes a whole 5 minutes and I personally find it to be less trouble than any laval snagger I've used. Many would disagree, but it's not that bad.

Jason