Following up on what Stateline Reefer said. The eggs hatch in the mouth and when they hatch they look like mini adults. They are shaped like bangai and colored like the adults but just mini.
You didn't mention who else lives in the tank. But they are tiny and are easy food for wrasses, big tangs, pseudchromis, damsels, and hog fish.
When they hatch you can see the little fish sitting in the father's mouth. He will occassionally 'sneeze' spitting out the dozens of babies and they scoop them all back up a second later. They stay in the mouth for several days after hatching.
I have tried the fake urchin and actual long spine, and it hasn't worked for me. The ones that survive the other fish in the tank, that grow up are the ones that go over the overflow and end up in the overflow or sump. I've gotten up to generation 4 raising them in the overflows of my frag tanks.
Dave B
You didn't mention who else lives in the tank. But they are tiny and are easy food for wrasses, big tangs, pseudchromis, damsels, and hog fish.
When they hatch you can see the little fish sitting in the father's mouth. He will occassionally 'sneeze' spitting out the dozens of babies and they scoop them all back up a second later. They stay in the mouth for several days after hatching.
I have tried the fake urchin and actual long spine, and it hasn't worked for me. The ones that survive the other fish in the tank, that grow up are the ones that go over the overflow and end up in the overflow or sump. I've gotten up to generation 4 raising them in the overflows of my frag tanks.
Dave B