Unexpected barbatus spawning

[eupterus]

I have just been doing my daily routine of water changes and when I got to the barbatus groing tank whcih hold 4 young barbatus 3 female and a male ( 2 inches max) I have found three patches of eggs. a group of 8, 6 and 3 They are beige in colour and have a slightly darker centre. I have various degrees of success with eggs as I am relatively new to breeding and dont want to mess these up. I am pretty sure they are fertile ?? does the description indicate this?? I am amazed they have spawned at all at this size. All advise is required, the "adults" are showing no interest in the eggs which is a good start.
Help

[CoryWally]

I've had varying success with hatching barbatus eggs over the last few months - over a dozen spawnings of up to 120 eggs, but low hatch rates. I keep my breeding pair separate as the dominant male is very aggressive towards other males.

Eggs can be hard to remove - I use a razor blade to scrape them off the glass. They are highly adhesive.

The best combination for me has been using rainwater in the hatch container with some methylene blue. Reports suggest the lack of hardness helps the egg membrane to break down on hatching.

I tend to change half the water twice daily, and I top up the dose of methylene blue (I know this isn't common practice). In my experience the eggs are extremely fungus prone. I also remove any probable infertiles to reduce fungussing fertile eggs. Despite this, I often find the whole batch fails.

Hatch times have been between 5 - 7 days at 70-72F.

My hatch rates have been anything from zero to 25%. Even if I get only 1 hatchling, I will continue the water changing regime to attempt to raise it.

Micro worm after the 3rd day and in a larger rearing tank after 2-3 weeks, alternating with dried foods.

Hope this helps,
Mark.