Did I overreact?

[aaron gallagher]

Super exciting! I was cleaning out some excess food yesterday when I noticed some eggs on the bottom of my aquarium. (Of course I just finished my breeding tank addition to the system, but they got busy without my help.) The female was in the main tank (300 gallon) with 17 other adult tilapia. After reading about how aggressive they can become with eggs, I removed her and put her into the breeding tank. The breeding tank has sand in the bottom and a clay pot. 

Will the sand make it difficult for her to pick up eggs? Should I just let them breed out in the big tank and go after the babies when I see the clouds? 

BTW my basement system keeps growing, do any of you have that problem.