Usually I put the male in a 10-gal tank about half full and leave him there alone for 24 hours (give him a chance to feel at home). Then I use a hurricane lamp glass (you know, the glass that fits over the flame) to introduce the female. Give her a plant, too, so she doesn't feel exposed.
I leave it like that for a few hours (sometimes lift it up so water in her space mingles with the tank water, but not when she is near the bottom or she would get out) and then put a small, circular piece of waxed paper in. I try to put it someplace where there are plants and where I can see bubbles/fry. Nothing more frustrating than trying to see what is happening in the back of the tank!
When the male has made a start on nest building, I let the female out for awhile. Unless they immediately start spawning, she goes back into her glass-house at night. Most of the severe damage to the female has happened as I sleep, so I don't take the chance any more - even if they are being nice to each other! With the lamp glass you can sort of lift it and capture her underneath it before she knows what is happening.
All this time I feed her. Frozen food if not live. I prefer live, but sometimes you gotta make do. I feed him, too, but a lot of times he will not eat. Tubiflex worms are good for this since they will live on until the fry are big enough to eat them.
I repeat the above pattern until they either spawn or I give up on them. If the male does not build a nest after all of this, I would take them out and try again with another male, after I have cleaned out the tank and put in some fresh water (not all, usually, but at least half).
If the female drops her eggs, don't worry about it. She has more. Keep feeding her and everything should be fine. She can also drop eggs and eat them if she needs food. I don't know how common this is, but have read that it happens.
If they are going to spawn, they will do it several times. Usually you can tell they are done when the female goes somewhere (mine like the underside of the sponge filter) and hides and will not come out. Lure her out with a carefully placed worm and snag her and give her lots of food, warm water, maybe a bit of meth-blue if she is tattered. The glass, of course, was removed when they started spawning.
Usually you are tempted to remove the male when the fry are hanging and 'dropping' straignt down from the nest. Don't. Wait until they are actually swimming horizontally. This is why you want the nest where you can see it! At this point you may not see many fry. They like to hide as soon as they can. I use a straw to 'rumple' the water well away from the nest, which the male comes to investigate, then I snag him with the net and move him to a recovery jar. This works pretty well for me since, I can promise, he does not want to be caught.
I mix a bit of water (say 1/3 cup) and 4-5 drops of Liquifry2 and add that to the tank. It isn't really to feed the fry, but to feed the infusoria that the fry will eat. I keep that up for at least 1 week, 1-2 times a day. The water will be cloudy at first, but should clear as the infusoria eat the Liquifry.
I write the hatching date on the tank with a Sharpie pen. You would be surprised how fast you can forget! I start the BBS going around day 2. At first use a very small amount of BBS eggs, around 1/4 tsp. As the fry grow, raise the amount slowly to 1 tsp. I keep two hatcheries going, starting 1 every 24 hours so there is a constant supply. I have got a picture of a hatchery in here somewhere if you don't know how to build one.
And that is it! Hope it helps someone.