Mandarin's breeding?

[seagazer]

Good day all,
I've had two mandarins for aprox 1 year now. A blue, and a Green spotted. They've never really paid much attn to one another until a couple of nights ago. They were swimming together for the first time up and down the water column. They were quite attentive to each other rubbing sides, backs, and bellies. Is it possible that they may be trying to cross breed? If so, is there anything I can do to watch for, or protect the fry. Also, I understand they are egg scatterers? How long will it take for eggs to be scattered after mating, and what are my chances of any of the eggs surviving my reef. All of my corals are peacefull. I have several pollips, and gorgoneans. I assume they will most likely do away with any eggs they get ahold of. Any ideas, and/or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Best rgds to all

 

[mwp]

The eggs are scattered during mating in one big splash. The only way you'll have any hope of seeing the eggs is to have all the pumps in the tank shut off...they float at the surface for the first 12-18 hours until they hatch. You'll have to skim the eggs off the surface and incubate in a separate container.

Basically, if you don't make the effort to collect the eggs, but rather just let the fish spawn, the eggs will be sucked off by any surface skimmer into the filtration and doomed right from the get-go. With that said, mandarins aren't easy to raise as it is, so I don't even know what the chances would be for a hybridized S. splendidus X S. picturatus.

I have a huge thread on my efforts to rear S. splendidus - http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=824111 - lots of video and pics of spawnings, collection, incubation, and baby mandarins. It seems to talk people DAYS to read the whole thing though...

Matt