11-20-06, 1:38 AM, WE HAVE A SPAWN!
Admittedly, I've taken about a month off from even bothering to watch for spawns. It's been a WELCOME break from the late night routine of turning off pumps, getting out of bed to check periodically for eggs, or sleeping mandarins.
I knew I was going to be up late tonight with an urgent project for work, so I took the opportunity to see if Pair #1 was still even bothering with spawning! Sure enough, they are, although I only observed a FEW eggs. Bottom line, there wasn't nearly enough to bother with and I'm not sure WHY...I THINK I may have overlooked the spawn earlier on when I briefly turned on the pumps (to remove surface scum). My other hypothesis is that they spawned in the caulerpa that's growing at the surface, as this is where I found the only small clumps of eggs...a mear bundle of 2 is all I initially found (which is what sent me into a tizzy search for more eggs).
My mandarin larval tank project isn't quite ready yet...not the burgeoning copepod population I'm looking for, and of course, with the GBG's surpassing my personal survival record today, and another imminent batch of clownfish, the Synchiropus attempts may be on hold a little while longer
That's the news...
Matt