Make a Spawning Mop - How To...

Almost all Killifish enthusiasts will be aware of how to make a spawning mop for plant spawning Killifish species.
For those who don't, then there now follows a step by step tutorial on how to make what is essentially an everyday part of a killifish breeders life.



The items you will need to make the mop are as follows;
A good sturdy hardback book of around 9 inches in length (229mm)
A pair of sharp scissors
A Cork Stopper
A ball of Acrylic Yarn


Some folks like to use coloured yarn, I personally have a preference for dark green or dark brown, I feel it looks much more like plant material.
Make sure that when you go to buy your yarn, you ask for 100% acrylic and not pure wool.


First off, cut yourself a length of yarn around 12 inches or so and lay it across the book as in the photo.
We are going to use this cross thread to tie off the mop later.


Now take you ball of yarn and start winding it round and around the books length for around 60 turns or so,
more turns will give you a denser mop but I find that around sixty turns makes for a good size and weight.
Remember to leave the cross thread in the middle of the book.


Now its time to tie the cross thread as mentioned earlier. You can make a few knots in this to prevent slippage.


Turn the book over and cut through the yarn at the books central point.


You should now have something like this


To tidy things up a little I like to bind and tie a further knot about an inch down from the top of the mop


In order to make the mop float we need to attach some kind of buoyancy aide, which is where the cork comes in.
Now you don't have to have an expensive cork like mine any old untreated cork or polystyrene will do.


The finished product.

Finally boil the mop for a few minutes to sterilise and rid the yarn of any excess dye it may still contain.
Then your good to go!

I hoped this little pictorial was able to explain how to go about making one kind of spawning media for adhesive egglaying toothcarps.
Happy Fish-keeping
C

I was too lazy to make mine, I bought them from TA Aquaculture, but after that article I see what a fool I was, how much simpler could it have been.

They work great for some corys too.



Daragh

Fellow killifish aficionado Mr Addis thanks you for your Euros D.
I can just see his face......
Regards
C

Nice one, again. Handy little post. Will try this with the corys and rainbows.


Mark