Picking eggs

I finally got around to picking eggs today . I made new spawning mops last week and that spurred my Aplocheilus lineatus Golden Wonder Killifish to spawn . The old mops had been in the aquarium for a long time and they were frayed and fuzzy from the fish rubbing them with their scales as they went in and out . These fish seem to prefer spawning in the top part of the mop so the old mops were a hindrance . New mops and more eggs . Some of these eggs look pretty developed and I’ll have fry soon . If you haven’t tried a Killifish you ought to think about it . They’re the most “ hands on “ fish you can work with .

The only fish I've kept that were as hands on as killies have been blue eyes from down under - you can pick eggs there too. It's such a perfectly relaxing, unstressful thing to do. When there are eggs, it's gratifying. When there aren't, you can amuse yourself figuring out why.

Once you decide (or if you decide) that just looking at fish isn't enough, killies are great.

GaryE said:

The only fish I've kept that were as hands on as killies have been blue eyes from down under - you can pick eggs there too. It's such a perfectly relaxing, unstressful thing to do. When there are eggs, it's gratifying. When there aren't, you can amuse yourself figuring out why.

Once you decide (or if you decide) that just looking at fish isn't enough, killies are great.

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It is relaxing . It’s fun to pick through the mop examining each strand . It’s like an Easter egg hunt . The first time I did it I was surprised at how tough the eggs are . They feel like a plastic bead . I don’t know if you can see it in my picture but there’s a single hairlike thread that attached the egg to the mop yarn .

I thought some of those eggs looked like they were pretty well developed and this morning I found two fry in the Petri dish so I scooped them out and put them in a jar . I’ll keep them in here for about a week so I can concentrate their food and then they go in a two and a half . Glad I set up my BBS hatcher yesterday .

Everyone in the hobby thinks killiekeepers are men of a certain age with small dark tanks, magnifying glasses, live food cultures and weird fishkeeping habits. I don't know about you and that stereotype, but I use medium sized tanks.

GaryE said:

Everyone in the hobby thinks killiekeepers are men of a certain age with small dark tanks, magnifying glasses, live food cultures and weird fishkeeping habits. I don't know about you and that stereotype, but I use medium sized tanks.

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I use small ones .