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Java "mops"

     I have not used artificial spawning mops to date simply because I was
lazy and liked the more natural java moss approach.  I have rarely seen eggs
with most of my various aphysemions or epiplatys, but have gotten continuing
natural tank spawns.  However, in my twenty high containing maybe half a
dozen adult Fd gardneri misaje I was down to only one female.  The natural
approach was not presenting me with any new babies to continue the line.
Upon reading the card where I wrote original purchase info, I found the fish
came from Rosario LaCorte.  All the more reason to keep them going and to
praise the results of record keeping.
     The yarn mops seem interesting because of the tight spots.  Java moss
will spread out in a tank and let the parents go through on an egg eating
mission.  So I figured, let's make a java moss mop.  I take a handful of
moss, and tie a knot tightly accross the middle with a six inch piece of
twine.  Makes a neat mop, tight in the middle, with fairly loose java moss
at the ends.  Allows the fish a choice of where to deposit the eggs.  While
taking the first mop out of the spawning container, I felt an egg under my
thumb!  Progress.  That was October 13th.  Took that mop off and replaced it
with another.  Took that mop off on October 17th and put both mops in a
shoebox with clean water.
      Have been waiting patiently, actually impatiently, ever since.  This
morning I found two babies.  YES!  Started them on infusoria from my daphnia
culture and microworms.  I now have been making java mops for my other fish
and enjoy the ease of rotating it between spawning tanks and rearing tanks.
Make sure to rotate mops only through one species so that you don't get eggs
crossing over to a different tank where you may not be able to identify the
females.

        George Davis
        Wilmington, Delaware

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