Re: [Killietalk] seeing eggs in peat

[Charles Harrison <charles at inkmkr_com>]

At 5:58 PM -0600 2/7/04, Diane Brown wrote:
> I'm getting ready to try wetting some notho eggs again, and am just 
> wondering:  what do you do to check for eyes-up when the eggs are 
> all mixed up in damp peat?  I don't think there are a lot of eggs in 
> this batch of peat, so I think it will be quite hard to find eggs to 
> check without wetting it and spreading it around on a flat dish. 
> But if I can avoid that, I'd like to, because I think I lost the one 
> viable fry from the first wetting because it was handled too much 
> moving from dish to dish finally to tank. 
>
> I suspect that just wetting it all and seeing what happens is the 
> way to go this time, but I bet some of you smart killiefolk have 
> ways to make spot eggs in the peat for repeated checking without 
> wetting each time.

Diane,

	I prefer to move small clumps of peat across a sheet of news 
paper. The paper does get a little damp as one looks for eggs. 
Scattering small amounts of peat with the heal/palm of ones hand 
creates a very thin layer of debris and the eggs are easier to see. 
At one time I used one of those magnifying round fluorescent lamps 
with a magnifying lens in the center. That worked out well for some 
time but age has taken my eyes out of focus, I have found the 2X 
reading glasses to be much better in aiding the search.  White paper 
works well also giving contrast to the peat/eggs and other debris.

Once you find a few eggs the optical character recognition kicks in & 
they become easier to find. The silver eye rim looking back at you is 
unforgettable. It is like finding a Morel mushroom in the leaves in 
the woods. It is such a pleasant surprise it leaves a permanent 
impression.
If you want to bring some by, we will look together.

Charles H.
--
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