What the heck are "Killie Mops?"
Killifish mops
 

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Killiefish mops

Killifish with adhesive eggs love to use yarn mops as spawning sites, and placing so called “killie mops” in the aquarium is therefore popular among killifish breeders. One of the advantages of giving your fish a spawning mop instead of letting them spawn among plants or on aquarium glass is that moving the eggs to a separate rearing aquariums becomes really easy. Killiefish mops are easy to clean and can be used over and over again. If you chose the right type of yarn, you can even boil them to avoid transmitting malicious micro organisms between aquariums. In addition to being great spawning sites, killifish mops will also provide shelter for harassed fish, thereby reducing their stress levels.

Most Killifish breeders use dark yarn for their mops, but your fish will not care much about the color of the spawning site. The reason why many breeders stick to dark colors is that it makes it easier to detect the eggs after spawning. Green, brown and blue shades are popular since they blend in nicely with the rest of the aquarium. Boil and rinse the yarn prior to use to remove any traces of dye.

If you want to make your own killifish mop, you will need a hardcover book or a piece of strong cardboard. The height of the book/cardboard should be roughly the same as the height of your aquarium. If you have a standard 10 gallon aquarium, you should for instance cut the cardboard to a length of approximately 8 inches.

Making your own killifish mop is really easy; simply wrap the yarn around the cardboard (lengthwise). How many times you wrap will determine how dense your killifish mop will be in the end. Cut the yarn from the skein and use a separate piece of yarn to tie the strands together at some place along the cardboard. At the opposite side of the knot, cut the yarn by holding up the not. Both sides will now fall down and turn into a mop-shaped thing.

If you want your killifish mop to sink, soak it in warm water before you place it in the aquarium. You anchor it by tying one end of a piece of yarn to the mop and the other end around a pebble. If you instead want a floating killifish mop, simply attach a cork. If you want the mop to float on the surface while each piece of yarn hangs down towards the bottom, you have to soak the mop just like you would do with a mop intended for bottom use.

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What the heck are "Killie Mops?"