How do you clear tubifex off spawing mops?

[RonWill]

In this thread, Andrew mentions the use of bottom mops or very long mops for spawning GAR species and it got me thinking.

I feed a fair bit of tubifex to my breeders and these worms have an uncanny ability to find their way to the opposite side of the tank, up into the mops and entwine itself with the yarn. Since I incubate the whole mop instead of picking eggs, I'm wary of these worms dying, polluting the water and possibly spoiling the eggs.

It's not easy to clear the mops but for those who feed live foods while the pair/trio are in the breeding tank, what do killie-folks normally do; ignore the worms, slightly shorter mops that clear the bottom or ____??

Personally, owing to time limitations and having less than 20/20 vision, I prefer not to pick 'em eggs. Any suggestions?

[Pulcher]

I pick the GAR eggs daily and incubate them on peat, so I can clean the mops of anything that shouldn't be there.

I don't feed tubifex worms (I can't get them readily where I live), but I feed white worms from time to time. They never get a chance to get tangled in anything because they get eaten very quickly.

Is it possible to feed fewer worms at each feeding and wait until they are consumed before adding more? This would probably take a long time if you have many tanks

[CM Media]

I did a quick and simple way. Pick the eggs out then pour hot water onto the mop, throw it outside of the house under the sun for a week. Rewash the mop and it'll be free from tibifex. :wink:

[RonWill]

Andrew, I dislike to pick eggs for a couple of reasons...

1. Eggs that have been handled tends to go bad. I do wash my hands and use a tweezer instead of bare fingers.

2. I can't see them very well and having used a head-worn loupe throughout the day at work, I'd rather not tire my eyes further.

3. Going through individual mops take up a fair bit of time, which can be better used towards water changes, tending to my various cultures, feeding the fry, or even a quiet time to appreciate the killies' palette of colors.

I recently received a Whiteworm culture (WWC) from Au but these crawlies don't look any bigger than the grindals I'm culturing. What's the largest or longest WW in the culture you're maintaining? They don't seem to be very prolific either, perhaps due to the warmer weather here, but at least they're eating and they're not dead!

As most of my tanks have 4~5mm glass panels over it, I use a turkey baster to squirt a day's consumption of tubifex, through feeding holes in the panels. There's normally no left over as the snails, oto, shrimps and pygmy cory takes care of that.

While it's possible to feed less, I cannot afford the time to serve them second helpings and don't forsee that happening, especially with more new tanks I'm setting up later.

I did a quick and simple way. Pick the eggs out then pour hot water onto the mop, throw it outside of the house under the sun for a week. Rewash the mop and it'll be free from

Au, depending on the species, some mops have a deadline of 3 weeks before they get zapped in the microwave for 10 mins on High setting. This is to destroy any hidden eggs, kill the worms and other nasties, before double rinsing and hanging it up to dry. With limited number of mops, rotating them is the best I can do.

I'll see if a separate feeding container works any better.

[Pulcher]

I don't have too much to add to the discussion to solve the problem. In some ways it's a problem that I would like to have to deal with, as I would have access to the tubifex, and I'm sure that my fish would love them

Andrew, I dislike to pick eggs for a couple of reasons...

1. Eggs that have been handled tends to go bad. I do wash my hands and use a tweezer instead of bare fingers.

I've noticed this problem as well, particularly when I use water incubation. I solved most of the problem with putting them on damp peat. I do get some fungus on eggs that are infertile, but these are easily removed.

I can fully understand why you don't want to pick them as the time involved can be tedious. I'm only keeping GAR and AUS at the moment , so the time involved isn't particularly onerous. Picking mops for me is a little like a treasure hunt each evening I also find that if I don't pick the eggs regularly, they get eaten. Perhaps I'm not feeding my breeders enough?

I recently received a Whiteworm culture (WWC) from Au but these crawlies don't look any bigger than the grindals I'm culturing. What's the largest or longest WW in the culture you're maintaining? They don't seem to be very prolific either, perhaps due to the warmer weather here, but at least they're eating and they're not dead!

I keep my WWC in the basment of my home, where it stays ~20-22 C all year long. I get enough worms to harvest 3-4 times per week from a medium sized plastic bin (30cmx15cmx10cm ? dimensions are approximate) for about 5 tanks of fish. I keep them in potting soil, but I want to try the synthetic media that's been discussed here.

My worms average approximately 20 mm long. This is smaller that I've seen quoted elsewhere (up to 40mm long), but I'm harvesting them regulalry so perhaps that's why they don't grow so large. My grindal worms are quite a bit smaller.