Whats a spawning slate?
A SPAWNING SLATE — or two — should be kept in the breeding tank, or any tank where you’re raising fish for breeding. Otherwise, your fish may get into the annoying habit of spawning on tank walls or tubing. Discourage this by putting plastic plants around the old spawning site. Avoid wide leaf plants, another favorite in the wild. Some breeders use clay pots, poly pipe, or plain slate rectangles. I find the fixture illustrated here safer and more convenient. You could take this picture to a local tile shop and buy slate pieces cut as shown. Or score slate deeply with a file or hack saw and snap over a dowel. Boil to clean or run through 2 cycles of your dishwasher — use no soap– and assemble using silicone rubber cement. Make at least two. If you remove the eggs, you can replace the slate to reduce parental trauma. The eggs may be exposed to air for a few moments with no ill effects. The fixture may be laid down to fit into the shallower fry tank.
