Need more info about Baby Axies

Hi

Well my newbie Axies hatched 3 weeks ago, approxiamately 300. We had to move them to another tank a week ago and found that 197 had survived (yes we counted them). Since then they are slowly dwindling in number, Im not sure why, some are smaller than others, I do a 90% water change everyday, they are being fed on live baby brine shrimp, they love them, unfortunately we cannot find a source for Daphnia.
There are quiet a few that are growing very nicely in size (and Im kinda guessing that there could be a bit of cannabalism). It looks like they are all golden albino's though I guess I will have to wait till they are bigger to see the color of their eyes. They are not all the same color gold though.

They are approx 1.5cm now, what it is that I would like to know is - "when do they start to develop their front and back legs"?

From my last thread "Then there was more" - I think that the babies will be hatched within a week.

Your information is appreciated

:smile:

Thanks to All

The reason they could be dying off, is despite the fact that you are feeding them brineshrimp there will never be enough food for the number you have, hence the reason it was suggested you raise fewer larvae.

Cannibilism will start if there isn't enough food and space, and there will always be stronger larvae eating the food faster than the weakers ones (hence size difference and losses). You might be better off splitting them down into more manageable amounts/tubs/containers. If some are differing in sizes then split those ones into distinct sizes.

As said, it is a lot of work as I'm sure you realise. How often do you feed them? If you're feeding twice a day you need to try and clean twice.

I had way less than you and they used to take me several hours per day. But I've also helped out a few of my friends who breed them and know how many more hours are involved in raising the many larvae they have and it's exhausting to say the least!

Look closely at the big ones, you may just start to see tiny front leg buds if not now then within the next week or so.

What temperature is their tankwater kept at, that will also have an impact on growth and feeding?

You should be able to raise the number you have easily. You should definitely separate them out into smaller groups of similar sized individuals. It should only take you about 10-20 minutes a day to keep up ~200 hatchlings, and every week it will take a bit longer. They aren't really difficult to raise, but before you raise that many make sure that you have a place to sell them to.

It really breaks my heart when I hear that someone is raising axolotls for the first time and trying to raise hundreds. If you were only trying to raise 10 or 20, you could pamper them, and give them plenty of space, plenty of food, etc. But unless you have industrial-sized setups or a house full of tanks, there is no way you can raise hundreds without massive mortality. Unfortunately, the mortality is usually not just cannibalism, but also problems with water quality or infections that wipe out large numbers.

Raising larvae in a "brand new tank" has all kinds of problems. In my experience, dead brine shrimp tend to stick to the inside of a new tank, creating a layer of bad-bacterial carpet. In my experience, the best housing is either a well-established cycled tank (which usually isn't available), or else small containers that can be completely cleaned out (including wiping out the inside surface) every couple of days.

My advice is to separate out a few of the largest healthiest looking ones and give them their own small (cleanable) containers (1 or a few per container). Do what you can for the others in the tank. Good luck!

I whole-heartedly stand behind what Jen said so eloquently.

if you have a look at www.axolotl.org on the rearing page it tells you when to expect legs. mine started to hatch on 5th july i have kept them at 20 degrees with a heater. my biggest are about 2 and a half cm long and have their little front legs. i have 24 that size all doing well on shrimpbrine.

Thank you all for your input. I have taken on the information and put it to practice

We now have 34 good strong healthy babies, and we have separated them into smaller groups in separate tanks. We have been cleaning the water daily since they hatched and wipe tanks out as the brineshrimp does polute the water. I am able to see personalities now, being some more dominant than others. It is much easier to take care of them now, and we too also use a heatpad and keep the temperature between 17 to 20 degrees, they seem much happier at this temp.
I can now see that they have the same color eys as their Parents (Orpheus and Syllabub) - pink eyes.

All the smaller babies are in a very well cycled tank with lots of space. We keep this tank clean as well. They seem to be doing better now. I will continue to do as much as I can to care for and help these to survive, they are so cute.

Thanks everyone for your help.

I don't think you need the heatpad. What would the temp be w/o it? They might grow a bit slower at colder temp, but that isn't really a problem. Also, heatpads could be dangerous to use with a plastic tub.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear things are going better! Good luck!