New babies

I got a couple of eggs the other day and they seem to be developing well, they are quite long now so hoping they will hatch soon I got some daphnia earlier (think I killed one batch out of two...) and some BBS eggs. The fella in the LFS said put the bag of BBS eggs in my tank and they should hatch in a day or two. They've already hatched in about 2 hours! When (if, fingers crossed...) my little ones hatch how do I got about putting the BBS in? Can I just use a turkey baster and put some of their water in? I already have a few daphnia swimming about in there now so there are little ones when the babies hatch but I obviously don't want to endanger my little ones! I'm quite excited because they look beautiful already!

Use a fine net (there are ones made specifically for brine shrimp), and rinse them with fresh clean water to get the salt off before adding them in with your baby Axolotls.

Thanks

Star said:

and some BBS eggs. The fella in the LFS said put the bag of BBS eggs in my tank and they should hatch in a day or two. They've already hatched in about 2 hours! !

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BBS eggs in 2 hours, well thats a new one on me... usually its a minimum of 24 hours

if you want to see my eggs/larve/hatchlins check my blog Axolotl's Update

That's what I'd read and what the fella in the shop said but I popped them in my axies tank when I got home to acclimatise it and when I checked a couple of hours later there were lots of little dots moving about :s I've been reading your blog dingodoo been comparing my eggs to it to try figure out where they are up to thinking should be any day now, I've spotted them jerking about, they are very long and I can see their eyes clearly ^^

You don't want to hatch the BBS in freshwater. And I've never heard of them being sold in a bag...Perhaps they sold you already hatched BBS? They are typically sold in small vials - dry or suspended(if decapsulated) They are typically hatched in some type of bottle/jar and you have to add salt because they are a saltwater species. They die in a few hours in freshwater.

They may have been pre hatched although they were sold as BBS eggs. I was going to leave them in the bag until I needed them but they are already swimming about so guess I need to rehome them into a jar. The bag was filled with water so I'm hoping it is saltwater, there is still movement but I guess I need to move them soon so there's a bit of air in there :/

I have never known LFS in the uk here to sell BBS live or even eggs, usually eggs are bought online...
are you sure it was BBS you were sold or not daphnia? as they are old in a bag.
how exactly did you add the so called bbs to your axolotl tank?, did you add the water too?
if it was bbs then you may kill your eggs/larve as its salty. If its daphnia then your ok.

BBS only survive a day or two - maybe a little longer in cooler water with good aeration. I honestly don't think you were sold BBS, perhaps daphnia? Are they little orange dots? Is the bag sealed? If so, I wonder why it'd need to go in your tank like that... Really sounds like you were sold something else. I'd make sure you can order some true eggs asap so that you can have a hatchery going when your larvae hatch.

DingoDoo said:

I have never known LFS in the uk here to sell BBS live or even eggs, usually eggs are bought online...
are you sure it was BBS you were sold or not daphnia? as they are old in a bag.
how exactly did you add the so called bbs to your axolotl tank?, did you add the water too?
if it was bbs then you may kill your eggs/larve as its salty. If its daphnia then your ok.

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They are a marine specialists and have just started to stock them. They are definitely BBS, got myself some live bloodworms and live daphnia too. The bloodworms were a treat for my other monsters I didn't add them directly to the tank I placed the bag in as directed and they hatched rather quickly I've since moved them with the water they came with into a tupper ware tub. Both the daphnia and BBS seem to be doing just fine for the time being

animalloversfb said:

BBS only survive a day or two - maybe a little longer in cooler water with good aeration. I honestly don't think you were sold BBS, perhaps daphnia? Are they little orange dots? Is the bag sealed? If so, I wonder why it'd need to go in your tank like that... Really sounds like you were sold something else. I'd make sure you can order some true eggs asap so that you can have a hatchery going when your larvae hatch.

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Definitely don't think that they were daphnia, one of the employees there is on this forum so I guess she could be culturing them for the shop? They are little, tiny orange dots and the bag was sealed. I've got lots of little daphnia as well in case the 'BBS' didn't work out so the babies will have plenty of food if my camera had a decent zoom I'd try take a photo of what I got to be sure as I don't want to give them anything that could potentially harm them

Edit: Attempted to get a decent photo to be sure but I doubt you can tell anything lol

Your situation is unusual. It does seem, from your photo, as though you did purchase brine shrimp. I'm wondering about the instructions to place the bag in the tank, etc. Does the guy at the LFS understand you're feeding fresh water species? I'm curious to know what's really going on here. BBS are difficult to keep alive for more than a few days and many people believe that the newly hatched shrimp lose most of their nutritional value after 24 hours. They especially do that if you're not feeding them. I have had some success gut-loading my brine shrimp with a product called Phyto Feast but my established method of using brine shrimp is to hatch them and feed them within about 24-36 hours - then restart the process. Nauplii who have not yet converted their yolk sacs to energy are most nutritious.

As has been stated here, your best value will be achieved by hatching BBS capsules yourself. Simple hatching setups can be made from 1 or 2 liter bottles and an air pump. The eggs hatch most quickly and you get a better percentage of hatch if the water is at least 80 degrees F (27 degrees C). Use non-iodized salt (about 1 tbs/L) I also add about an eight of a tsp of baking powder. Bubble the water vigorously. I strain the hatched shrimps through a net made for that purpose and then rinse them briefly in fresh (treated) water before dispensing them with an eye dropper into my larvae containers.

It seems that the closer the shrimp are placed to the larvae the more they eat as (at least initially) the axie larvae are more prone to "sit and wait" than actually pursue their dinner.

I don't get the same feeding response using Daphnia as I do Artemia nauplii. Maybe it's just the color of the latter (bright orange) that allows me to easily see that my axies have gorged on their latest meal.

He said to put the bag in the tank to acclimatise the eggs so that they could hatch in 24 hours I didn't mention what I was buying them for though and as they specialise in marine fish I guess he assumed they would be in salt water? I'm going to try my hatchlings on both once they decide to hatch! They look ready so I need to be patient I guess lol I'll see what gets the best response then stock up on more BBS if it is them. I'm hoping they prefer the daphnia though as they are thriving and my bigger ones don't pay much notice to them

Thanks for all your advice though guys much appreciated First eggs I've tried to hatch and first time at having live food too

Well they do look like BBS, but I'm honestly surprised at their recommendation. Putting them in an axie tank(which is kept cool), isn't going to help them hatch, in fact it will usually slow them down. They also require aeration. I'd guess they have a hatchery and scoop some of it into the bag, which is why yours hatched so fast(as they already had a head start).

You are going to need to go back to the shop frequently to get a new batch - they will only live a few days max and are most valuable to the larvae within a day of hatching, so even if they survive longer, their nutritional value drops. Since you can also get daphnia, lucky you! As you'll always have a back up.