Oh the excitement!

Just got about 2 dozen eggs through the post from another user. Due to the lack of axolotls in my area i had to buy them off ebay, poor blighters! but they seem to be in good condition, looking a little like kidney beans at the moment.
I am a complete novice to axie keeping, have had goldfish for years, so thought I'd branch out, axies are just so adorable However, I don't want blood on my hands, so I was wondering if anyone could help me out and give me a few tips on raising them? They're in a 10 G tank,+I'm planning to feed them on daphnia when they hatch out. Can anyone give me some tips on cycling? would it be okay just to start out with a clean, dechlorinated tank and do regular water changes? I've had a few disasters with goldfish in the past, and I figure eggs/ larvae will be particularly vulnerable to chemical changes.
Hopefully its the start of a long and happy term of axie keeping, if I can navigate the first stages!

Tips:
1. Keep an eye on levels of ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, pH etc. In-tank cycling with axies (not sure about babies though) can be done, but you must be diligent.
2. The babies need live food. Baby brine shrimp or daphnia are good choices.
3. Keep few in seperate small tubs when they start to vary in size. This will reduce the cannibalism of the bigger ones eating the smaller ones.

Hope this helps!
Thanks.

I've prepared a big tank for them when they get more mature, and treated it with the bacteria that is supposed to break down ammonia etc, so I'll leave that to cycle for the next few weeks while they hatch out. They're starting to move inside ther eggs! only very occasionally though, and they still look like little curled up c shapes. Have about seven tubs just sitting waiting in case of a cannibalism emergency!The person who sold them to me said the wild types might develop first+prey on the others Is it okay to use distilled bottled water as a temporary thing if I run out of chlorine remover?(pricey i know!)

Not sure about distilled water.. I'm still kinda new to all this (only 3 months experience).. not sure why no-one more knowledgeable is replying.. I just use tank water if I can't be bothered with dechlorinator.. I don't suppose you have a rain-water tank?

I think some people use bottled spring water.. but I could be wrong..

I used bottled spring water from tesco, about 17p a bottle, I read somewhere that axies dont like water that is too soft, and as I live in the lake district with fabulously soft water I thought I would use the bottled water to start with and they have been thriving extremely well, and now I have changed them onto dechlorinated tap water and they are still doing fine, but I have a recipe for hardening water should I need it.

If you leave tap water out in a pail for 24-48 hours (i usually leave it out for three days to make sure) the chlorine evaporates and it is safe to use. Make sure lid is off and open to air. Been doing it for 20 years and no problems, never bought a chlorine remover as too expensive for all the water changes. Hope that helps.

Not sure how much chlorine they add the water in other coutries, your waterworks or public works department should be able to tell you.

mizzerman said:

If you leave tap water out in a pail for 24-48 hours (i usually leave it out for three days to make sure) the chlorine evaporates and it is safe to use. Make sure lid is off and open to air. Been doing it for 20 years and no problems, never bought a chlorine remover as too expensive for all the water changes. Hope that helps.

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Yeah I don't always use chlorine remover if the water has been sitting for a few days, but apparently it can still contain chloramines depending on where you live, or mabye that's a spiel to sell more dechlorinator! Either way, think I'll play it safe while my axies are larvae by using bottled water, 15p for 2 litres isnt bad considering how little they need at first! Bit costly as they grow up though, hopefully they toughen up and learn to deal with regular dechlorinated tap water

Actually my biggest worry at the moment is maintaining a good supply of live food for them, I seem to be a bit of a serial killer when it comes to daphnia... Have ordered some microworms, hopefully that will tide them over for a bit while I get to grips with brine shrimp..(potentially easier as I can just hatch a few eggs at a time and not worry about killing the whole batch..) Joy of joys..