Question: Help, OMG, Axie female laying eggs!

So, she started laying her eggs in the big tank. There are some goldfish in there, WHAT DO I DO???? I don't want to stress her, she's still laying, and I don't have a good tank for the goldfish, I do have another tank cycled for the eggs, but she's laying them on EVERYTHING...

The goldfish aren't showing interest yet, they're just small, like one inch, will the jelly keep them at bay? OMG I'm freaking out...

I thought I knew what I was doing, i thought I was ready... I"M NOT READY!!!

Ug she's even laying them on the tunnel, I can't take every freaking ornament out! Why, Ophelia, WHY?

Oh, and both parents are leucistic, but the eggs are black. Is that normal? *Runs off to freak out some more*

Same for us (except goldfish). Just start removing eggs now and you will be able to save them, the stuff she laid them on we would pick up, and pull the eggs by the jelly and place them in their new tank. They are right to be handled and placed in the cycled tank and then be left alone, but its quite fine for you to use your hands as they stick to everything else. Yes its normal for the eggs to be black as Leucistic is not albino.

Don't worry about stressing her, as she wont be stressed without them as she doesn't have motherly instincts which means yes, she herself will eat them. Just take the ornaments out that shes laid on and keep them out until she finishes, this could take 12 hours or more. Make sure you leave some things for her to lay on but- remember she has to lay each egg individually.

ok, ok, I've got 25 or so in a little container with tank water. Should this be introduced to the fry tank slowly, like a fish, with them equalising, then water transfer, or can i just sorta dump them in? can they sit on the bottom, or should they be stuck to something? I was more worried about my arm in the tank being stressful, rather than the removal of the eggs.

man, I wish they were like frogs, and just laid a big jelly mass near the surface. How will I know when she's done?

As long as you keep an eye on her and she doesnt seem to stressed by your arm she should be good with it. You can "sorta dump" them and they can sit on the bottom, make sure there is no substrate in the fry tank as when they hatch they will swim down in it and well... .. die. So no substrate! lol. Good luck

I guess you'll know shes done by a few hours without anymore eggs appearing. Yeah I wish they were like frogs too! Haha, I also wish the parents didnt eat their babies >:-( as this would make it better, but hey, its funner with a challenge

hey. Dont stress, they are very hardy. Just detach them with your hands, it can be quite dificult because they are sticky, but they are very tough! They can take some abuse. (try to avoid of corse)

You do not need a cycled tank for the eggs or tank water, just dechlorinated tap water is fine.
they do not need water changes while they are eggs, you just have to wait for them to hatch. You will have a few weeks to prepare.

^^ listen to the professional lol ^^

I'm starting to calm down now. I don't seem to be hyperventilating anymore, at least. Oh, I need to get some BBS started... Oh man, I didn't think this would happen so soon, how many should I be able to raise in a 25 gal. tank? At what age should I start separating them? Should I get another, bigger tank? I've got 60-70 eggs laid thus far....

I'm not even sure when they did the mating thing, I haven't noticed any jelly cones...

I am always amazed at how hardy axolotl eggs are. I recommend using a fingernail to get them off plants and ornaments, cause the jelly can stick and you don't want to squish them by just pulling them off.

Also, you can raise the larvae in small plastic tubs with dechlorinated water if need be. I currently have 5L tubs with 10 larvae in them each, though they are still pretty tiny and will need to be separated even further when they get bigger. When they start growing front limbs is generally when the cannibalism sets in.
If you're going to put them in a tank you might want to think of ways to divide the tank into smaller sections so that you can house different sizes together which will deter them trying to eat each other.

And BBS only take around 24 hours to hatch at the right temperature, so I wouldn't worry about getting that started just yet You can probably wait till the axies hatch before starting your hatchery, they'll live off of their egg jelly yolk stuff for the first 24-48 hours before they need to be fed.

Hey. You do not need to start setting up brine shrimp right away, just get some supplies ready. Brine shrimp eggs, air pump, some sea salt. It wouldn't hurt to test the brine shrimp in this time so your smooth on getting them to work, but you have a few weeks so its all right. If you need to get them online, order them now.

The bbs take about 1-2 days to hatch, and the axie babies take about 1-2 days to finish their yolk sacks, so the timing will work out nicely if you put the brine shrimp hatchery on once you see them hatching.

The easiest way to tell if they need more space is to let them hatch and see. If they look to cramped, separate them into some containers. Containers are fine, and less expensive than tanks. You might not need to separate them. Some cannibalise, some don’t. I've never had a problem with mine apart from the occasional nip. If you notice bits missing, separate them and keep the individually

The cannibalising starts around when they are getting their back legs. Before then you can keep them all together. Keeping them well fed and having lots of visual barriers like plastic/live plants will stop them eating each other as much. Remember you will have to give each and every container you have them in a water change every day (dechlorinated tap water is fine) so keeping them in one big tank/tub is much easier that way, but you run the risk of cannibalism. When they are small they will regenerate quickly, so i have mine all in one.

As the axies grow, their containers will have to too. You can get large plastic storage containers from homeware/general stores over here for pretty cheap, i keep mine in those. When they were small, i used small plastic containers. They are not too picky with space, they usually just sit in one spot anyway

sorry dan, posted at the same time >_<

... what he said

^_^ I was also going to suggest taking a look at Rachel's excellent BBS hatchery tutorial as well in case you needed some specifics:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...rine-shrimp-hatching-harvesting-tutorial.html

thanks, guys, You've been loads of help. I've got enough in my rearing tank now that, even if I loose the rest, I'll be fine. I've been operating on a "don't put all your eggs in one basket" strategy. I'll use every recommended method. I'm keeping a few in a mesh breeder box in the adult tank, most of them in my larvae tank, a few in containers, and when they get bigger I'll separate a few of the ones in the larva tank into mesh cubes, leaving the rest loose in the tank. There may even be a few I miss loose in the adult tank, but there isn't much hope for them.

My suggestion: DON'T RAISE ALL OF THEM! Your first time around can be quite the learning curve, and it's much less stressful on you to raise a dozen or two (not to mention cheaper!) than it is to try to raise 400.

Plus, then you have to think about where they're all going to go. Are you going to keep them? Sell them? Sell them as eggs? I recommend that; they're much easier to ship before they hatch.

Axolotls - Rearing from Egg to Adult
Apart from all the information provided you might want to look over this site for more information
Also this is a great development site
Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) - Embryonic developmental stages

yeah, I know better than to raise them all. I took out the number I wanted to raise, and she just laid a ton more over night. Its so hard to just leave them there.

Be strong. It's how they are in nature.

It's the Circle of Life *strike dramatic pose*

With the desire for axolotls in Canada, I would think you shouldn't have any problem getting rid of as many eggs as you want.