Rapid death rate, something's wrong here.

My larvae are currently around 3/4 inch long. I had about ~85-90 larvae to begin with. On the 10th and 11th days, I lost around 13 larvae. The death rate declined, I'm down to losing about 2 a day, sometimes one. I have about 55 larvae left. 1/3 death rate is NOT normal from what I understand. So, what's killing them off?
Parameters:
Water temp 57 F
Ammonia/nitrates/nitrites: all zero.
Water change every day.
Water depth is around 1.5 inches.
Fed daily with baby brine shrimp or moina
All ~55 larvae kept in a plastic bin, about a foot and a half long. They have plenty of room.

All my parameters are good (I think), so what's the problem??!!
A couple notes: There are a lot of floaters (No bubble bellies, they just like to float) and brine shrimp are on the bottom, could that be an issue? Also, the mother was VERY young to lay eggs, about 11-12 months old. Way too young! This was her first batch.

What's killing them? Is there anything I can do to help them? Will they eventually stop dying? So many questions and no answers!

Not sure what might be killing them but wanted to mention something I believe I've read before: if it is the mothers first batch then the larvae will generally have a higher mortality rate than an axolotl that has spawned previously.
So if she lays again in 4-6 months time the next batch should be stronger.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong

My lotl laid a bunch of eggs and I kept about 20 of the larvae and had a 100% survival rate - this is with brine shrimp hatchery dramas and not having food for the young for the first few days (and having to rely on egg yolk). She was pretty big (which makes me think she's a few years old) when I got her though which makes me think that she's probably laid before.

Are they kept in the same plastic container? Could be stress from overcrowding. Your temps are also a bit on the low side.

For our first spawn, we kept them in plastic bins as well & had a low survival rate, as we upgraded the containers they were kept in (over several spawns), we noticed a higher survival rate. Our upgraded containers went from cheap household racks -> food grade containers -> medical grade containers. May have something to do with toxins leeching out in the plastic as well.

Could also be what you mentioned about mom being too young. If she's not as well developed, why would her eggs/offspring be?

is being cold an issue I was told it wasnt. Mine are currently at about 45! They are only a few days old. If the need heat I can put a heater in, but when I asked I was told it would be ok

In cold water their development will be slower, they will eat less and their metabolism will be slower as a result, but this is fine.

When the larvae are small they need to have lots of food offered twice daily. The brine shrimp need to be rinsed well prior to offering. At this size I fed mine twice daily, and did a full water change twice daily as the brine. My water was also a little shallower so the food was more concentrated.

90 larvae 3/4 inches long in what sounds like 2 gallons of water could be overcrowded. And since the deaths have almost stopped as the numbers have lowered it seems this was the likely cause. Why is your water temp so low? 65-70 would be much better and they would grow faster for you.

I have separated the larvae into 2 bins. there's an estimated 20-25 in each bin, they definitely have plenty of space. Temps are low because house temp is also low, around 65 F. Around 3 larvae were dead when I came home today! It's 2-3 deaths per day. I'm so worried, I don't want them all to die. What am I doing wrong?????

Please help! There's only 17 left now! What's happening? Is it the mother? Or me? I put a heat mat under their bin so the temp is around 69 F in there now. I just don't understand! Any help or suggestions is very much appreciated!

What types of bins are they in? Like I mentioned in my previous post, if in plastic bins, it's possible for toxins to leech out. As well, it's possible that bacteria's been cultivating in the pores of the plastic.

Have you tried scrubbing out their bins or switching them to glass containers?

No I have not, I will scrub the bins, maybe buy some new ones too. There's only 6 little ones left now.
My female laid another batch of eggs, I want to know what I did wrong so this does not repeat itself.

Psychopathic963 said:

My female laid another batch of eggs, I want to know what I did wrong so this does not repeat itself.

Click to expand...

Psychopathic963 said:

Also, the mother was VERY young to lay eggs, about 11-12 months old. Way too young! This was her first batch.

Click to expand...

I think this could be the problem. At 12 months, she's only around 2/3 of the way developed. My guesstimate is equivalent to around 12 "human" years. If mom's not fully developed, why would her larvae be?

I'd suggest separating the two, give mom a minimum 6 month break to do some growing. If she's continuiously breeding at too early an age, it's putting alot of stress on her body.

Hi
Don't think I can tell you what's gone wrong, I can only tell you what I have done. Admit idly I have only twenty eggs (one that had to be euthernased) so far apart from that one, and a couple that got stuck in the egg. I have had all so far survive,
For the first few days I had about 3 to a tub (take away plastic container all new) when the three eldest started getting a bit rambunctious I put them all in individual containers,
I got enough of these so that as they are using one the other can be washed with boiling water and air dried.

I feed. And once aday I do a full water change into a different container.
My little ones are still on bbs, and my big ones are eating bloodworm. I have no air stones or anything in with them. Just cleese sterile(ish) pots and clean from temp declorinated water.

Hope that helps, although I do know you are tying to raise more than my twenty.

Is there any food left over after feeding maybe its worth feeding a bit more as my floaters defloat after food and are not air bellies xx

our 1st lot that hatched last year were all in takeaway plastic tubs and tupperware 150 hatched and 32 survived which I was told was a good rate, we still have 6 as we sold the rest and all healthy and doing fine, but the death rate when they had just hatched is quite high. At the moment we have hatchlings from the ones that hatched last year and the death rate is about the same, maybe 5-6 a day but its like most things in nature where you have alot of spawn,not all survive, its sad but raising 32 was hard work last year god knows what 150 would of been like, think I would of gone mad!!