Question: Food for hatchlings

I first raised axolotls from the egg in my 12th grade science class, here I am over a year later and the axolotls I raised have laid eggs! I'm planning out my care for them so I can be well prepared.

I will be making my cultures of BBS based on this video:
Tutorial: Brine Shrimp Hatchery - YouTube

Firstly, does anyone suggest any reputable sites for buying brine shrimp eggs? I've seen them for $50 a pound of 90% hatch, but that's a little out of my price budget. I also only want enough brine shrimp to keep these hatchlings well fed until they can change food sources. How many grams of brine shrimp should I buy to satisfy ~100 hatchlings?

Is two cultures enough at one time? I will probably give each culture 48 hours before harvesting (unless that is detrimental). How long can I keep the culture alive to be fed to the axolotls? Can I take the egg shell layer off with a turkey baster?

I know it's quite a few questions, if someone is experienced and can help me one-on-one with further questions please let me know. I want to be extremely prepared to be a good caregiver


Also as a sidenote, when the hatchlings are old enough to ship I can send axolotls to other people on this site if desired. I'll post an ad up when the time is right, just letting people know in advance. FYI I live in Michigan and the eggs were laid around the 17th of April.

I used the same video to base my bbs hatching off of. I hatched and raised 30 at once so you are roughly 3x what I raised. I was able to keep bbs hatches viable for up to 3-4 days but after they hatch they loose a lot of their nutritional value after 24 hours. I would feed morning and night and only feed what they would eat in about 15-20 minutes. I cleaned their containers befor each feeding so twice a day. I did have bbs hatches that only lasted a day or two before they were tapped out. I used a decapsulating method that dissolved the outer cyst layer and allowed me to get hatches after only 12 to 24 hours. The same guy that did the video you posted has a decapsulating video as well. It does involve bleach but if you clean the eggs well you shouldn't have a problem. I found decapsulating the eggs actually increased my hatch amount and was able to use some eggs I had from years ago. Also dont spend big money on a sieve for bbs i used straining pads since i had them on hand for straining milk from dairy goats, you can use coffee filters, much cheaper. I used a large syringe to suck up the bbs to rinse and filter before feeding. You could use a turkey baster as well. With 100 larvae I would keep two hatches going all the time to ensure you have a steady source of food if one hatch is a dud. I did not feed my bbs hatches but if you did they may last longer.

If you have any other questions just pm me and I will do my best to help you out.

What are the parent types, I might be interested in trading or buying a couple out of the 100.

I replied to Jason via pm. He has been an amazing help.

I need this question answered before I buy any food. How much BBS do I need to raise 100 hatchlings to the point where they can eat adult BBS and bloodwords? Does anyone have a rough calculation of grams per hatchling? I plan on 3+ feedings a day in order to get them to grow, I need them to be a little less fragile for my move.

Lastly, how are the brine shrimp eggs stored?

I'm not sure how many BBS per larva is possible. I just kinda guestamated with mine and adjusted from how many they were eating. They eat a LOT more BBS the older they get.
Storing the BBS eggs is really easy, you can just leave then in the container on the counter or wherever and they should be good.
Good Luck! That's an amazing surprise your axies gave you!

I raised up a few hundred axolotls to the 2.5-3inch mark this spring. I fed decapsulated BBS that I bought off Ebay. They're a little more expensive than regular bbs, but much much easier to use. They hatch way faster, have more nutrition, and you don't have to worry about the eggshells. I fed them the bbs 2 times per day everyday. They grow incredibly fast, I only fed them the bbs until they could tackle chopped blackworm (because all the work with bbs sucks) which probably took 3 weeks? Blackworms are cheap and readily available in your area. They grow SUPER fast on the blackworms and will soon be able to take cut up earthworms....which are free outside. Can't beat that. Basically just keep their water clean and feed them till they're stuffed and you'll have juveniles in no time.

JessKB said:

I raised up a few hundred axolotls to the 2.5-3inch mark this spring. I fed decapsulated BBS that I bought off Ebay. They're a little more expensive than regular bbs, but much much easier to use. They hatch way faster, have more nutrition, and you don't have to worry about the eggshells. I fed them the bbs 2 times per day everyday. They grow incredibly fast, I only fed them the bbs until they could tackle chopped blackworm (because all the work with bbs sucks) which probably took 3 weeks? Blackworms are cheap and readily available in your area. They grow SUPER fast on the blackworms and will soon be able to take cut up earthworms....which are free outside. Can't beat that. Basically just keep their water clean and feed them till they're stuffed and you'll have juveniles in no time.

Click to expand...

I'm thinking about getting this:
4oz EZ Hatch Shell Less Hatching Decap'd Brine Shrimp Eggs 95% Live zooplankton | eBay

Do you think that will be enough for this bunch?

I also sent you a PM back. With 100 larvae I would opt for the larger 8 oz of decap bbs. Or buy the cheaper dried ones and take a shot at the decap method I used. But like I found and Jess said the decap bbs eggs are way easier and hatch way faster.

Good Luck

I used the same seller, but I got the 8 oz size. I went through one and a half of them for about 300? ish larvae. If you don't over-feed them, and you switch them over from BBS as soon as they can take chopped blackworms, you could probably do it with one.