These little guys are baffling me

So I have a few years of axolotl care under my belt so I feel pretty confident in my knowledge. This is my first time breeding though. I've notice a lot of die off. I know that some just die and its just a part of how it is, but I'm down to about <50% of what I started with. They are kept in plastic tubs with an air stone and I recently added some java moss to maybe help in anyway it can. They have plenty of daphnia to munch on and they get daily water changes and sometimes two water changes if I notice an abundantly high die off. Their water is changed with tank water that my adult axolotls are housed in. I have liquid test strips and have tested the water which came out completely satisfactory. So why are these guys dying off? Also here's a vid of my set up to show you what they're housed in. Vlog/Update 5 - YouTube

I'm having the same problem. No matter how much I change the water I'm losing quite a few every day. Temperature is fine and they always have food. They're about 3 weeks old now but about a third have died and more keep dying every day... Should they have a hiding place already? More light? Less light?

I'm thinking of spray painting the tubs black to see if that lowers their stress. Plus clear container and clear axolotl makes it hard to see them.

Have you tried changing their water with declorinated tap water? And are you scrubbing the containers to make sure they are clean? This is what I did and didn't have any deaths. I used a salt and bicarbonate mix to scrub and rinsed well. I used an air stone set really low and fed them live baby brine shrimp as I had no access to daphnia. I'm not sure what else to suggest as I've only bred axies once so have limited experience. Good luck.

I would also recommend just using treated tap water. I have no idea why but for some odd reason I also had a lot of deaths from using aquarium water. I switched to treated tap water and was much more successful.

Also I agree with the above comment (sorry I can't see your name, I'm on my phone) about cleaning the containers. Plastic allows for more bacterial growth, thus needing to be cleaned periodically. If your a little more lazy like I am I rinse the plastic every water change (daily) and clean/scrub weekly. I use 2 to 1 baking soda salt which also seems to work pretty well.

The best of luck to you!!! I'm a little jealous of all your java fern. I can grow plenty of other plants but java fern seems to hate me...


Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2

Ill try the dechlorinated water. Also to mention I have newly hatched axolotls in a 40 gallon tank. They're doing great with no deaths and seem to find the daphnia fine.

I agree dechlorinated tap water is far more reliable than aquarium water that could be questionable given the notorious inaccuracy of test strips. Testing using a liquid kit is by far the best way to ensure the water is safe.

I hope with the new water & strict cleaning regime the odds improve for your little ones



<3 >o_o< <3

I didn't mean strips I meant I have actual liquid tests. I accidentally added strips at the end.

Are you sure they're eating? Providing java moss gives your food source a chance to avoid your larvae.

If the daphnia are remaining alive, your water is fine. Daphnia will almost always die before larvae do in poor water.

I just added the java moss when I posted this. The daphnia are still alive and with the ones that are still alive I can see daphnia in their bellies. Also with the java moss the daphnia still sit in the same corner or at least most of them do.