Why do my larvae die?

Hello,
5 days ago I got axolotl eggs from someone, the first day one hatched and the second day two more hatched. But my problem is that since yesterday 4 larvae have died.
I put some daphnia with them so they have enough food and i clean the water every day..
What could be the cause of their death, should I give them different food?
It almost seems like they do not want to eat :/

First things first
Water parameters? Have you tested the waters?
Are you feeding them more then daphnia? Bbs is more heartyful daphnia is just to give them food 24/7 if they want more then you feed them
Water changes, how often and how much?
Do they have aeration in their water(airstone?)

It couldbe just them dying do to genetic problems, but we need to first make sure itisnt the water and such

I refresh the water completely everyday, and if I see dead daphina on the bottom then I use a syringe to remove them.
Water parameters? First days I used tap water, since yesterday I'm using tap water which I left one day in a bowl(I read somewhere that would be better).
What do you exaclty mean with parameters? I know the Ph is neutral(if else i couldn't drink it).
And I only have daphnia, so thats what I feed hem, tomorrow I'll start with bbs, I hope that will save them, but that doesnt explain why they dont eat the daphia

and no, they do not have an airstone, but I read that isnt requiered :/ or is it better to have one?

elfae said:

I refresh the water completely everyday, and if I see dead daphina on the bottom then I use a syringe to remove them.
Water parameters? First days I used tap water, since yesterday I'm using tap water which I left one day in a bowl(I read somewhere that would be better).
What do you exaclty mean with parameters? I know the Ph is neutral(if else i couldn't drink it).
And I only have daphnia, so thats what I feed hem, tomorrow I'll start with bbs, I hope that will save them, but that doesnt explain why they dont eat the daphia

and no, they do not have an airstone, but I read that isnt requiered :/ or is it better to have one?

Click to expand...

I would be using a dechlorinator on the water, chlorine is easily evaporated but chloramine can take way to long to evaporate naturally. Using the dechlorinator ensures the water is always filly dechlorinated.
Water parameters are the ph, nitrite nitrate and ammonia. You should be testing the water periodically. I got thefreshwater master test kit, its beautiful! Haha

I wouldnt just assume your water ph is neutral, id test it anyways.
I guess it isnt necessary to have an airstone but if you can have one it would be beneficial because they need that circulating oxygen, unless you have very religious on the 100%water changes daily.

Alkylhalide said:

Bbs is more heartyful daphnia is just to give them food 24/7

Click to expand...

Where did you find this information?
If you are giving them daphnia to eat is it small enough ? Adults may be to big for them.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I've added an airstone and it has became a very popular spot xD

This morning I also began breeding bbs so tomorrow I can finally fed them something different and smaller than daphnia
In the meantime I also put brine shrimp eggs with them, I hope they try it even though it doesn't live..
And other good news is that part 2 days no larvae have died(I still have no idea why they died)

Almost all the water in The Netherlands is suitable for instant use. Even the areas (I believe Amsterdam) with chlorides in the water have less chlorides in their tap water than most other countries have.

Daphnia isn't a poor food source. They consist for 50% out of proteins. Check the picture at the bottom of this site (as you're Dutch you can read the rest as well ): watervlooien of daphnia kweken I've raised large amounts of larvae of different species feeding them daphnia from the start. Of course you need the small ones.

If you've got a lot of dapnia swimming with your larvae it's possible that they perish because of the lack of oxygen. Daphnia use a lot of it if they're present in large numbers. An air stone can do the trick. You can also add some Eleodea (Ducht: waterpest) and even some cold water snails like Lymnaea stagnalis (poelslak) and Planorbis sp (posthoornslak) to create a better balance. The water plants filter some nitrates and give oxygen, the snails feed on the dead material.

Be sure to check Salamanders - De Nederlandse Salamander Site (Dutch Newt and Salamander association) and Axolotlgroepnederland - De website voor de nederlandse axolotl houder for fellow keepers in your neighbourhood.

As I said yesterday there haven't ben any deaths the past days but because of the airstone I did get another problem. In the tank with the airstone some larvae began floating. After stone research the cause seemed to be to much oxygen in the water so I removed the airstone..
I hope everything will go a bit better after all these problems

Floating is almost always due to not enough food.