Question: Advice on feeding babies en masse please

Hello everyone,

About 6 weeks ago I noticed the 2 males (svarfnir and moin) in my large tank were very randy - depositing sperm packets everywhere and behaving in a very amorous way toward the female (nidhug), jumping on her, buffeting her around with their heads and generally behaving like drunk footballers.

I didn't think much of it at the time as she didn't seem too interested, and they are all quite young (around 1 year) - I just figured it was a case of adolescent boys in high jinks, but I put some elodea (a feathery kind of moss-like plant) in the tank just in case.

Upon returning from holiday two weeks later, I found the tank full of eggs!

Unfortunately nidhug had decided not to use the plants much, but had opted instead for the pump filters, pumps and walls nearby - so instead of trying to move the eggs I moved the parents instead.

To cut a long story story, I now have a 500L (132gal) tank with 300+ baby axies in it. Their average age is about one week now, and so far they have been dining on brine shrimp. I will soon have to move them on to white and/or tubifex worms or something similar...

Also, does anyone know how long can I continue to feed them brine shrimp, and are there any health concerns that might arise from doing so?

Any advice on feeding babies en masse like this would be greatly appeciated...

Thanks

Hi,

I have no experience in raising mass of larvae, but i´m raising constantly some (5-10) larvae. So I think, it´s very difficult to clean the tank, put out the waste and dead (uneaten) BBS ande do water changes to keep the larvae healthy in good conditions. Those tiny, little larvae are very sensitive.

You may feed them BBS until they become their front legs (when they are 3 cm in lenght), but you can try also to feed them daphnia and above 3 cm they will eat white worms, tubifex and bloodworms.

But the main issue is to keep the water and tank clean.

It will be much work to raise 300 larvae and they´ll grow very fast, so you will need much space for them.
Otherwise you should take some (a handful) larvae for raising in a separate box and put the parents back into the tank to have a "snack".

Tina

I agree with callina 300 is far too many to raise.
You would be needing to seperate tham out at some point because they will need A LOT of space.
I would say a max of 30 can be raised easily.
You will also struggle to find homes for all 300 and would end up having to keep them!!
Good Luck
Mel

I agree that 300 is an insane number, unless you have a high-capacity system for raising them. Even if you decide to keep them all (not recommended), I would suggest moving some of them into smaller containers rather than "putting all your eggs in one basket".

They can eat baby brine shrimp for several weeks, but they will need to move up to larger food at some point.

What is your procedure for water changes and cleaning out the bottom of the tank? Water quality is critical, and dead brine shrimp can foul things quickly. Dead BBS = bad bacteria overgrowth = dead axolotls.

Can you get some kind of live tubifex or blackworms?

Thank you all for your comments/advice,

I know 300 is quite a handful, but the idea of feeding them back to M & D & D, while a natural process, is very morbid - as is any other form of euthanasia. At the moment i have the tank space, and as they grow I may have to dust off some spare tanks (much to the vexation of my GF).

Concerning brine shrimp, I've been trying to feed them only as much as they will eat, so the number of dead BS (that are not inside axolotls) tends to be quite minimal. I use a tank vacuum and/or stir up the water with the filters on for the others and feces. I do quarter tank water changes once a week.

It's good to know I can continue to feed them brine shrimp for another couple of weeks - in the meantime I'll try to find some live worms (living in Japan makes this kind of thing difficult - the main hobby here is golf).

If it's not possible to find live worms, will they eat dead guys off the floor?

Cheers again for your answers...:happy:

homermandrill said:

If it's not possible to find live worms, will they eat dead guys off the floor?

Click to expand...

That is morbid................but yes, if there isn´t enough food for all, the strong larvae will eat the dead and the weak ones. But that´s horrible!
It will be more humane to let the parents do that.
You should really consider how many larvae you are able to raise.
It´s better to raise only a few larvae and care for them and spend them a good life, than raising many larvae in bad conditions and fighting for living.

I hope, I misunderstood your question!

Tina

Me too Callina...I was hoping homermandrill means dead bloodworm....

Frozen bloodworm will probably be taken once they have their front legs.
3-5 weeks i'd say

Also i could probably bet you dont have enough tanks for 300 juvenile axolotls. Thay grow pretty quick and ned to be seperated to avoid cannibalism. Or your gonna end up with 200 legless, ragged gill unhappy axolotls!

Mel

That is morbid................but yes, if there isn´t enough food for all, the strong larvae will eat the dead and the weak ones. But that´s horrible!

Click to expand...

Hi,

No - I meant dead worms, not axies...though I guess it is quite morbid if you are a worm.

I'm going to try to raise as many as possible, and will partition the tank/set up spare tanks so I can segregate them according to size, keep the lights low and feed them well. I don't see any other options at this point - like I said, euthanasia is out of the question for me. I try to draw on my own personal philosphy while playing god with these guys - that is, I'd rather be alive and ragged than dead.

I have talked to a pet supplier (where I got the parents from) who said they'd like 100 once they've grown legs. I'll have to see how things go with the rest.

Thanks Melfey and Callina for the advice and comments - I'll post later regarding what happens.

Good luck.
Any problems or you need advice let us know

Mel