How to feed larvae

evut · Jul 19, 2010

One of my Cynops pyrrhogaster eggs hatched yesterday and more are developing.
I managed to produce baby brine shrimp without problems. I might also get some other food items if all goes well (tubifex and microworms).

I am wondering about the best way to feed the larva. He is in a small tupperware container. After I harvest and rinse some BBS and put them in...what then? Would the uneaten and dead BBS foul the water quickly? Is a clean-up required? (other than the daily water change)?

I would really appreciate some advice, also if anyone can tell me how to feed other microfoods.

I also found an interesting website : Wayne Schmidt's Brine Shrimp Hatching Page
This person mentions raising BBS with bicarbonate of soda instead of salt. These are supposed to live longer in freshwater. Has anyone tried this?

Thanks!

Greatwtehunter · Jul 19, 2010

I feed BBS in the same tank the larvae are housed in. My larvae get daily water changes anyways so I just feed them a few hours before I do the water change. Kill two birds with one stone.

Bellabelloo · Jul 19, 2010

Congratulations..what fantastic news!
When I fed my axolotl brine shrimp, I would feed them twice a day, before their water changes.
Micro worm I would put direct into the water and as these stayed alive longer I would just then do a water change once a day.

evut · Jul 19, 2010

Thank you, that makes sense.
Another question...does the food need to be present in a very high concentration or do the larvae actively find it?

Azhael · Jul 19, 2010

The larvae will hunt, but are not the mightiest of hunters xD
You don´t need to flood them with food, but make sure it´s abundant enough so that they can just run into it.

evut · Jul 19, 2010

Thanks. I hope he'll eat tonight.

Regarding microworms, do you just pick them up and throw into the water or do they need rinsing, too?

Bellabelloo · Jul 19, 2010

I found the micro worm would move up the side of the container. You could use a cotton bud ( or a clean finger) to collect them and just dip into the water.

evut · Jul 19, 2010

Thank you for your help. I hope the little guy will eat tomorrow.

Azhael · Jul 19, 2010

Don´t worry if it doesn´t. It´s very normal for a newly hatched larva not to eat for the first 2-7 days.
We expect pictures as they grow

evut · Jul 21, 2010

I'm glad you mentioned it can be up to 7 days before he feeds - he still hasn't. I'll keep trying and hopefully he'll start soon. Other eggs seem to be developing well :happy:

eljorgo · Jul 21, 2010

Hey Eva. Congrats on your larvae

Sadly and i don´t know why mine don´t grow almost nothing... They are fat fat fat, abundantly feed and still so but so small... From all species i breed (6) this is the one without any morph and with the smaller larvae :/ I don't want to high-jack your topic but does anybody knows if phyrrogaster are really super slow growers?

Azhael · Jul 21, 2010

Mine grow normal. The ones i raised separately grew well and didn´t take longer than any other species i bred.
Are you providing a good diet? I would suspect diet to be the cause of growth problems. It could also be a genetic condition, although it´s much less likely.

eljorgo · Jul 21, 2010

Azhael, like I said they are taking one of the best caudate larvae diets available. They are in same conditions with C.orientalis and T.marmoratus. And these last, well these last have 2 or 3 times the size of phyrrogaster larvae. Diet is:
Live Bloodworms
Live Black mosquito larvae
Live Tubifex
Live Daphnia magna

cheers,

evut · Jul 24, 2010

Hi Jorge,
sorry to hear your larvae are staying so small. Makes me a bit worried about my own lack of experience and how raising the larvae will go.

The first larva only started feeding today after 5 days. What a relief. Another one hatched yesterday and compared to the first one looks really premature - the first one had huge gills and eyes and this one has tiny gills no visible eyes. I thought it would stay in the egg for a few more days but it's alive so we'll see. Plenty more developing and the females are still laying, for the first time they also used the plastic strip. I wish they would use it more for the sake of the plants :happy:

eljorgo · Jul 24, 2010

No worries in here Eva. They are easy to care. Small larvae will eat BBS with no problem. Then you start with some daphnids, cyclops and cocepods all avaliable in pond waters. But be careful with large concentrations of cyclops. I don't know if you remember what i told you about them before, but they can give some serious headaches... So you need some moderation in what you feed. They will eventually grow and get bigger prays but mine grow astonishingly slow... In another side Rodrigo had his morphs a lot time ago so my example is not the truth. There are cases and cases... Lets hope yours get outta water fast!:happy:
Cheers,

Jorge

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