Feeding Babies - Pond Water?

[Snailbait]

Okay... I have a bucket full of newly hatched baby 'lotls. Assuming my attempts to hatch BBS fail, how does one go about using pond water to feed the babies?

Thanks!!

 

[PennyJoy]

I'd like to know the answer to this too.

My baby axolotls are almost two weeks old and I have been unable to hatch any brine shrimp for them yet. (I have tried a hatchery like described in other posts to no success)
At the moment some of the babies are lying on the floor of the tank but swim if disturbed (the tank has gravel on the base of it) and some are swimming around the tank in a swim swim rest rest manner. I have been giving them a cup of homemade infusion (a lettuce soup sort of thing that is getting cloudier each day) as a last resort as I cannot buy any live food, and cannot hatch any either.

Any advice or suggestions would really be appreciated.

 

[Mark]

If you have access to a healthy pond the best method I find is to use a sieve and fine mesh net. Place the net under the sieve and using a large jug pour pond water through both (you can hold the sieve/net combo with one hand). Large bugs and debris will be caught in the sieve and tiny invertebrates will be collected in the net. Empty the net contents into some clean water and feed to your larvae. As they get larger you can do away with the sieve but take care not to introduce predatory invertebrates.

 

[floosy]

I had to try three lots of bbs eggs to successfully hatch them. try getting them from different sources. Meanwhile good luck with the pond water.

 

[axolotl nerd]

i hate to do this (again) and revive an old thread, but i’m very interested in wether or not this would work//be safe. anyone have any opinions//ideas?

 

[JM29]

Hi,
I live in an area where there are few pet shops and they have all stopped selling bbs eggs.
When I finished my bbs eggs stock (10 years in the fridge), I decided to do like many of my friends : feeding my hatchlings (axolotls and other caudates) with plancton (cylops, daphnias) from a healthy pond.
I turn between 3 ponds 2 miles away from my home.
Direct use of pond water would be possible if it was plancton rich enough. Most of the time, a fine net is necessary.
I've been doing like this for about 15 years. Everything is fine for me

 

[axolotl nerd]

Hi,
I live in an area where there are few pet shops and they have all stopped selling bbs eggs.
When I finished my bbs eggs stock (10 years in the fridge), I decided to do like many of my friends : feeding my hatchlings (axolotls and other caudates) with plancton (cylops, daphnias) from a healthy pond.
I turn between 3 ponds 2 miles away from my home.
Direct use of pond water would be possible if it was plancton rich enough. Most of the time, a fine net is necessary.
I've been doing like this for about 15 years. Everything is fine for me

so the procedure would be to collect water, take a fine net through it, isolate the micro-organisms (idk what they’re called i’m only 17) in clean, dechlorinated water, then introduce them to the axolotl larve?

 

[JM29]

Well, I follow this procedure :
- I go to the pond with a container (a cleaned marmelade pot) and a small landing net.
- I fill the container with water from the pond.
- I immerse the net in the pond and move it below the surface.
- I put the harvested animals in my container.
- Back home, I pour the pond water containing the plankton into a dish to observe what I have caught.
- I search for dragonfly larvae, beetle larvae and water bugs. They must be removed since they are dangerous for baby axolotls.
- Then I can pour the water and the plankton into the aquarium of the young axolotls.

Hatchlings aged of 2-3 days can swallow cyclops or newborn daphnias. Bigger daphnias cannot be eaten but they will survive several days, filtering the water and producing baby daphnias.
It's important not to give to much at the beginning because the hatchling is not yet formed when they begin to eat. Moreover, zooplankton consume oxygen.

(excuse me for this bad english...)

 

[axolotl nerd]

Well, I follow this procedure :
- I go to the pond with a container (a cleaned marmelade pot) and a small landing net.
- I fill the container with water from the pond.
- I immerse the net in the pond and move it below the surface.
- I put the harvested animals in my container.
- Back home, I pour the pond water containing the plankton into a dish to observe what I have caught.
- I search for dragonfly larvae, beetle larvae and water bugs. They must be removed since they are dangerous for baby axolotls.
- Then I can pour the water and the plankton into the aquarium of the young axolotls.

Hatchlings aged of 2-3 days can swallow cyclops or newborn daphnias. Bigger daphnias cannot be eaten but they will survive several days, filtering the water and producing baby daphnias.
It's important not to give to much at the beginning because the hatchling is not yet formed when they begin to eat. Moreover, zooplankton consume oxygen.

(excuse me for this bad english...)

your english is fantastic, for the record, and until now i thought it was your first language

so;
a mason jar,
add water,
scoop up micro-organisms and place them in the jar,
go home,
pour water into dish,
observe,
separate harmful organisms,
pour water* into the hatchlings enclosure
* would i add prime to the water with the micro-organisms in it? i’m assuming yes

 

[JM29]

your english is fantastic, for the record, and until now i thought it was your first language

Thanks very much

so;
a mason jar,
add water,
scoop up micro-organisms and place them in the jar,
go home,
pour water into dish,
observe,
separate harmful organisms,
pour water* into the hatchlings enclosure

Yes, that's what I do

* would i add prime to the water with the micro-organisms in it? i’m assuming yes

That's the delicate point.

If you pour directly the pond water (with good plankton but without harmful organisms) in the hatching enclosure, then you don't need a water conditioner since this water is not chlorinated.
I know some people will be reluctant to directly use pond water.

If you prefer not to use this pond water, you can use the net, at home, to get rid of this water, scoop up the plankton and put it in dechlorinated water (tap water with conditioner) but I sincerely don't know how these little animals will react to that. Make a test first.

 

[axolotl nerd]

Thanks very much

Yes, that's what I do

That's the delicate point.

If you pour directly the pond water (with good plankton but without harmful organisms) in the hatching enclosure, then you don't need a water conditioner since this water is not chlorinated.
I know some people will be reluctant to directly use pond water.

If you prefer not to use this pond water, you can use the net, at home, to get rid of this water, scoop up the plankton and put it in dechlorinated water (tap water with conditioner) but I sincerely don't know how these little animals will react to that. Make a test first.

thank you! you’ve been wonderfully informative and i appreciate it a great deal

 

[JM29]

You welcome !