Marbleds -- larvae

[TJ]

This thread is a continuation of the thread Marbles -- laying eggs located at:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/13/34333.html?1116044324

So tiny compared with Cynops or Hynobiid larvae!

Any suggestions/advice for caring for them would be appreciated.
For example, about how long after hatching do they stop relying on their yolk and begin to eat?

I've moved most of the larvae from a 5-gallon tank to small plastic tubs to make it easier for them to catch live brine shrimp hatchlings.

In the meantime, I've noticed that the newts have laid another batch of eggs on fresh Egeria densa that I put in there after having removed egg-laden Egeria densa a week or so ago

(Message edited by TJ on May 14, 2005)

 

[TJ]

 

[william]

great! i hope to breed mine next year, it looks like it will be so much fun.

 

[ester]

After 3 - 5 days try small water fleas. They're quite ferocious mid-water predators. They kinda float halfway between surface and bottom once they start swimming. They will eat each other during that stage if they feel peckish (I had 10 larvae at the start, and one really fat juvenile after metamorphosis)!
As soon as they can handle them, red mosquito larvae worked quite well for me.

Good luck!

 

[jennifer]

My rule of thumb when dealing with Triturus: when they lose the distinct black stripes down their backs, they are ready to begin feeding. It's a lot easier than trying to roll them over and inspect the yolk sac

 

[sharon]

I like the berber background!!

Those are amazing pictures!! Thanks for sharing.

 

[TJ]

Thanks

Yes, I see now that the ones that have lost their stripes are eating, and eating well.
Here is one with a stripe and one without, in a sea of brine shrimp:

I've also noticed that the ones without a stripe have an area of fluorescent orange coloration on their underside.
Might this be from freshly eaten brine?

 

[david]

Yes it is the bbs that cause the orange color. Wait until you get them on bloodworms or blackworms

. Congrats on the new brood Tim. I've got 15 or so that are coming out of the water now.

(Message edited by dln on May 16, 2005)

 

[hayden]

You always have such great pics, Tim. Good Luck with them.

 

[TJ]

Congrats on the morphs, David! How do you keep your larvae? Do you use filtration with them? I'm using small plastic tubs and doing daily water changes, no filtration -- until I learn better. Last year, I had a bitter experience with crested newt larvae, which I suppose are very similar to marbled larvae, so I'm very open to advice on raising these larvae.

Hayden, thanks! It's difficult to get pics of larvae this small -- in focus -- without use of a tripod, and even then! One of these days I'll have a better macro lens to work with...

 

[david]

I use water from their parent's tank. I keep them in plastic trays too for about a week, then I move them into a 10 gallon tank loaded with plants and daphnia. I also put in live black worms. About once a week I start a new tank for the next batch of larvae so there's less cannabalism due to size. No filtration, you'ld lose all of your daphnia baby food.

 

[TJ]

Makes sense

Thanks Dave. I've so far separated the larvae into 2 batches because there are so many now (and many more on the way too).

Well, actually there are 3 batches now because just the other day, I was amazed to find, swimming in middle of the adults' tank, around 5 larvae that are all considerably more developed than any of the other larvae being raised separately (I had moved the eggs from the adults' tank to a separate tank before they hatched, but apparantly I didn't find all the eggs!).

I wonder when they hatched and what they've been eating. The tank is not a long-established tank so I wouldn't expect there to be so many micro-organisms, and I haven't been feeding the adults anything but frozen bloodworm recently.

At one point do the larvae begin to cannibalize each other?


(Message edited by TJ on May 22, 2005)

 

[ester]

In my experience T. marmoratus larvae do cannibalize each other, so yes. They're hungry little critters and easily consider their slightly smaller tank mate a healthy snack.

 

[TJ]

Thanks, Ester

 

[pamela]

Very nice Tim! Thank you!

 

[TJ]

Wonderful, aren't they!?

It's a real shame though that I didn't raise them correctly. I changed their water too frequently, resulting in the deaths of over half of my larvae before I was informed of the cause by an experienced Japanese keeper. Since I halted the water changes, I've hardly had any deaths.

 

[joseph]

Tim: Beautiful shots and congrats on the marmoratus breeding! I'm raising some karelinii in which the largest are a little bit ahead of the marmoratus in that photo. I agree that they don't seem to appreciate water changes...seems to stress them out. Also, maybe its just the color-but karelinii seem to hatch out much larger than C. o

(Message edited by fishkeeper on June 14, 2005)

 

[sergé]

Just one tip: try to keep them together in groups of the same size. Small ones will get eaten or loose tail tips or feet. I used to raise a maximum of 15 larvae in 10 liters. Make sure near metamorphosis they can get out of the water easily, they can drown easily (in contrary to crested newts is my experience with Triturus marmoratus and Triturus pygmaeus).
good luck,

 

[jim]

Hi Tim, I've had a lot of deaths with my Italian crested newt larva recently I can only think that it’s got something to do with me changing the water to much. How often did you change the water for yours? Do you think I should put them in a bigger tank yet?. Theres 15 (left - boohoo) in this setup and they are about 1 month old.

 

[jennifer]

Jim - it would be better to post a link to your other thread, rather than to post the same photo again (and again). I think the tub you have should be large enough for 15 of them through metamorphosis.