Ready to eat?

[sully]

I had 9 babies hatch about 24 hours ago and have had about 20 more hatch since. Anyways I'm crazy nervous and I was wondering how can you tell when the babies are ready to eat and are done absorbing the yolk. Will they start swimming around and be more active or...

 

[AxolotlChris]

They can absorb the yolk for the first day or two, you will want BBS or baby daphnia ready for feeding in advance of hatching. Daphnia does not foul the water and will survive until eaten where as BBS will require changing the water every time after feeding.

Your going to need to feed daily at least once, preferably twice to promote faster growth. If this is your first time hatching you have cut your self out for a lot of work.

You can keep them in groups of 10 in large containers, I use quality food tubs:
http://www.gelinplastic.com/Products_Images/B_2011_4_29_16_34_30.jpg

I use a plastic syringe to suck out and waste as many times a day as possible to keep the water quality up:
http://ep.yimg.com/ay/yhst-134059276344646/physics-liquids-and-air-pressure-322-25-gas-plastic-syringe-20ml-14.gif

Make sure to change the water every other day, depending on what your feeding. Always use dechlorinator.

Eventually when they get bigger you might find some are bigger than others, you will want to separate the biggest from the smallest in different containers so they all have an even chance of feeding plus it stops any larger ones eating the smaller ones.

Here's my larvae feeding on daphnia: http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/axolotlchris/albums/axolotl/37844-larvae-feeding/

One of my basic setups: http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/axolotlchris/albums/axolotl/38275-basic-setup/

 

[LSuzuki]

If you have a daphnia culture going, that is the way to go. As Chris said, they don't foul the water the way bbs do. I recommend having brine shrimp eggs on hand anyhow (keep in freezer for long-term storage), since daphnia cultures have been known to crash.