Spanish Ribbed laid some eggs (yeah!)....now what?

[steve]

One of my p. waltyl laid about a dozen eggs a few days ago. Four of them have survived consumption and have hatched into little fish-like larvae which I have in a small cup. No problems! Well, yesterday she laid several dozen eggs throughout her aquarium. I decided to move her and her compadres to another tank in hopes that these eggs will hatch. Does anyone have any experience with newt eggs or larva or any suggestions on which way to proceed with this situation?
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[john]

Congratulations. Please look at Caudata Culture - that's why it's there. There's an info sheet for Pleurodeles and an article on raising newt larvae.

 

[joeri]

Steve,
let's exchange info and help here.
I'm also new to breeding eggs. I have 101 eggs in 7 small plastic boxes. They were laid during New Year's Eve.

I have no idea yet if they will hatch or even how you see if they will hatch. I only know that I have to remove "bad" eggs. The ones that grow fungus.

Fingers crossed and good luck allready with those 4 cuties!

(gonna read that link now)

 

[steve]

Thanks John, but I've already read Jennifer's article and though I found it helpful, I was hoping to get more recommendations on maintaining a pro-active environment including additional food sources.

As it stands, I have:

1)Dedicated the p. waltyl tank entirely to egg hatching.
2)Purchased a bag of "First Bites" small fry food in hopes of feeding the larvae.
3)Read everything I could find (so far) regarding raising newt eggs.

My basic questions:

1)Is it OK to leave the eggs in the aquarium or would it be better to remove them?
2)If so, how do I remove them safely?
3)If the larvae hatch, will they be able to sustain themselves on the bottom of the aquarium? (The rocks are an average of 1cm in size)

 

[john]

(It's Pleurodeles waltl - no "y")

Answers:

1) In my opinion it doesn't matter as long as they're away from the adults. If you're not experienced with handling eggs it may be best to leave them in the aquarium but bear in mind that a strong filter may suck up larvae and even a weak one may suck up live food. I always remove eggs to a separate tank.

2) They're tougher than they look. If they're attached to plants you can just take the plants out (break the stems if necessary and you're ok with doing that). If they're scattered around the tank in the water it's usually possible to remove them from objects if you use your fingers to gently push them loose. Then you can scoop them up in your hand if you're gentle or use a turkey baster.

3) What do you mean by "sustain themselves"? I don't see a problem.

 

[jennifer]

Steve, you will not have much luck with the "First Bites" food. Did you also read my second article specifically on micro-foods? They really need something that MOVES. The easiest option would be live blackworms chopped into tiny pieces (they continue to live and wiggle, even chopped). OR newly-hatched brine shrimp (see Micro-foods article). I can help you find sources for either of these, if you need help.

Leaving them in the tank is fine, well, sort-of. The advantage of leaving them there is that there are probably a lot of micro-organisms already growing in the gravel, and they will eat these. And you can start adding live blackworms, which stay in the gravel, and the larvae will eat these as they grow bigger.

However, you may be frustrated by not seeing the larvae very well (they will be down in the gravel). The other problem is that if you are putting a lot of food in there (such as brine shrimp), it will get in the gravel and rot. And you can't clean it out without sucking out the larvae too. Is there any way you could remove most of the gravel before they hatch? Is your filter intake small enough that it won't suck them up?

If you want to remove the eggs, just remove the whole plant(s) that they are attached to. Or do it as John suggests.

 

[joeri]

I have removed my eggs using a straw and fysics. Keep your thump on top og the straw / aim straw next to eggs / remove thump, eggs go in straw / replace thump You may have to try again and again sometimes.
Only had to remove one plant.

Question: I have live cynops in stock in case my eggs hatch (no not the newts; in Dutch they are called one-eyed-shrimps; +/- 1mm). Would they eat that? It's not one the caresheet I found, but who knows?
(btw: I also have about 4 liter of fresh water from a clean lake - micro food should be in it)

 

[coen]

Hey Joeri, the cynops need to me small, bigger forms of cynops have been reported to attack the small larvaes.

BTW do you have MSN? Since your dutch it would be nice to chat with each other

 

[jennifer]

Joeri and Coen, do you mean "cyclops", rather than "cynops"? Cynops are newts.

 

[joeri]

cyclops indeed
was a bit tired last night

I will restrain from bigger cyclops till the newts are bigger (IF I get some - no eggs hatched yet - but only 3 days old)

 

[steve]

Ok. I have returned the 4 larvae to the tank. They appear to be eating from an algae field as well as around the plants. They no longer lay on their sides and appear to be growing.

 

[john]

They don't eat algae, they eat live animals. Anyway, the larva in the photo still has yolk in its belly (the white stuff) so it won't be eating anything for a few days. Good luck with them.

 

[coen]

Cyclops indeed, I guess I was tired too

 

[jennifer]

Steve, I agree with John, the one in the picture still has yolk and will not begin to eat for a couple of days. However, they probably will be able to find tiny micro-organisms living WITHIN that nice algae. If you have access to a microscope, take a look at a bit of the algae - it is undoubtedly crawling with tiny mites, worms, etc. that are too small to see with the naked eye. Newt larvae can often live on these critters, at least for the first couple of weeks.

 

[steve]

Thanks for the information John & Jen. I believe that this particular tank is pretty healthy and should be cultured enough to feed the little guys until I can get some decent micros added per Jennifer's recommendations. Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that the larvae were eating the algae itself.

I will gladly take you up on any recommendations for micro-food sources that you could offer. I have only been able to find the little brine hatchery kits that they sell at Petsmart. From what I read of the instructions, it doesn't appear too encouraging. I could probably gather a good water culture from the local retainer ditch where I catch cricket frogs but I am a bit cautious of potentially non-compatable organisms.

Oh yeah...congratulations Joeri!

(Message edited by caffeinekid on January 03, 2004)