Unexplainable deaths?

[dryopteris]

Hello,

I am raising my first batch of 25 larvae and things were going pretty well. The only thing I noticed was that they were not growing very fast. The last 2 days I lost 6 of them and half of the ones that areleft are barly moving and floating on their side and upside down.
I feed them water fleas (daphnia-like ceartures) once a day, change the water every day. I have a piece of elodea (plant) in each of the containers.
I really hope someone could help me figure out what I am doing wrong, just let me know if you need more information

 

[charleybambino]

How big are the daphnia.....unless they are tiny the babies may be starving.....or perhaps if you haven't raised the daphnia it may be diseased

 

[ChristineB]

Here's a good place to start looking for answers: Caudata Culture Articles - Why Larvae Die

 

[dryopteris]

thanks for the replies
I get the daphnia at a local aquarium store where they breed them themselves. They always have a constant supply so I didn't think breeding them myself would be necessary
I don't really filter the daphnia, so there are babies as well as adults in the tank, but enough babies for them to be able to eat.
I tried hatching BBS but it didn't really work out. Maybe I should try breeding my own food again? could anyone maybe recommend a good article about how to get a good culture started?

 

[kaitlyn19]

Floating is a sign of starvation. Baby axolotls float when they get air in their stomach and they can only get air in there if their stomach is empty. They NEED to eat baby brine shrimp for the first 5 weeks of life. After that we slowly introduce bloodworms until they are fully feeding on frozen food, which is around 6-7 weeks. Providing they are all growing at a normal rate. Axolotls can die off very quickly. I would also suggest 100% water changes daily, if your not already doing that. It helps with stress

 

[kaitlyn19]

Hatching brine shrimp is SO easy. Get a 2l pop bottle, cut the top off so u have most of the container left. Fill with water, put in aquarium salt and test the salt level (should be in between 1.008-1.015). Pour some eggs in, mix and put it on a counter beside a window. Add your air stone. The key is to make sure the airstone is at the bottom if the pop bottle. The eggs need constant movement to hatch. They will start hatching at the 24h mark. I make one of these every week, so simple