Quetzalotl
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- Sep 29, 2021
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I was hoping to start a thread focused on baby brine shrimp. I hatched an axolotl tadpole several weeks ago and am only able to feed him live BBS which I have been tediously hatching several times a week, issues that don't have google-able solutions so I have a lot of questions that I hope we can address here.
I have a standard hatchery setup, simply putting some eggs, and eyeing the amount of salt added (sometimes it varies), into an air connected upside down large soda bottle next to a lamp. They hatch in a day or two and then after turkey baste-ing the crowd of them that forms I spend an hour or more Pipette-ing out all the shells from them—my first dilemma, or rather an efficiency problem.
What is a good apparatus you may have come across or constructed to separate the Bbs from their shells?
After I feed the axolotl (amount also varies greatly, is he growing too slowly? When I hatch too many I don't want to waste them, and he doesn't even bother with them when they're more than a day old so I might have over fed and then have to wait days for the next hatch) so sometimes it really bulges his stomach, then days later I see a HUGE turd. Other times I can see them swimming around in his stomach days later so.
I'm not sure how much BBS they need to eat at which stages of growth, and I couldn't find a metric or description of anything like that online. I have just been winging it but don't want to.
also, the BBS have been clumping together in little groups recently. When I put them in the fridge for later, I take them out and they're all in clumps around salt or other particles, although mostly lifeless. But I just fed him washed BBS and they clumped up immediately! What's going on? Again I can't find any trove of information on this from Google (caudata.org doesn't even show up on the first page when I type in axolotl!).
Does anyone have any resources or experience?
It's hard to keep hatching such small amounts of BBS for 1 axolotl too, especially with no idea how much he needs to eat either..Also on a side note I'm a bit worried–is my axolotl bored? he's all alone, just in a bowl with clear water. I have read that they're not too smart and not social, and he also tried to eat that big turd from earlier, but still?
Later on I would like to put live plants in his tank though, i will also start a thread then about axolotl friendly aquarium organisms if anyone can share their experience. I'm sure most animals are out of the question, but are there any that may be compatible?
TLDR; need help with BBS
- separating BBS nauplii from their shells (device using tubes, black spray paint, hot glue gun and plastic containers?)
- how do I save them for later, or keep them hatched at a rate enough to keep 1 axolotl fed? They die so quickly (fridge basically freezes them to death, and is there a food source they WILL eat?)
- figuring out how much BBS to feed the axolotl, and at different stages of development (should he have grown? He's been a tadpole for a month or 2 now. Or am I not feeding him too much, not enough, or both?)
Thanks
I have a standard hatchery setup, simply putting some eggs, and eyeing the amount of salt added (sometimes it varies), into an air connected upside down large soda bottle next to a lamp. They hatch in a day or two and then after turkey baste-ing the crowd of them that forms I spend an hour or more Pipette-ing out all the shells from them—my first dilemma, or rather an efficiency problem.
What is a good apparatus you may have come across or constructed to separate the Bbs from their shells?
After I feed the axolotl (amount also varies greatly, is he growing too slowly? When I hatch too many I don't want to waste them, and he doesn't even bother with them when they're more than a day old so I might have over fed and then have to wait days for the next hatch) so sometimes it really bulges his stomach, then days later I see a HUGE turd. Other times I can see them swimming around in his stomach days later so.
I'm not sure how much BBS they need to eat at which stages of growth, and I couldn't find a metric or description of anything like that online. I have just been winging it but don't want to.
also, the BBS have been clumping together in little groups recently. When I put them in the fridge for later, I take them out and they're all in clumps around salt or other particles, although mostly lifeless. But I just fed him washed BBS and they clumped up immediately! What's going on? Again I can't find any trove of information on this from Google (caudata.org doesn't even show up on the first page when I type in axolotl!).
Does anyone have any resources or experience?
It's hard to keep hatching such small amounts of BBS for 1 axolotl too, especially with no idea how much he needs to eat either..Also on a side note I'm a bit worried–is my axolotl bored? he's all alone, just in a bowl with clear water. I have read that they're not too smart and not social, and he also tried to eat that big turd from earlier, but still?
Later on I would like to put live plants in his tank though, i will also start a thread then about axolotl friendly aquarium organisms if anyone can share their experience. I'm sure most animals are out of the question, but are there any that may be compatible?
TLDR; need help with BBS
- separating BBS nauplii from their shells (device using tubes, black spray paint, hot glue gun and plastic containers?)
- how do I save them for later, or keep them hatched at a rate enough to keep 1 axolotl fed? They die so quickly (fridge basically freezes them to death, and is there a food source they WILL eat?)
- figuring out how much BBS to feed the axolotl, and at different stages of development (should he have grown? He's been a tadpole for a month or 2 now. Or am I not feeding him too much, not enough, or both?)
Thanks