Question: Breeding Guppies, Daphnias, and/or Black Worms for Axie Food??

[HowToAxolotl]

Hey all! :ufo:

So I have been reading around... and I have decided that I want to start my own breeding farm of some sort to ultimately use as a food source for my Axolotls. I do not plan to SOULY use these food sources, rather add them in as snacks and dietary addition/variety. I want to do this for the following reasons: cost, time, convenience, fun/interactive feeding, more well rounded diet, and overall "cool" factor.

With that said, it seems that the most commonly "farmed" food sources for Axies are Guppies, Daphnias, and Worms (Black Worms specifically.) What do you think? Would I be wise for doing this? Should I focus of farming a different live food sources? Should I just lose the idea all together?

I genuinely want to provide the most interactive, healthy, and fun experience for my Axies... I figured this could be a relatively easy way :] Is it worth it?



If you have any suggestions for any other live food sources that I didn't mention, PLEASE tell me! I realize that I know .00000000000000000000000001% of everything that you Axolotl veterans know :] I am a sponge looking for knowledge and advice.

(I posted this on another relating subtopic, as they were both fitting)

 

[layna]

When axies are bigger 5" + their main diet should be earthworms
My axies get a 'treat' of bloodworms and Shrimp but they are quite happy with the earthworms alone hehe

 

[Kerry M]

I would agree that earth worms are the best option. I love my worm farm and would recommend setting one up. Black worms are difficult to breed. I forget the exact information as I looked into it. It took a while to double the original amount. And black worms are good when the axies are small but by about 4-5 months they will happily chomp through earth worms and these are packed with the nutrients that an axie needs.

 

[Sena01]

I feel like as the Axies get older they'll eat more so it might be worthwhile to set up a worm farm considering that it's 3 dollars for a small container of earthworms. On a side note I am considering setting up a shrimp tank for treats.

Still being new to this, my question would be for the food pellets. Would the pellets for tadpoles/frogs/newts work?

 

[xxianxx]

For juvenile axolotls I grow brine shrimp, blackworm, white worm, micro worm, daphnia and random bugs in my outside tanks. For adults I culture dendro worms, cockroaches, cherry shrimp, endlers, pachnoda grubs (beetle grubs) , snails plus random bugs in my tanks like hog lice.

 

[Mortimer]

For juvenile axolotls I grow brine shrimp, blackworm, white worm, micro worm, daphnia and random bugs in my outside tanks. For adults I culture dendro worms, cockroaches, cherry shrimp, endlers, pachnoda grubs (beetle grubs) , snails plus random bugs in my tanks like hog lice.

Cockroaches?!? Eeeeek! Are they digestible for axolotls?

 

[Mortimer]

For juvenile axolotls I grow brine shrimp, blackworm, white worm, micro worm, daphnia and random bugs in my outside tanks. For adults I culture dendro worms, cockroaches, cherry shrimp, endlers, pachnoda grubs (beetle grubs) , snails plus random bugs in my tanks like hog lice.

Not trying to question you--I know you know what you're doing--I've just never heard of this!!

 

[xxianxx]

Cockroaches?!? Eeeeek! Are they digestible for axolotls?

I tend to feed roaches when they have moulted and are soft, I have fed roaches who have not molted in the past and they seem to cause no problems with the chitin impaction. At least some of the food available to wild axolotls would have had hard shells so I dont think it is a problem for them to digest as part of a mixed diet. Roaches are a very small part of my axolotls diet as they are tong fed and I gut load them prior to feeding.

 

[Mortimer]

I tend to feed roaches when they have mouAt leastlted and are soft, I have fed roaches who have not molted in the past and they seem to cause no problems with the chitin impaction. At least some of the food available to wild axolotls would have had hard shells so I dont think it is a problem for them to digest as part of a mixed diet. Roaches are a very small part of my axolotls diet as they are tong fed and I gut load them prior to feeding.

That makes sense.

 

[snuggly time]

For juvenile axolotls I grow brine shrimp, blackworm, white worm, micro worm, daphnia and random bugs in my outside tanks. For adults I culture dendro worms, cockroaches, cherry shrimp, endlers, pachnoda grubs (beetle grubs) , snails plus random bugs in my tanks like hog lice.

Wow, your axies have a great diet. :happy:

 

[HowToAxolotl]

I tend to feed roaches when they have moulted and are soft, I have fed roaches who have not molted in the past and they seem to cause no problems with the chitin impaction. At least some of the food available to wild axolotls would have had hard shells so I dont think it is a problem for them to digest as part of a mixed diet. Roaches are a very small part of my axolotls diet as they are tong fed and I gut load them prior to feeding.

Alright, it sounds like worms are DEFINITELY the way to go. Would you think guppies to be okay as well, or will they do more harm than good? I figure if I only keep 4-5 in at a time, and there are two axies in the tank, they should get eaten pretty fast. Is there any particular reason why you dont raise fish for them?

 

[xxianxx]

Wow, your axies have a great diet. :happy:

90% of my adult axolotls diet is earthworm, the rest is made up of amphibian pellets and the other food stuff I mentioned. The juvies get a 50% phib pellet diet to get their growth rates up.

 

[HowToAxolotl]

90% of my adult axolotls diet is earthworm, the rest is made up of amphibian pellets and the other food stuff I mentioned. The juvies get a 50% phib pellet diet to get their growth rates up.

You seem to have the most in depth, diversified, and well thought out diet plan of any Axie owner that I've seen so far! Well done!! Unfortunately, I am majorly limited on space, so I think a breeding tank for zebrafish/guppies, and an earthworm farm are my best options.

You really think the phib pellets are worth it? Is there a particular brand/style that you would suggest?

 

[sabre]

I'm curious about the pachnoda grubs, but it seems they are only available in the UK.

For all the treat foods you raise, xxianxx, how often in a week would you say you feed such things to your axies?

 

[xxianxx]

Unfortunately, I am majorly limited on space, so I think a breeding tank for zebrafish/guppies, and an earthworm farm are my best options.

You really think the phib pellets are worth it? Is there a particular brand/style that you would suggest?

I'm curious about the pachnoda grubs, but it seems they are only available in the UK.

For all the treat foods you raise, xxianxx, how often in a week would you say you feed such things to your axies?

I feed my axolotls endlers occasionally, they are a small guppy like species, I have kept whitecloud minnows with them as well but they get wiped out faster than they can reproduce. Phib pellets are very expensive in the UK I import large quantities from the US as they are a lot cheaper, especially if you buy in bulk as shipping is pricey, I like to use them with juvenile axolotls as they are no problem to store and provide a very good growth rate, they are also cheaper than worms which is a factor when raising axolotls to sell. I generally raise axolotls in batches of 100+, they are in uncycled tanks with a high stocking density and daily water changes, any negative impact on water quality caused by the pellets is not a problem for me. My adults get pellets occasionally, mainly the day before a water change as you cant escape the fact that uneaten pellets foul the water fast and there is a tendency to over feed them. I would recommend their use as part of a diet but I wouldn't use them exclusively with adults, earthworms are my choice for the bulk of their diet with the additional food items forming a small part.
Pachnoda grubs are the larvae of pachnoda beetles FileachnodaMarginataPerigrina.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia , they should be available in the US, I have a 4ft tank full of them in my bug room Caudata.org Newt and Salamander Forum - xxianxx's Album: building my bug room - Picture they are very prolific. The pic also shows some hissers, I use the babies as feeders, there are four types of roach in my bug room atm.

 

[Martin21114]

Hatchlings - baby brine shrimp

Larvae - brine shrimp, chopped black worms, pellets

Adults - black worms, earthworms, guppies, shrimp, pellets

 

[HowToAxolotl]

Hatchlings - baby brine shrimp

Larvae - brine shrimp, chopped black worms, pellets

Adults - black worms, earthworms, guppies, shrimp, pellets

Hah I appreciate the first concise and to-the-point post! Thanks!

 

[HowToAxolotl]

I feed my axolotls endlers occasionally, they are a small guppy like species, I have kept whitecloud minnows with them as well but they get wiped out faster than they can reproduce. Phib pellets are very expensive in the UK I import large quantities from the US as they are a lot cheaper, especially if you buy in bulk as shipping is pricey, I like to use them with juvenile axolotls as they are no problem to store and provide a very good growth rate, they are also cheaper than worms which is a factor when raising axolotls to sell. I generally raise axolotls in batches of 100+, they are in uncycled tanks with a high stocking density and daily water changes, any negative impact on water quality caused by the pellets is not a problem for me. My adults get pellets occasionally, mainly the day before a water change as you cant escape the fact that uneaten pellets foul the water fast and there is a tendency to over feed them. I would recommend their use as part of a diet but I wouldn't use them exclusively with adults, earthworms are my choice for the bulk of their diet with the additional food items forming a small part.
Pachnoda grubs are the larvae of pachnoda beetles FileachnodaMarginataPerigrina.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia , they should be available in the US, I have a 4ft tank full of them in my bug room Caudata.org Newt and Salamander Forum - xxianxx's Album: building my bug room - Picture they are very prolific. The pic also shows some hissers, I use the babies as feeders, there are four types of roach in my bug room atm.

I hope that I can one day have the capabilities to provide such a well thought-out, diversified, and thorough diet for my axies. Your little guys are lucky!!

 

[Kaysie]

Don't let him fool you; he's got way more than axolotls to care for.

Skip the guppies. For one or two axies, it's not worth it.

If you start a worm farm, you'll need more than just one small thing of earthworms to start. I'm feeding a dozen adult salamanders, and started with 350 worms. I immediately regretted not getting the 500. Also, you can't culture nightcrawlers like that; they require much deeper soil, and have slow growth rates. Only the smaller worm species will do well in a worm farm.

 

[xxianxx]

Don't let him fool you; he's got way more than axolotls to care for.

One of the reasons I culture so much live food is the fact that I keep twelve species of amphibian (including about 700 axolotls of various sizes), I couldn't actually afford to buy all the food I require. If you just have a couple of axolotls its easy to buy all the worms you need and get the odd bag of pellets than go through the hassle of culturing your own food, unless its just a wormery.