Can my hatchlings survive on ostracods?

[jelly]

this is all I really have to feed them (a very abundent supply i might add) can they survive on this? I thought the slightly larger ones would be ok, not sure about the littler ones tho? I did read sometimes they go through undigested because of their shells? I am worried they may not go through at all?

 

[jelly]

Also- daphnia... I have a very small amount of them, looking at trying to get a culture going, how can I get them going as fast as possible? is it possible to give them too much green water?

 

[jelly]

most of them look to have full tummys which is good they are going in...but as for anything else..?

 

[spyder]

I'm not familiar with that food source. New hatchlings do well on baby Daphnia as you mentioned. As a freshwater critter it helps reduce maintenance.

Other popular options include, banana worm, walter worm, micro worm and fresh hatched baby brine shrimp. Grindal worms are also a good choice but maybe better suited once the hatchlings are about 2-3 weeks old.

Sorry i've not been too much help but hopefully someone will be along soon who may know a bit more about the ostracod situation.

 

[jelly]

thanks ! I have just found some live red worms in one of our troughs so i will be sieving and collecting the smallest ones soon... hopefuly wont add any unwanted nasties...
I should add these ostracods are very small ones (as i have read online there are big varieties too) the large ones are about a medium daphnia size.
I do not want to culture any food for them at this stage, I was hoping to make good use of wild bugs, all the water in the troughs is the same as our house water, same as the axys water, all from a hill creek.

 

[jelly]

I have put wo runts and 1 larger one in a bowl to see how well they are eating... so much fun to watch them! take up so much time after a long time of sieving and sorting I have got tiny tiny red worms that even the runt can take down in one snap. Yay. Also I can see their tummys are full of ostracods .. so hopefuly they grow well.
I would add some photos but unsure how to do this?

 

[Kaysie]

To add photos, click on the "go advanced" button, and then "manage attachments".

 

[oceanblue]

There are a lot of different species of ostracod, but the one I had in my tank, a small one about the size of a brine shrimp, was no good as food, I'm pretty sure they went through closed shell undigested inside the babies. Later I think a 4cm juvenile ate and digested them fine.

Your species may be different, if they are growing, fine, but if not investigate other foods.

 

[jelly]

here is a pic of a couple of them I have had them almost 2 weeks, think they are betwen 3-4 weeks old.
Very full tummys and seem to be doing well, they have been eating both ostracods and small bloodworms and seem to enjoy both fine.

Only one very scary thing happened the other day... I found a live blood worm coming out the rear end of one of the axololts... how on earthe would that happen!!? I was really worried but does not seem to have affected him at all...

 

[Niels D]

The pond where I collect Daphnia is sometimes overrun with ostracods. Then I just collect these instead. They seem to be a good source as well if you ask me. Of course it all depends on which species you're feeding, since there are so many.

 

[jelly]

That is promising to hear as I was thinking of adding daphnia to where I have got my ostracods from for them to keep up a natural population. I got the ostracods from my troughs that are just filled with rain water (aprox 7 x 200L troughs), hence I have now found out why the ostracods are so abundent because they dry out in summer and create a hatching boom! And I never clean them out they have their own ecosystem going in there.
Loving my axy babies! my, they eat alot fun to watch!
I had a few (20-30?) daphnia I got with my axys and put them aside in a container, which then turned into 2 containers, then one doubled in size.. and now there are soooo many daphnia! fantastic little things they are, kinda sad to see them eaten now :?

 

[Kaysie]

Please don't add daphnia where they're not already. You can accidentally introduce novel pathogens into a sensitive system.

 

[jelly]

Please don't add daphnia where they're not already. You can accidentally introduce novel pathogens into a sensitive system.

Really?! its a trough.. not a natural water body of any sort..

 

[Kaysie]

Trough has various meanings. In the western US, a trough is basically a big muddy pond in the middle of a pasture. If it is indeed a closed system with no chance of escape, you should be ok.

 

[jelly]

Ok yes- I mean 200L -concrete -out of the ground -free standing -man made -stock water holder LOL, not conected to water supply accept the rain clouds...

 

[jelly]

Here are a couple more photos... my larger ones have front legs! how cool, didn't expect to see them !
I have divided out the 3 smaller one so i can give them more food (also the smaller blood worms so they are not put off by wrestling too larger ones)

Pic shows the ostra cods too.. which look tiny now the babies are growing so fast

 

[jelly]

Here is some updated pics of them! they are looking so cute now, and look how full those tummys are, they just love their ostracods- there must be like 50 in there at a time!?

Their tank looks grubby, but they have only been in there 12 hours lol! I 'vacuum' their tank each day, alot of this is algae stuff that comes in the with ostracods.

The ostracods with be quite helpful at moving them onto unlive food, as they start muching on the crushed pellets and make it seem live!
They are also great as they mainly hang around the bottom of the tank in easy reach of the axys

 

[Niels D]

You found a good food source. I love ostracods. I've experienced that T.verrucosus larvae don't do well on daphnia, and many die if you add dapnia. Maybe it's due to fungus which dapnnia are carrying. Ostracods don't cause those problems however.

 

[jelly]

I thought I might add an update. My daphnia cultures are going well. And it seems I have started an ostracod culture too! the type of ostracod I think I have is CYPRIS incongruens.,
The ostracods have babies everywhere! they are soo tiny too, perfect for tiny baby axys. The ostracods seem to be doing well when cultured in a similar way to daphnia, I have some mixed cultures inside.
Where I have collected the ostracods from is too cold now and they seem to be hiding at the moment, occasionally a few out on a sunny day.

 

[eyrops]

it seems I have started an ostracod culture too! the type of ostracod I think I have is CYPRIS incongruens.,
The ostracods have babies everywhere! they are soo tiny too, perfect for tiny baby axys. The ostracods seem to be doing well when cultured in a similar way to daphnia, I have some mixed cultures inside.

I too have started culturing ostracods after a population developed in an outdoor tub. I do not know what species I have, but I think they are prolific enough to be used as a food culture. The adults are about medium Daphnia size. They seem to be quite tolerant of low oxygen/high bacteria situations, probably more so than Daphnia.. I am feeding mine Chlamydomonas algae and Omega One veggie rounds fish food.