Changing food...

[drmunroe]

At wat age/size can i change my hatchlings food? The oldest is about 2 weeks & alittle over 10mm (prob close to 15mm) in size. The diet since hatching has been baby brine shrimp that im hatching. the guy at on of my local aquariums said they should be big enough for black worms?

 

[gr33neyes]

http://www.axolotl.org/rearing.htm
Take a look at the link above. Scroll down the page to find the heading 'After hatching'. I think you will find what you need to know there.

 

[drmunroe]

kool thanx for that. ive been through that page a couple of times but now that im at this stage & found the info that was relevent to me now. Ill introduce frozen bloodworms tomorrow & see what happens. Also i had the temp at about 19 so ive just raised it to about 21

 

[blueberlin]

I would not raise the temperature. The cooler the better for axolotls.

-Eva

 

[gr33neyes]

Eva I don't know if you read the link I posted, but it states the the larvae raised were kept at a temperature of 22 degrees.
The higher temperature was found to accelerate their growth slightly more. I'm wondering if thats why drmunroe wishes to raise the temperature.

 

[blueberlin]

Hi Becky!

I actually checked what was written in the article before I wrote (my first response was more like "Why would anyone raise the temperature when everyone else is worried this time of year in reducing it" haha). I can't and wouldn't say what the authors meant when they wrote that article. I kind of thought it meant to indicate the fact that temperature does indeed play a part in the development of larvae, and so to offer a reference point in relation to the growth rate.

All I meant is that if I, as an axolotl keeper, have cooler temperatures, I would never intentionally raise them. I cannot imagine that warmer temps would be more benefitial than cooler to an axolotl (nor can I imagine that speedy growth is better than slower) but that's just me and certainly not based on any learned wisdom. I've only raised one clutch of axolotl larvae so far.

-Eva

 

[drmunroe]

my understanding from keeping fish (african & tropical) is that raised (slightly) temperatures speed up metabolism & hence speed up growth to some degree. With fish if u lower the temperature it slows metabolism & can be used to curb some aggression that can be found in tanks expecially when food is involved.
Currently my temp is sitting at 21 which i think is more than suitable for the hatchlings based on what ive read.
Back the the original subject of changing food, i introduced some frozen blood worms but they didnt go for them. I eneded up scooping them all out the next day. Ill keep up the brine for another week or so then hopefully i can feed them something else that i dont have to hatch...
they seem to be doing well though. Havent had a death in over a week & they are growing steadily. I have 17 from last count...

 

[kclinton]

Just a thought , I have raised any yet. What if you fed them a little of both at the same time? If they are used to eating some thing that moves. Maybe they might eat a few of the frozen blood worms.

 

[blueberlin]

Hi Dr. Munroe,

I raised my larvae on Daphnia. These are readily available at several aquarium shops near to me. Thy are also easy to raise/keep for awhile at home and as they are freshwater creatures, they will live on in the tank water with the larvae for a good while.

There are several other appropriate foods for larvae. I find this article excellent:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/microfoods.shtml
Nutritional info on various foods is available here:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods2.shtml

This section of the forum also has threads on the subject:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=11

The main thing is that the food should be alive (as you have discovered yourself). I believe I read somewhere that the sense of smell develops around the same time as the back legs, so that there will be no "hunting instinct" apparent before that and until then the larvae will need to be literally swimming in food.

Hope this helps,

-Eva

 

[oceanblue]

About raising temperatures, I too have read the link. Axolotls grow faster near the top of their temperature tolerance range but sometimes it is better to take it slower.

I moved my axolotls, given to me as 4 week old larvae, from a room at about 22C to a cellar at 15C when they were a bit bigger than yours. I'm not breaking records for growth rates but 14 months on they look healthy. You may get faster growth at 21 than 19 but at the lower temperature you can take a more relaxed approach.

Cooler water is better oxygenated and water quality deteriorates far more slowly. I think they use food more efficiently and expend a lot less energy when cool. If you are short of food they do not burn through reserves as fast.

Cool is cool!

 

[drmunroe]

...yes i believe u are all right when it comes to "taking it slow"...my problem is my impatience! alas, i must learn to be paitient...as for the daphnia, non of my local aquariams keep any or know where i can get some. I would much rather keep them as im sick of hatching batches of brine (prob why i want them to grow quicker), and having it die on me. Im netting up as much **** as i can every couple of days & doing a 50% water change every 3 days.
As i mentioned earlier they "seem" to be doing fine im just alittle over the brine...i wish i could get some daphia locally!...

 

[blueberlin]

Hmmm I've been trying to find something on ordering starter Daphnia online in Australia but haven't had much success (ok I also only tried for about 5 minutes). I did stumble across someone in Sydney who suggested asking your local university's biology department where they order theirs for biology classes.

A bright side is, the larvae grow pretty rapidly and soon you will be able to offer them something larger than microfoods - like live bloodworms, mosquito larvae, etc.

Good luck to you.

-Eva

 

[el301]

Hmmmmm, I'm at the point where my eggs will hatch in the next few days, and it's my first time. My local aquarium guy has been very helpful, and he says that he has raised numerous axies from eggs on frozen baby brine shrimp. When I asked him "Don't they need live food as they don't hunt at a young age" (remembering stuff I've read here), he said nope, and I'll be fine on the frozen stuff, coz they'll just 'hoover' round the floor of the tank and suck up whatever they can.....

So you could try the frozen stuff, but I don't know how effective it'll be

 

[Bellabelloo]

Live food is definitely best in raising the larvae as this seems to stimulate them to feed through their movement. I started with brine shrimp, then moved onto daphnia, blood worm and as the season was convenient they had various insect larvae from the garden tanks.

 

[Riffy]

I have had the same problem in my area in regards to accessing live food for the newly hatched. No one seems to stock it or be able to order it in (though I am pretty sure they havent even tried). I am currently using frozen Daphnia and Brine shrimp. So far so good... I am using an airstone to move it around the tank which I assume makes it look 'alive' to the littlies.