Funny enough there is only one male who is causing all this frenzy! When eggs are being laid I have about 2 different moms. I love that they breed what I really meant to ask was if it was harmful to them having producing all those eggs constantly? Everytime I start on a new set of eggs I look at them and say "I am not raising another set, you silly axies!" Then as soon as that set is hatching guess what another batch and I'm suckered in!
Yes, with any animal there is danger in breeding. But are yours overbreeding? Probably not. You have nine axolotls, one male and presumably 8 mature females. A healthy female can easily breed every three months, and coupling that with your large water changes, where temperature drops such as new cold water can induce breeding, is likely causing them all to cycle at a continuous pace. That is, there is always a fertile female ready to breed. Many people here would love to have axolotls so prolific as yours. It would be an issue if this was just one to three females giving you eggs every few weeks, but this seems pretty normal. Perhaps keep an eye on who is laying and make sure they're all very fat and healthy to avoid any danger. If any of the females are losing weight dramatically and still laying, then you ought to remove them.
The only issue I see is the ability to keep raising every new batch of eggs. The only solution in this case is to separate the male, which is just going to stop it altogether. You could leave the eggs in with them to eat. You're not obligated to raise them all. If you want to keep raising them but don't want so many, consider having another smaller tank that you can put the male into once a female has laid. You get a batch of eggs and separate the male until your current batch is far enough along or rehomed, then put him back in when you're ready for more. Another solution is to have two separate tanks, one with a male and a female or two, and another all female tank. That way you will still have eggs, but not nearly so many.
The one thing that I do see a problem with is the possibility of the male being affected by overbreeding. I have heard only of issues with the females, but I can certainly imagine males being in danger of overbreeding as well. The only comment on male overbreeding that I have seen has been in another forum thread:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...l-group-axolotls-over-breed-female-death.html
They can lay eggs every other week if allowed to do so, but then will be more prone to illness so it's best to give them a break. It's fine to let the males mate every 2 weeks, but sperm production doesn't take nearly as much out of them as egg production.
The first change I'd make is the huge water change every 2 weeks - perhaps just smaller once weekly ones will reduce the instinct to breed. I'd be worried about the male more than the females given your population.
