isolated larve doing fine ones in tank dying off

[monomike]

Hey all. I'm trying to raise up some little ones for my classroom and am being met with mixed results. I've isolated a good number of the little guys in plastic cups and, with a few exceptions, they seem to be doing well. I have a dwindiling group still in my main 40 gal tank and they seem to be dying off quickly. I'm feeding brine shrimp. Here are my guesses but you all know much more. They might be struggling to get the food in the main tank since there is still a lot of water in it. In the cups, the food is close and easy to get at. or, the dead shrimp are fouling the tank. I've checked chemistry and change out water regularly-- don't see any problems but losing most of 'em even though some of the remaining look really healthy. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

 

[kapo]

How regular a waterchange? Feeding brineshrimp you do need to do daily waterchanges. I found it easier, the first time round, to raise them in several smaller containers - 2litre capacity; and waterchanged twice daily when I fed baby brineshrimp; every day or 2 days when I fed other livefood (that didn't foul like dying brineshrimp does) mosquitoe larvae, daphnia etc...

check out: www.caudata.org/cc/articles/why_larvae_die.shtml

 

[digger]

i found it was easier to feed daphnia if you are keeping themin a larger area,
the daphnia are fresh water creatures and herefore survive longer.
i would just put a large quantity in with the babies and clean out the dead ones and waste every couple of days.

 

[Jennewt]

Dead brine shrimp tend to stick to surfaces, and then the surface becomes a bacterial breeding ground. I suspect that you are better able to clean out the inside surface of the cups. Also, the larvae's ability to find the brine shrimp could also be the problem.

I would recommend finding a source of live blackworms, if you haven't already. (Call you local non-chain pet shops, or order them by mail if necessary.) If the larvae have started to grow, you could already transition them to chopped blackworms, which are easier to deal with and a better growth food.