Live food for newly hatched axolotls

G

Ganesh

New member
Joined
Jul 22, 2007
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Country
Australia
G'day mates and all ewe kiwis :p

William and I are about to care for a new batch of axolotl hatchlings for the very first time :eek: There are about 100 of the little guys that look healthy at this stage (about 2 weeks after eggs were laid). That's a lot of axolotls!!

We are in the process of organising food for when they hatch. I would really love to hear from anyone who has suggestions for, or access to, live food suitable for newly hatched larvae.

Many thanks
Amanda
(Brisbane, Australia)
 
Hi Amanda, welcome to the forum!

You need to get some baby brineshrimp eggs which are available from most petshops, then you need to hatch them. Brineshrimp hatcheries are pretty easy to construct from a plastic soft drink bottle etc...

See: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/microfoods.shtml

Larvae need to be fed twice a day. If you don't already have one invest in a turkey baster. This is great for transferring larvae and cleaning their containers.

See: www.axolotl.org/rearing.htm

Ours were fed on live daphnia, live baby bloodworm (midge larvae) and live mosquito larvae as well as the baby brineshrimp.
 
Thanks for the prompt reply. This was initially posted to the Aus/NZ area - so hey to everyone else.

Have approached a few local aquariums to be told that they don't stock live food - frozen only - and that the new hatchlings should be fed either (their) frozen daphnia or (their) crumbled axolotl pellets. So we were polite and left. It seems strange that the little guys would recognise motionless stuff as food :uhoh: <<where is the food?

I have also contacted Picses Enterprises, which is located in Brisbane (stocks a lot of aquairum/pet centre nationally), but am yet to hear from them. My fingers are crossed, however.

Otherwise I am thinking to order online. Does anyone have suggestions for reputable sellers?
 
Last edited:
Ah!! If I buy live brine shrimp then I could make a hatchery, right!?! They'd breed in there and I could harvest their babies to feed the other babies. Sounds really nasty, but that could work :blob:
 
To feed baby brine shrimp you need to hatch them from collected eggs. You buy the eggs dried in a can. It is nearly impossible to breed adult brine shrimp and get babies that way. Hatching baby brine is easy. Another alternative is daphnia. The advantage of daphnia is you don't have to worry about them dying and polluting the water. I use mostly baby brine shrimp (artemia) for fresh hatched axololts. I feed once a day. Be sure to not overfeed with baby brine because they will die in about a day and pollute if not eaten.

Artemia are not really that difficult. Go to brineshrimpdirect.com for good brine shrimp info.
 
I agree, it's too difficult to breed baby brine shrimp from adult brine shrimp. You should try to find eggs. They are easy to ship, and I'm sure there's a source in AU.
 
Ganesh, I'm surprised the petshop/aquarium stores by you can't order the Brine Shrimp Eggs in. Find out who is in charge of the fish section, they should be able to order you a bottle of Brine Shrimp eggs. Over here even in the small petshops you can order them for $10.00-$15.00 for a wee 6g jar of BBS eggs - we still have half a jar left over.

They will only eat live food, not frozen daphnia nor crushed pellets.

Heres one online aquarium store, they sell 6g bottles for $7.30 www.aquaticlifeaquariums.com.au/ No idea how good they are but I'm sure you'll find one to suit if you google it yourself. You don't have to buy the hatcheries, they're very easy to make.
 
Here's an example of a homemade hatchery.
 
Hi Amanda,

I'm in Brisy too :). I've been raising my first batch of Juvies on microworms (cheap to culture) and mosquito wrigglers (free). I only have a few dozen bubs and they're only a couple of weeks old but they all seem to be eating well - you can see the whole digestive tract on the little albinos and leucs.

Peter.
 
Thanks guys

Thanks everyone for posting your replies

I ordered from the website suggested above. Hopefully there will also be some mozzie larvae soon - as Peter knows, the advantage of living in humid Brisbane. I'm pleased to hear your little guys are going well. So far we have lost quite a lot of our little guys for a variety of reasons. First time around I kind of expected this, especially as we chose to hatch all of them!! The aim now is to keep as many of the guys as healthy as possible. They are so sweet.
 
It's handy having mozzie larvae and you can leave them in the tank, unlike brineshrimp.
 
Hi,

one late addition: for me brine shrimp nauplias are the best choice for newly hatched larvae, its quite easy to hatch nauplias. I use a simple mehtod with a bottle, too:
artemiaflasche.jpg


Additionaly I feed them small living daphnia and cyclops caught in a pond nearby.
I also made the experience that it is possible to feed them frozen cyclops (daphia are too big for the start) if you stirr them now end then to have some movement. But this is last exit if all other options fail, it's just in case you are not able to get any living food.

Daniel
 
Where in Brisy are you Amanda? My bubs are moving on to grindals as a staple. Let me know if you want to give some worm cultures a try :).
 
is it worth it

I didnt bother with baby brine as i needed to keep it simple. I used daphia & cyclops and when the fry were big enough I cut up black worm's to bite size. Needing more food options I turned to the back yard where I found some mosquito larva and rafts.I even found midge larva wich they adore :rolleyes:I now have over 40 going good and strong and no brine mixture.:D
 
Me too!

axoloto said:
I didnt bother with baby brine as i needed to keep it simple. I used daphia & cyclops and when the fry were big enough I cut up black worm's to bite size. Needing more food options I turned to the back yard where I found some mosquito larva and rafts.I even found midge larva wich they adore :rolleyes:I now have over 40 going good and strong and no brine mixture.:D
Click to expand...

Exactly how I've been feeding my youngsters James! :blob:
 
Solid construction on the hatcheries guys - the insides look delicious (for axxies) :lol:

Peter: we're in Morningside (about 4 km SE of the CBD). If you had any food for the wee little ones that would be suitable then it would be great to hear from you. We could come by and pick it up, no problemo :wacko:
 
Hi Amanda, if you're looking for live blood worms there is a store at capalaba Pet SuperStore on redland bay road which sells them.

Cheers,
Sam.
 
i think pet city over at mount gravatt might sell them as well from memory
 
Amanda said:
Peter: we're in Morningside (about 4 km SE of the CBD). If you had any food for the wee little ones that would be suitable then it would be great to hear from you. We could come by and pick it up, no problemo
Click to expand...
I work (and have my axie bubs) in the city, so if you can get into town I'll do up a starter culture for you. This is how I culture them. PM me a day or two before if you're coming in so I can make sure I'm free.
 
Thanks Peter, that would be just awesome. I've sent a message to arrange the details via the private message function - check your inbox :eek:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    There are no messages in the chat. Be the first one to say Hi!
    Back
    Top