New babies

[HaveACrouton]

So my boyfriend and my axolotl had babies together, I was wondering how many we could put in a generic 10G tank? There's about 40 babies. Only one has hatched so far, and the rest should hatch within the next few days here. We have started to raise brine shrimps and we have quite a few of them. We put about 100 of them in the baby axolotl tank for now, just wondering any advice for us since we are new at this and were not expecting it??

Also it's only been a week since then were laid.

Oh and my brine shrimp are WHITE not orange?! Is this bad I feel like they will be harder for the baby lotls to spot this way. How do I fix that??

 

[Neil C]

If your boyfriend and your axolotl had babies together it might be time to find a new boyfriend!!!

40 babies will be fine in a 10G tank for quite a while although most people keep their babies in smaller containers for ease of cleaning.

I wouldn't add any baby brine shrimp until a couple of days after the babies have hatched.

I'm not sure about white baby brine shrimps, mine are always orange. Maybe they are the fresh water variety?

Regards Neil

 

[tigmades]

Congratulations! I got some eggs that hatched on Tuesday, so I can tell you what I'm currently doing.

Firstly it is suggested you don't raise all of the eggs (assuming they layed 300-400?). This is because it takes quite a bit of time and effort, and you don't want to be providing subpar care so you can raise more. If you have a lot of time on your hands/they didn't lay too many eggs/you know you can provide well for each and every egg, then I suppose you can disregard that statement. All I know is that I won't be the only one to say it :3

For the first week or two you don't have to worry about cannibalism, so in a 10g you could probably have 60ish (I'm basing my guesses off take dimensions as footprint is what matters most when deciding). Others may suggest differently - I haven't raised any in a 10g before. Once they hatch I wouldn't keep water levels very high - maybe an inch - so when they feed they can still catch the bbs. Alternatively you can lower it at feeding time, wait an hour, remove the dead bbs with a baster then bring water levels back up. After you enter the cannibalistic stage, it is recommended to keep them individually. This not only prevents cannibalism and injuries, but you know each hatchling will be able to eat, so casualties will be lower. For containers you can use tubberware, 650+g yogurt containers, etc.

If you are unable to house them individually, I would suggest going to dollar store and picking up some cheap long, wide, but short containers, and housing ~ 10(depends on size)/container, and sorting them by size to decrease chances of cannibalism.

Also, if you don't have multiple bbs hatcheries going, I suggest you start anther one or two up That allows you to alternate without running out of bbs. If your not aware, bbs are most nutritious for the first 24h. The best time to feed them is before they're 8h old as they're digesting their yolk sac which is the nutritious part of using bbs.

 

[Kerry M]

Hi
I put my larvae into a plastic tub when they hatched with a couple of inches of water. The container was 25cm by 15cm. I changed the water at least once daily. I used a second tub of prepared water and used a small net to collect the larvae. The low level of water allowed the baby brine shrimp to be more concentrated in the water and easier for the larvae to chomp away at. I would sometimes use smaller containers if I was concerned that the larvae were not eating enough food. Some did not eat and required extra assistance, takeaway containers were very useful. I'm not sure about white baby brine shrimp, mine were orange. Are you hatching Artemia?
Enjoy your babies

 

[Kerry M]

It took me 4 hours a night cleaning out and refilling 130 x 1 litre containers during the cannabilistic phase so I would also recommend reducing numbers if you have many. The water really does need daily changing to ensure adequate oxygen levels. When I raise more I have decided to look after 20 as I feel that would be just as satisfying.

 

[HaveACrouton]

I don't know if they are Artemia, the package said brine shrimp I think but I threw it out. They are white though like sea monkey white.. The guy at the shop said they were brine eggs..

I only have 40 babies ready to hatch, one already hatched. I was also wondering if anyone knows how to tell if eggs are INFERTILE?? I have eggs that are half white half green masses inside formed a disc type shape or a sausage shape but have stayed like that this whole week while the others in the SAME tank are so much more advanced ??

 

[tigmades]

Best thing you can do is take pictures and post

I've read bbs will be more orange if you have LESS salt in the tank. I've also noticed that older bbs are whiter. How long has your hatchery been going, and what kind of lighting/temp/amount of salt do you put in it?

 

[Kerry M]

Perhaps you don't have baby brine shrimp eggs (Artemia). In the packet they are a grey/brown colour and after about 24 hours in the hatchery they become orange when they have hatched. Sometimes mine were brighter than other times so perhaps the quantity of salt affected that. There is a good tutorial sticky on this forum if you haven't seen it. Posting a photo of the eggs is a good idea. From memory mine collapsed and started looking fuzzy when they were not fertile so I removed them.