Starting to hatch what do i do ???

[und34d]

Hi guys, my eggs are just starting to hatch, i have them all in my tank with the water level lowered to about 10 cm and an air stone. 3 eggs have hatched and the larvae still have a rather large white belly, which i'm assuming is yolk. they don't seem to move much and i was wondering when and how i should move them and when to start feeding them? thanks in advance

 

[Axie23]

what food are you using to feed them? i personally used daphnia, and made sure to have heaps in the tank, for the babies to feed on. although, once hatched, they will usually just lie on the tank floor for a few days absorbing the yolk. DON'T nudge them or anything like that lol, to see if their still alive. they'll die. i learnt that the hard way. if you need to move them, move them before they hatch. use a cup to move them maybe. i used a small goldfish net, but was very careful when doing it.i think a cup is your best bet. theres less chance of squishing them than with a net ><. for the hatched ones, id suggest you move them very slowly. too much movement may stress them out and kill them. that's just from my personal experience

good luck with your babies!!

 

[Axie23]

ps, don't quote me as an 'expert' or anything lol, because i'm sure some of my advice may attract some negative reactions from other people on here

 

[nina89]

They dont eat for the first couple of days, so daphnia is all i would suggest to leave in the tanks (is it will not die like bbs). Personally I think a net is fine to remove the babies, My axies had eggs in a 3ft tank the other week and i removed the parents an let the eggs hatch in approx 30-50cm. then after the first hatcher i removed eggs on a daily routine into small lunch containers approx depth is about 2-3 times the axies overall length or a bit more, and placed in some daphnia.
Dnt worry about them not moving alot, they will generally only move for a feed and air bubbles in their belly making them feel uncomfortable(if there well fed and have an air stone you shouldn't have this problem). So stillness is good.

Hope I have been helpfull

 

[NooNoo Kz]

Axie23 is pretty much right! i'm no expert but I'm currently raising the larvae, and they need 100% water changes everyday! Also make sure there is no substrate in the tank, and you will probably have to seperate them into tiny little containers when theyre about day 5 so they dont eat each other. We personally start with about 30 in one container, we then cup them out into the next container with as little water possible and the new container should have water that has had an air stone in it. We personally removed the eggs by hand, as they stick to everything after just being laid. we only squished about 2 eggs this way but it was convenient. We have a big bucket of de-chlorinated water with perfect ph levels and it has an airstone in it, we then use this water for all the little containers. they get fed alot of daphnia each day after about day 3. We hatched some of our eggs with a knife and they all seem fine, On day 5 they tend to get more hungry and this is where cannibalism most likely starts. Good luck with it all I'm no expert either but I have a plan that seems to be working Any other questions just ask and I'll do my best to try and answer it!!!

 

[NooNoo Kz]

They dont eat for the first couple of days, so daphnia is all i would suggest to leave in the tanks (is it will not die like bbs). Personally I think a net is fine to remove the babies, My axies had eggs in a 3ft tank the other week and i removed the parents an let the eggs hatch in approx 30-50cm. then after the first hatcher i removed eggs on a daily routine into small lunch containers approx depth is about 2-3 times the axies overall length or a bit more, and placed in some daphnia.
Dnt worry about them not moving alot, they will generally only move for a feed and air bubbles in their belly making them feel uncomfortable(if there well fed and have an air stone you shouldn't have this problem). So stillness is good.

Hope I have been helpfull

Yeap stillness is good and mine seemed to like the air stone when they were in one big tub. they also lie on their sides and look dead, but they are really only being comfortable.

 

[yellowpebble]

Hey, i have found moving them when they are small fine as long as you are carfull. The egs themselves are very tough, so you could maybe move them and keep the babies where they are and start feeding in that container. Its recomended to have only a few in ach container at a time so they so not eat each other so maybe seperate all of the eggs out now to seperate containers and let them hatch and star feeding when ready.

I have found the best way to scoop babies is with a big plastic spoon with a small hole drilled in the bottom for the water to go through. Good luck

 

[iSuzie]

They wont require food for 24-72 hours after hatching.
Also when they hatch their mouths may be open but they may take from 24-72 hours to open, if you notice them swimming up to gulp tiny air bubbles that may be a sign that their mouths are open and are ready for food.

Larvae don't usually become "free swimming" for the first 5-7 days, usually in the evenings as axolotls are nocturnal. If you have any trouble feeding after the 3 day mark try feeding them around 7pm, it works with my fussy adults and my new baby's

When moving Larvae be extra careful and if possible take your time.
The best way is what yellow pebble suggested with a large spoon with a small hole in the bottom for water to flow through.
The less times you have to move them the better.
When doing water changes its best to have the pre treated water kept at the same temperature as the baby's water by keeping the fresh water next to the baby's container/tank.

Good luck with your baby's and have fun with them!

 

[und34d]

thanks for all the advice I have a source of live BBS. im going to start seperating the eggs into smaller containers. i did sorta poke at one to see if it was alive but yeah i gathered that it would be wise not to stress them too much. also i have my tank light on them and i noticed when i turned it off the other day they went mental in their eggs so i have been scared to turn it off again in case they all stress out.

 

[Kaysie]

Axolotls don't require any light. I would keep the light off, rather than on.

 

[iSuzie]

Axolotls don't have eyelids that's why they don't require light, in fact light will stress them out. Defiantly don't have the light on them.

 

[und34d]

they seem to be coming along ok. I've got maybe half of them seperated now and the rest still in the tank :/ I'm now just curious about how to do a 100% water change???? i did like a 90 odd % water change but it does startle them a bit even when being extra careful.....any advice?

 

[Axie23]

i don't think it's a good idea to do a one hundred percent water change for babies, unless you are absolutely sure you can do it without stressing them out or killing them. try usuing one of those gravel vacuums maybe, to pick up specific mess in the tank? personally, i take bout half the water out of the tank, very carefully then replace it with clean water, and put in some water ager. that seems to work fine,

 

[iSuzie]

Because oh the high amount of waste baby's produce they need 100% water changes daily, this can be done using a large plastic soup spoon with a small hole drilled through it to catch each baby' or a small soft net. It is hard to do safely but it has to be done, if you can not do a 100% change then a 90% is fine. No less than 90% though as this is not enough to get rid of the waste. Another way is to get a turkey baster and suck out 90% of the water and then replace with fresh water already dechlorinated of the exact same temperature.
Water changes all depend on how many baby's you have per container, if you have a higher amount of baby's the higher amount of waste they will produce, so if you have a larger amount of baby's per container it is advised to do a 100% water change daily and sometimes twice daily depending on the food they are being fed. If you are feeding BBS if 10 or more baby's per container then they will require a 100% water change to get rid of food waste and waste produced by the baby's.

 

[NooNoo Kz]

As long as most of the food and other stuff is gone its usually pretty good after 90%, I normally get about 98% by using a scoop. When you've got as many babies as we do you'll take the 98% gladly lol. Good luck!!