Underdeveloped larvae.

[ge0h0und]

So its been about a week now since my eggs have hatched. Of the 12 I have 8 of them seem to be doing fine. However the other 4 seem to be pretty underdeveloped. 2 of them who do have gills don't seem to eat like the 8 do(they're really thin because of it), and the other 2 seem like they're kinda trapped in their egg or something.. I don't really know how to describe it, but they don't have the frilly gills like the others do and are quite tiny.

I've separated the 4 from the others and I'm not really sure what to do about them. I've tried to force feed them like the others where I cut tiny tiny pieces of blackworm and make it drop on their heads. The normal ones gobble it up if I aim correctly, but the 4 don't seem to flinch at all.

Any ideas on what to do for these poor little critters?

 

[digger]

Have you tried feeding live brine shrimp or live daphnia, this is what most of us use with newly hatched larvae

 

[ge0h0und]

I haven't been able at this point. My microworms/daphnia/brine shrimp should be arriving within the next few days. I've been stuck with some pellets, bloodworms, and blackworms smooshed and cut up to tiny pieces to feed them. Most of them have accepted it. I guess I'll just have hope they survive for the next few days to feed them the extra food I'll be receiving. :/

 

[Daniel]

Did you see them eat? As Frances said, the larvae usually go on living/moving food so hopefully your delivery arrives soon. When feeding dead food stir it up now and then so it moves. Before developing their legs, the larvae do not hunt their food by smell but just by its movement.

 

[Bellabelloo]

My larvae developed at different rates, the wild type seemed to grow fastest and then melanoid, albino and leucistic. Some will be more voracious ( my new word!!) and will be first to eat all the food. I tended to put more food in than I thought I would need to try and counter balance this.

 

[ge0h0und]

Did you see them eat? As Frances said, the larvae usually go on living/moving food so hopefully your delivery arrives soon. When feeding dead food stir it up now and then so it moves. Before developing their legs, the larvae do not hunt their food by smell but just by its movement.

I see the normal ones eat, however its really hard to tell with the other 4. Since I'm not using live food, and the food they eat are so tiny it's hard to tell whether or not they're actually eating the food when they pop up or just getting some air.