Triops

[LucyHurst]

I bought some Triop eggs today, as I've heard people talking about them online and they look really cool. So I think I'll try my hand at raising them.

The instructions are REALLY specific. they go on about not using dechlorinated water, only spring water or they will die.. is that true or are they just trying to sell more water!?
It comes with a thing that looks like a teabag, they say it is a water conditioner with all the nutrients they need in the first 8 days.
It also said, they dont hatch if they are in more than 1 litre of water.. is that true?
..aaalso.. they say they only live for a few weeks.. but I think someone said that theirs lived for longer. Maybe its because the intructions say "they must be kept in a small plastic or glass tank" And suggest 1 gallon as a good size.
Since they apparently grow to about 2".. I guess they need more water than this.. and if I give them that they will live longer right?
I'm thinking of splitting the tub of eggs and raising one lot on their intructions and one lot on my instincts/fish/creature/keeping knowledge and see which is right

I found the exact instructions I have.. http/www.triops.com/trouble.htm

 

[littleme1969]

Sea Monkeys ..YAY
I bought some of these for my son as a kit. They did really well, even bred too. Lived for about 3 months until I killed them by replacing too much of the water at once. Dont quote me on this, but as far as I know they are the same as Brine Shrimp you buy for your fish as food .. Brine shrimp live in salt water not fresh water, thats why mine died. If you upset the salt balance too much they die quickly.
As far as 2" in size..lol more like 1cm max and I kept mine in a small plastic container that came with the kit.

I;m sure someone will tell me i'm wrong here..lol

 

[LucyHurst]

lol You are a little bit wrong I bought Triops, which do the same thing as sea monkeys (the dry eggs thing) but are bigger a weeeey cooler!

They look like this: http/www.fischbar.de/triops/triops_1.jpg
Like minature horseshoe crabs

 

[littleme1969]

LOL. I know I should have shut my mouth, or maybe stuck my foot in at as I opened it..ROFL

Wow they look great, almost prehistoric . Youll have to post some pics for us when they get going

 

[three-fingers]

I bought some Triop eggs today, as I've heard people talking about them online and they look really cool. So I think I'll try my hand at raising them.

The instructions are REALLY specific. they go on about not using dechlorinated water, only spring water or they will die.. is that true or are they just trying to sell more water!?
It comes with a thing that looks like a teabag, they say it is a water conditioner with all the nutrients they need in the first 8 days.
It also said, they dont hatch if they are in more than 1 litre of water.. is that true?
..aaalso.. they say they only live for a few weeks.. but I think someone said that theirs lived for longer. Maybe its because the intructions say "they must be kept in a small plastic or glass tank" And suggest 1 gallon as a good size.
Since they apparently grow to about 2".. I guess they need more water than this.. and if I give them that they will live longer right?
I'm thinking of splitting the tub of eggs and raising one lot on their intructions and one lot on my instincts/fish/creature/keeping knowledge and see which is right

I found the exact instructions I have.. http/www.triops.com/trouble.htm

You need to use spring water/deionized/distilled to hatch them-but after they hatch slowly topping up the tank and water changing with dechloranated stuff is fine .
One gallon is fine for a few triops, but the more space the better. I had 8 in a 3.3 gallon, but they never lived any longer-only 56 days(if i remember correctly), probably due to density.
One day im going to make a really good triops website with answers to most if not all frequent questions, but in the meantime there is always mytiops.com .

 

[LucyHurst]

Cool, thanks three-fingers

I have that little conditioning bag in some srping water at the moment.. and I will put the eggs in soon so they should hatch tomorrow sometime

I'll post some pics and stuff too

 

[three-fingers]

I'll post some pics and stuff too

Yay! Pictures are always good .

 

[LucyHurst]

Is it normal that the eggs float?
It says something in the instructions about them falling to the bottom.. but mine are all floating.

 

[three-fingers]

The eggs are supposed to float, yes .
It takes a little while for all the microscopic chambers in the eggs to fill with water and sink to the bottom-where they will hatch.
That is why you should not use tap water or any water with a high dry residue content, the chambers wont fill due to all the minerals and microscopic debris floating about in the water clogging them up. In my experience, some eggs have bigger chambers though-this is why in some triops aquariums you can have a never ending supply of hatched triops without drying the tank out. A temporary pool filled with rainwater has very little dissolved minerals and the like in it .

Just try to make sure the eggs don't stick to the side .

Brine shrimp live in salt water not fresh water, that's why mine died. If you upset the salt balance too much they die quickly.

You should have got fairy shrimp . Get bigger than sea monkeys and the species you get in packets have cool antler like things and have red colouring on their tails. They are freshwater, so much easier to look after too. I like them more than sea monkeys because they are 100% natural, unlike sea monkeys which are a lab created frankenstein brine shrimp . You quite frequently get these hatching out with triops eggs that are collected with dirt from the bottom of ponds, or you can buy them from triops.co.uk .

Wow they look great, almost prehistoric

That's because they are . Triops Cancriformis(not the ones lucy fish has or the one sin the picture) are the oldest living animal species on the planet.

 

[LucyHurst]

Oh It makes so much more sense now (with the floatyness and stuff)
They should be hatching by midday tomorrow!

So what species will mine be? I figured they'd be those Cancriformis ones..

 

[three-fingers]

Nope, you can only get T.Cancriformis from the Internet, only a couple of websites in English. I can guarantee yours will be T.longicaudatus the American species. T.longicaudatus and T.Australiensis(sold as 'billabong bugs') are the only ones you can buy in shops, and T.Australiensis is very rare because the manufactuar who sold them in kits isn't selling them at the moment at they have only ever been available in Australia.

You can occasionally buy T.Australiensis(eggs in sand only)from cornishcrispa.com(only British website selling them, and the only one in English), and i just got some a few days ago.
You can buy T.cancriformis from triops.cc(as kits or just eggs), which is the only website in English selling them that i can think of at the moment, that's where i got mine from too. They are more expensive too.

T.longicaudatus is the species that you buy in all other kits.

 

[LucyHurst]

I got mine from a shop. They are by an american manufacturer. So must be those T.longicaudatus

They hatched!!! There are loads of little white things buzzing about in there!

 

[madhorse7]

I got mine from a shop. They are by an american manufacturer. So must be those T.longicaudatus

They hatched!!! There are loads of little white things buzzing about in there!

Can I keep African Dwarf Frogs with adult Triops?

 

[three-fingers]

Can I keep African Dwarf Frogs with adult Triops?

Yes . Not with T.Cancriformis though, they will grow and eat the frogs.

 

[LucyHurst]

These are of the other day. I've circled each Triop in red..
http/i11.photobucket.com/albums/a184/fishiephotos/new1.jpg

http/i11.photobucket.com/albums/a184/fishiephotos/new3.jpg

http/i11.photobucket.com/albums/a184/fishiephotos/new2.jpg

In this one.. erm. You cant really see them. It was when they first hatched, so it shows that they went from hardly visible to what you see in the above pics in about 2 days

http/i11.photobucket.com/albums/a184/fis...andstuff002.jpg

I have newer ones of the last 2 days.. but they are still on the camera.. so.. coming soooooon