This is a page about Triops, and it tells you how to care for your Triops, and how to make them flourish.
T. longicaudatus is the Triops species that most people accuire
in kits. It is also very easy to raise. It can grow to about 2 inches long.
There is also the European species T. cancriformis, which grows MUCH slower than
T. longicaudatus, but can grow larger. The Australien species of Triops,
T. australiensis, is one species I am not very familiar with, but I know that
it is also very easy to grow.
First of all, you will need the Triops eggs. You can accuire T. longicaudatus
eggs from many places.
Search the web for "Triops", or take a look at the links below.
After you have the eggs, you will need a container for the Triops to
live in. A mature Triops needs from 2-4 liters, or 0.5-1 gallon,
of water for optimal growth. The tanks that come with the kits that one
might buy only hold about one liter. That is hardly enough for one Triops
to live in, let alone three or four. But, if you don't mind watching your
Triops suffer a little and experience cannibalism, then I suppose those tanks
will do. But, if you want to have healthy Triops and watch them lay eggs,
then a five to ten gallon tank will do nicely.
After you have some Triops
eggs and a suitible tank, you can add sand or gravel to your tank. Sand or gravel
is optional. If you have either of these, you Triops will most definitely lay eggs
in it. Triops also will dig like mad if they have sand. I use ocean sand that
I got from Petco. Washed play sand would work just fine. But check the ingredients of your sand: you don't want any lava
rock or pine bark. Lava rock makes it hard for Triops to molt, or shed their skin.
I'm not sure what pine bark does, but a while back, I just heard that it's not good
for them. I also read somewhere that it irritates moths, and I would assume it does the same for Triops. But I don't see why anyone would add pine bark to their Triops tank anyway.
As always, wash off your sand or gravel with water before you add it to your tank.
You can also add plastic decorations to your tank.
Now, after you have eggs,
a tank, and sand, you will then need food for you ever-so-hungry Triops. If you
have bought a Triops kit, then it will come with food that is for Triops. But, if
you haven't bought a kit, you can then buy some high-quality tropical fish pellets
from you local pet store. Triops also enjoy parboiled (boiled for 3 min.) carrots,
potatoes, and lettuce. But cut the pieces of carrots and potatoes etc. into SMALL
pieces. One baby carrot will last one week or more, depending on the amount of
Triops that you have. Plus, you can include live aquarium plants, such as elodea, in your
tank for you Triops to eat.
But, baby Triops will require MUCH smaller sized
pieces of food, and a whole lot less amount of food too. Triops tend to eat about
40% of their body wait in food a day, but considering how small baby Triops are,
that's not a lot! So, if you were one of those people who bought a Triops kit,
then it will most likely come with something called a "nutrient packet", something
that looks like a tea bag. In it is something called detritus, and it is dead plant
matter with little, dormant micro-organisms in it. Your baby Triops will feed upon
them. But, occasionally, a detritus bag will have the eggs of fairy shrimp, little
seamonkey creatures. They might stay in the tank for a little while, but eventually,
it will "magically" disappear one day, and you might see its remains in the jaws of
a Triops :) After your baby Triops have been alive and well for 3 or so days, you
can feed them some baby fish food, or crushed fish/Triops pellets.
Now on the
matter of hatching your eggs. The eggs should be hatched in a container with one
or so liters of water, so that your baby Triops can find their food more easily.
You should use distilled water for hatching your eggs. Tap water will prevent them
from hatching and will kill them. Also, use a lamp of some kind to keep your tank
temperature around 75-85 degrees Fahrenheit, otherwise they will not hatch. In about
a day or two, your babies will hatch. They will, of course, be incredibly small, not much bigger than the eggs they hatched out of. You'll know if you have Triops if the tiny things that are swimming around swim with 'two little arms', moving up and down.
After they have hatched and have been
alive for 5-7 days, you can then transfer them into their permanent tank. The new
tank water should be almost exactly the same temperature as the hatching tank water,
so let the water sit for a day. But, in your new tank, don't have 40 liters (10 gallons)
just waiting for your Triops if you started them in 1 liter. Have your new tank hold
slightly more water than your hatching tank so as not to shock the poor things. Slowly,
day by day, add spring water to the new tank to get your Triops aquanted with the new
amount of water. Hopefully, your Triops will make it.
If you want to add a
filter, add it when the Triops are at least a weak old, so they don't get sucked in
and die a horrible death. But, in that time, you can add a pump, so the Triops have
air. They will also develop faster with air. The filters that you can use are internal,
external, sponge, undergravel, and filters powered by pumps, such as the Penn Plax SWF-1,
which won't suck in baby Triops. Internal, sponge, undergravel, and the pump powered filters
are probably the best. External filters usually cause a strong current, which isn't
natural for Triops, since they would live in quiet, temporary pools of rain water in the
wild. But, if you have no filter, then a 25% water change every once or twice a week will
be ok (though you should do a 10% water change every week if you have a filter). But use spring water when changing water.
Some of the reasons that Triops
die in captivity are because of over-feeding, under-feeding, tap water, way too small space,
build up of waste in a tank, and being sucked into filters. Cannibalism will also happen,
but that is usually only because they can't find any food.