Triops: tank log

[LilGreenPuffer]

I seem to remember that it works like this... There are "spring eggs" and "winter eggs." The spring eggs hatch in the water, and if there's not lots of space and hiding places (moss, etc.), the adults will eat the hatchlings. The winter eggs need to be dried out and go through diapause. Some folks actually freeze the dry winter eggs to mimic a real winter.

[Nick]

They probably go crazy for the stinkiest foods - shrimp pellets smell like crazy. For that reason, when they're big, I recommend hikari sinking carnivore pellets. Most aromatic food I've ever fed, they stink so much my puffers will actually "sniff" them out and eat them even though they look nothing like the meaty, often live(nightcrawlers!) foods they are used to.

[riggers]

I'm finding this thread very interesting, they're fascinating little creatures! Shame they don't last a bit longer, they look fun to watch.

[Nick]

I was thinking about that - maybe get a fine plastic mesh that the eggs can fall through, but the babies would have trouble getting back through? So there would be an underworld of eggs. You could use some really fine gravel on top of that to give them something to muck around in(though they'd have to get much older to do it) and the babies could be collected and placed in a growout tank periodically. Perpetual triops!

[LilGreenPuffer]

You should try and rig one of those up and see how it works sometime, Nick. And I'll look for some stinky foods. I have tons of prepared food already, so I'll probably try to avoid buying much more, but maybe they'll like some thawed-out seafood.

I had a scare last night - one of my triops got stuck in the flame moss and I had to cut the poor thing loose. I was terrified of hurting him, but he's fine this morning.

For those of you who are wondering about how much to feed, I read on mytriops.com that they need to eat 40% of their body weight daily.

Their growth rate is slowing down a little now, with the biggest ones being a little over an inch. I hope they don't stop yet - I'm hoping for some three-inchers!

[Nick]

I'm pretty sure that the growth rate isn't actually slowed that much yet - with these shelled boogers, they can only grow visibly by molting, and as they get larger, they can cram more new size into each shell, and molt less often. So they'll just be growing in sudden bursts with each molt now, less gradual-seeming.

[LilGreenPuffer]

They did have a growth spurt! I was gone for two days, and I was worried that they wouldn't do so well without twice-daily feedings, but they did fine. They had live (and dead) plants to munch on, anyway. But as soon as they saw the shrimp pellets raining down from the heavens, they were up at the surface, backstroking and grabbing pellets. It was so cute. The largest one is 2".

I've noticed that they haven't eaten their molted exoskeletons.

They had their first big water change, almost 100%. I drained it down to about 3/4", just enough to keep them covered. They weren't too excited about it, and the biggest one seemed disoriented afterwards. They seem to be okay, though.

[J-P]

are you still using distilled water or are you using dechlorinated aged tap?

[LilGreenPuffer]

Dechlorinated tap, but I'm not aging it. I don't have space to age water.

[J-P]

Good to know My 5 gal is ready to go just have to find the energy to go with it

[LilGreenPuffer]

A friend and I are starting a triops forum over the next couple weeks. Do come join us when we get started.

[LilGreenPuffer]

Over the past week-ish, their shells have taken on a marbled gray pattern. Their molted exoskeletons have a pearly rainbow sheen.


Day 14:



There's a molted exoskeleton on the left.









Day 17 (today):

[LilGreenPuffer]

Today, day 18, I lost a triops. I'm not sure if it was one of the older ones, but I think it was - maybe 15-26 days old. (Average lifespan: 30-50 days.) A couple of them continue to appear somewhat disoriented.

[J-P]

Love the photos.

I thought it depended on the breed... I thought some had shorter and some had longer life spans.

[LilGreenPuffer]

30-50 is the average for this species.