Step by step journal on Triops rearing

[Aquatic Avenue]

Hi , Eugene here. In this thread I shall start a photo journal on my current Triops rearing project.

And here goes nothing.

Firstly what are they? In simple terms they are a kind of "instant pet", similar to the way seamonkeys work except they are BIGGER and only require simple fresh water instead of salt water.

Their life span is not exactly long, about 6weeks or more depending on how you keep. But if you are lucky, they can breed.

For more information you can refer to this great website written by an experienced Triops breeder. I do not take credit for this information : http://mytriops.com/articles/faq1.stm

There is an entire detailed article about triops in the provided website , just follow the buttons there and click away

And here comes the pictures i currently own.
Firstly the triops set we are using, RAINBOW UANTriops.

And the contents of the package

Firstly stick the temperature strip provided near the bottom of the exterior of the plastic container given.

Then fill the container with aged water, most preferably from an existing fish tank, for my case, the water is take directly from my CRS tank. If you have doubts about the quality of your tank water or do not own an existing tank, you can either leave water to stand for at lest 4 days to get rid of chlorine and whatever is harmful to fishes in the water OR use mineral water.

Fill the water till it is about 1inch deep, about 2.5cm.

Next add in the contents in the capsule labeled A, this is actually a mixture of sand and the triops egg. Normally there should be at least 10-20 eggs or more and about 10 or more will hatch depending on condition.

The content might float so do not worry and just stir them gently to make them sink.


The black/red specks are actually the eggs

After about 1 day being submerged in conditioned water, they will hatch into mini triops which are less than 1mm in size. May vary from transparent to slightly black.

Here is a link to a video of the newly hatched triops, from my friend who took the video for me :

Further pictures will be posted to update on the growth of the triops. The content in the capsule B is actually the food. This is only needed about 3-5days after the triops hatch. In the beginning they will eat their own egg shells and some other random debris.

[xconnect.]

i tot use drinking water not mineral water?

[Aquatic Avenue]

I think as long as no chlorine or whatever is added to our tap water to kill off bacteria is there can be used. My friend who took that video used mineral water and he is doing fine.

[AlexHcp]

Hi, I have reared and manage to breed some triops before going into planted scape.
To hatch the eggs try using distilled water, and continue to use distilled water to top up the container because they do not contain much mineral etc. Distilled water also get pretty good hatch rates. Breeding is pretty easy as they gets matured on 2 week++ or 3 weeks. Btw, would be good if u use very fine sands as substrate as trips like to move on the sand n scavenge for food. There are possibilities that eggs might hatch slower than each other, and the sad thing is, if u do not feed the triops well, they will cannibalize.. They are omnivores, and having some floating plant would be good as they can snack on anytime. Pretty messy pet in the long run, as they do mould alot, almost daily on the first 1 week++ ... Fatalities are usually caused by cannibalism, difficulty to mould and water issue. When they are 2 weeks+ old they should be quite hardy already.

[Aquatic Avenue]

Thanks for the information but won't distilled water kill them the moment they hatch because it is too pure? that is what the care sheet said if i am not wrong.

I am setting up a small 1feet rock and wood scape right now for them using cory sand. trying to decide whether to make it simply just rocks and wood without plants or partial submerged and plant emerged plants so that they cannot destroy the plants.

Will post some pictures once they are big enough for my camera to capture properly. Currently they are only about 2-3mm big

[AlexHcp]

Nah, they need very very clean waters in irder to hatch.. Any other water, will result in lower hatch rate and Aldo high fatality. Let's look at it this way: wild triops, they are born in puddles or mudfields etc, their egg must experience a 100% dry season, and the first rain that falls into that dried area with the eggs will induce the hatching. First rain is usually without impurities hence it's almost like distilled water, nothing and no mineral. Use some simple submerged plants, like moss etc, it can reduce the possibilities of cannibalism between them as it's a source of food for them. But then again, keep them well fed but not over fed... 1 important point to note, there is a possibility that your triops might die trying to moult, cause due to them lacking in iodine I think.. And if u do observe them when they are larger, they really have a very hard time moulting. Btw u know triops got different breed?

Sorry forget to add, they also need light to hatch, n I mean strong lights. If ur hatch rate is low, try shinning an led light at the container. It is 1 of the criteria for hatching. I usually shine mine for 48 hours non stop. If u do notice, the new hatched likes to swimming in the direction of the light (try putting the light at 1 end of the container, u will know what I meant)

Do not ever hatch them in a large tank, this is because the larvae feeds on detitrus, and imagine in a large tank, the detitrus per gallon is lesser, always hatch in a small container and transfer them over after a minimum of day 10.

[Aquatic Avenue]

haha ok my CRS tank water should be acceptable i think, CRSs are molting without problem in it. Yes i know there are different breeds but i am using this because it is the product i am selling and i am testing it out to make sure its workable.

My container is placed next to my CRS tank so there should be sufficient light, about 12 of them hatched and currently about 3mm size already. Planning to transfer them to the 1 feet i am setting up now soon.

Still new with this so any information is gladly welcomed. ( currently treating them like shrimps )

[Shaihulud]

You would be surprised by the mineral contents of our mineral water! I believe that they would eat CRS, also it would be hard to respawn them a second time after the 1st generation, because they the eggs that they laid would require complete drying out for a period before they hatch. Unless you intend to decomission your CRS tank...

[AlexHcp]

You would be surprised by the mineral contents of our mineral water! I believe that they would eat CRS, also it would be hard to respawn them a second time after the 1st generation, because they the eggs that they laid would require complete drying out for a period before they hatch. Unless you intend to decomission your CRS tank...

Haha I don't think he kept them with the crs, he kept beside it. And mineral content yes, that's why distilled is the best. And getting the egg is easy actually... Don't need to decomm just stir and they will float( most
Of the them) else, just look for the color difference and pic the eggs using the suck water tube

[Aquatic Avenue]

i do not keep them with my CRS , wouldn't want to risk them hunting my CRSs

Yeap read about how to harvest the eggs to get new generation. Guess other than the getting new generation part this is quite an easy pet.

The mineral water i am talking about is actually the brand that starts with D, apparently it is some kind of pure drinking water, not the "mineral" kind of mineral water.

[AlexHcp]

Pure drinking water still contain mineral, I think? Cause from what I know, distilled water are the only water that are puriest. Anyway u can always check the mineral contents behind the packaging of the bottle I suppose. I personally feel that the current UAN triops we have kind of grow too fast and very short life span. The species they gave are T.long, and I preferred T. Cali ( I think is spelled this way) personally. But the good thing is it grows very fast, and with a hard exterior, possible to use it as a feeder? Haha... I never reared any fish, might be getting some puffers and feed the triops to them.

I once tried put 4 triops of day 13 into my red cherry tank, at that time I only got 10 cherries, the triops gang and feast on 2 of them, which is almost the same size as them.

[Aquatic Avenue]

Hmm guess it is up to personal preference, some people like fast and some people like slow.

I think when they are still small fry can use to feed fish, i poked one of them and they are kind of soft.

Would be funny if the puffers get eaten But guess the puffer will win since i saw a small green indian puffer clear away my whole tank of mollies by eating their fins.

For something that survived since before the dinosaurs guess killing a few shrimps is not a big deal

[AlexHcp]

Haha, agreed, but what I am thinking is feeding them
When they are full grown. Currently their shell is still kinda soft. When they are during the larvae stage, I think they are too small to be fed to any fish... I want to see if there are ample food, will they co-exist with my shrimp peacefully ....

[Aquatic Avenue]

can feed to bettas i think

[AlexHcp]

Bettas? Haha I might try it then.. Bro your shop located near maxwell market? I might make a trip down see see, cause I always like to window shop at fish shop ...

[Aquatic Avenue]

Haha the shop address is just a letter box address where all the letters go. I do not have a physical shop, however whatever that i am selling would be posted here in the merchant market

[AlexHcp]

Oh, ok. May I check what do you have for sale? Able to provide a link? Thanks

[Aquatic Avenue]

Currently only triops. We just set up and have not much items yet.

[Aquatic Avenue]

Hi some updates, currently the triops are about 1cm long with 8 of them alive. 3 of them apparently got eaten by the others.

[AlexHcp]

Congrats! Its quite rare to get 8 hatchling out og UAN package, all the best for rearing them!