Triops pics

[Farom]

Took a few pics of my triops the other day, and a few of them came out decent.

Enjoy!

 

[Mithrandir]

nice creatures

 

[Stylopidae]

I've always loved those and now I get a 10% discount at my walmart where they sell those...hmmm

 

[cacoseraph]

what a strange looking... er... thing!?

that's awesome

 

[Texas Blonde]

Really neat! How long do they live? What do you feed them? I have seen little kits for sale at the local craft store, are those the same kind of thing?

 

[Scythemantis]

I don't think they live very long. They live in deserts in the wild, spending most of their lives as dried-up eggs until the rainy season comes, then they hatch and breed in the puddles before it starts all over again.

I've tried them twice, and both times, only one of mine ever grew. This occurs because they are SO ravenously cannibalistic the first one to hatch can just swim around and eat every egg. Eggs are too numerous in the wild for this to make a difference but they can't give you that many with the kits.

 

[Thoth]

Mine only lived for 3-4 months got pretty big too (2.5-3 inches). I had two grow but the smaller one died off pretty quickly. Really fun to watch though.

The kit claims that they can lay eggs parthenogenically so after yours dies just let the water evaporate and everything dry out then add water again and the new batch of eggs would hatch. Never tried it though.

 

[Farom]

Yeah, this is like my 4th or 5th try with them, and I finally got things right. I got 4 to survive to adult, and they're already laying eggs at 17 days old(I first noticed that they were carrying eggs around 2 days ago).

They're crustacean's, live in temporary ponds, and live anywhere from 1-3 months. When the ponds dry up, the eggs go into a state of diapause until the pond fills up again. They're scavengers that eat just about anything they happen to bump into, but they love any vegetable matter.

Thanks,
Andrew

P.S. If you look closely in pic 2, you can see the eggs it is carrying.

 

[RVS]

When I tried I got several to survive out of my kit (probably around 6). I also got a couple other crustaceans (fairy shrimp) too! Must have been a good batch.

 

[Scolopendra55]

They are really easy to keep and are fun to watch. They also like to eat little feeder fish which is fun to watch also!

 

[druid8783]

Are they really as sensitive as the box says? I bought the kit from walmart but never did it.

 

[Farom]

Well, all of mine kicked the bucket the other day. I think it has something to do with the carrot I put in there for them to snack on.

I poured out most of the water, and am leaving the rest to evaporate on its own. I wonder how many eggs these guys presented me with before they died...:}

 

[Buspirone]

Code Monkey is rather fond of Triops and he has some good info on them available on his homepage. Since he's not around I'll post the link if anyone is interested:

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/channum/contents_triops.htm

 

[mantid]

Nice pics, too bad they don't live that long

 

[Ganoderma]

"They are really easy to keep and are fun to watch. They also like to eat little feeder fish which is fun to watch also!"

so putting htem in an aquarium with fish would be bad then i guess?

they sound like a good cleaner otherwise. better than shrimp?

 

[Nick_schembri]

These things give me the creeps....had a nightmare about them when i was young.....only they wer huge! 4 foot triops

 

[druid8783]

Thanks for the link Buspirone. It was a great read. I definately want to try them now. They don't sound as sensitive as the package indicates which is a huge relief. I can't wait to get started with them.

 

[Stylopidae]

Could I raise these little guys in a half gallon fishbowl?

After seeing these pics, I now want to try them

 

[Thoth]

Half a gallon is more than enough, the instruction tell you to use 1 liter of water.

 

[Stylopidae]

Half a gallon is more than enough, the instruction tell you to use 1 liter of water.

I'm just worried about oxygenation