Ever thought of adding Triops to your tank?

[Quatermass]

Are you are interested in adding an interesting companion to your
freshwater Aquarium? Then can I interest you in the Triops creature?

These come in lots of species but the three most popular are:

Triops cancriformis (Europe)

Triops longicaudatus (USA)

Triops australiensis (Australia)

Often called Dinosaur, Shield or Tadpole Shrimps, these creatures grow
from a *tiny* dry egg into a creature up to *8cm* (3 inches) long in
only a few weeks and are one of the most active creatures alive!

As well as being fascinating creatures (they are the oldest living
animal on Earth at 220+ million years) due to their unique life cycle,
very little is actually known about the species as a whole. Aquatists
are still discovering new things to science about them.

They are very easy to keep and due to their nature, toy shops across
the world sell them as science kits for kids young and old.

They make a good, very low cost way for beginners wishing to get in to
keeping fish too.
It is often said that if you can keep a Triops alive, then maybe you
can keep a goldfish alive?
So they make a good low cost starter for parents who have children
asking to keep fish. Give them a packet of Triops eggs and a small bowl
and you're away!

Triops are also good for any freshwater Aquatist to keep. I have them
in my Aquarium as they eat algae, really keep your substrata clean, are
harmless to other fish and you'll get a really good reaction from your
friends!

Feel free to visit http://mytriops.com/ where you can find out
extensive information, pictures, video, mailing list on how to raise
these remarkable creatures.

(I'm trying to raise awareness of this remarkable creature and I'm not
selling anything.)

Stuart Halliday
http://mytriops.com/

[Eric Schreiber]

Quatermass wrote:

> Are you are interested in adding an interesting companion to your
> freshwater Aquarium? Then can I interest you in the Triops creature?

I received a "grow your own triops" package for Christmas a few years
ago. Unfortunately I only had one hatch, but it was indeed a cool
looking critter.

I didn't have any fishtanks at the time, but it's an interesting idea.
I fed my triops the dry food that came in the kit, but your post
mentioned that in your tanks they eat algae (always a good thing!)...
do they also eat higher plants? If they're primarily algae eaters and
scavengers, they should do as well (and be as welcome) in a freshwater
setup as ghost shrimp.


--
Eric Schreiber
www.ericschreiber.com

[Quatermass]

They will nibble at any exposed plant roots if they can't find any food
lying around. I tend to feed them on bits of carrots, brine shrimp
jelly and catfish pellets. They'll eat anything lying on the bottom.

They also tend to dig a little into the substrate in order to lay their
eggs after 7-10 days. But how deep depends on how big the particles of
your substrate is. I use coral sand which are about 2mm in size and
they lay the eggs on the surface. Lots of tiny red dots everywhere! You
can use these to hatch out more.

If you look in
http://mytriops.com/gallery/youngtriops/PICT4783_filtered you can see
some egg laying pics.

Though they tend to stay on the bottom, on occasion you'll hatch out a
braver fellow that takes to swimming in large cart wheels as it tries
to feed off the surface upside down.

[Mean_Chlorine]

Actually I hadn't thought of it - I assumed they were like Artemia,
and totally defenceless against fish.

But I take it they are capable of coexisting with peaceful fish?

If so I suspect I will probably get some.

[Quatermass]

Oh yes, I've had Dwarf Gourami's, mollies, bronze corys, angelfish,
indian glassy fish in with them!

[Eric Schreiber]

Quatermass wrote:

> They will nibble at any exposed plant roots if they can't find any
> food lying around.

Hello, my name is Eric, and I... <sob> I'm an overfeeder.

They shouldn't have a problem finding food :)

> They also tend to dig a little into the substrate in order to lay
> their eggs after 7-10 days. But how deep depends on how big the
> particles of your substrate is.

That's not a problem - I have a thousand or so Malaysian trumpets
snails constantly churning the gravel (Flourite), so one more species
poking at it won't hurt anything. There's almost no chance I'd be able
to see any eggs, though, on that multi-colored gravel.

Thanks for the interesting idea. Next time I stumble across some in a
store I may have to give them a try.

--
Eric Schreiber
www.ericschreiber.com