Old Triops

[OpalineAqua]

Like 2 years ago I got this kit I ordered in the mail with Triops eggs or something, and a little aquarium and food for them. The kit has been sitting around for 2 years, and I was wondering if they would still be good to use. And if not where can I buy a Triops?

 

[OpalineAqua]

Anyone there?

 

[keithp]

They can last for a long time like that, I would say there good still.

 

[loraxchick]

they should be fine...similar to brine shrimp "sea monkeys" the eggs can survive for increadibly long periods. give it a try...if they hatch AWESOME...if not, time to get some new ones

 

[three-fingers]

Like 2 years ago I got this kit I ordered in the mail with Triops eggs or something, and a little aquarium and food for them. The kit has been sitting around for 2 years, and I was wondering if they would still be good to use. And if not where can I buy a Triops?

They should still be perfect. May even get a higher hatch rate.

Though it should be noted that the 'aquarium' that comes with the kit is too small and you wont get the most out of them (they wont get as big or live as long because of ammonia in the water).

It's best to keep them with a sponge filter and in something around 10L or larger if you want them to grow to a decent size and live as long as they can.

 

[OpalineAqua]

I'll try finding them a larger tank this weekend, and we'll see if they hatch!

 

[saltynay]

I am a bit of a triop expert if I may say myself I have kept loads of the little buggers. Recently been teaching someone how to setup a tank to get the optimum size out of them which you may find an interesting read] its about the third page that we start discussing setting up a tank to get them at their largest potential size.

 

[three-fingers]

I am a bit of a triop expert

'Triops' is both the singular and plural, 'triop' shouldn't be used .

Very picky and annoying I know, but I couldn't help myself! (sorry)

I never bother cycling triops tanks, they start off so small and produce such little waste at that time that it's way overkill, especially since they are relatively tolerant of ammonia. I find the algae growing in the tank easily handles the tiny amount of ammonia.

 

[saltynay]

True but any levels of ammonia have shown to cause triops to not gain their full potential size and become slightly stumped, its not as important as the high oxygen levels needed to attain particularly large specimens but it does have an effect. I think it was the university florida who had a journal on it but can't seem to find it from a quick google atm.

 

[three-fingers]

The levels of ammonia don't even show up on our aquarium test kits, oxygen levels are very easy to keep up by using a container with a high surface area to volume or any water movement.

Putting several adults triops into an uncycled tank could have issues (not necessarily the end of the world though), but cycling isnt an issue at all if you grow the triops up in their tank and is a waste of time .

It's good letting people understand the nitrogen cycle however.

 

[saltynay]

Triops eat 40% of their body mass each day although this sounds high for a larval triops it isn't very much so its very easy to overfeed them and soil the tank. This causes oxygen levels to fluctuate leading to a slower metabolic rate for the triops and thus leading to ultimately a smaller size. The guy wanted the largest triops possible so I gave him information which will have that effect.

Putting them in an environment with un-naturally high levels of oxygen has been proven to allow them to attain larger then natural size.

The influence of fluctuations of ambient oxygen tensions and temperature on the rate of oxygen consumption (VO2) was determined for the tadpole shrimp, Triops longicaudatus. VO2 was oxygen dependent up to 185 torr PO2, and Q10 for oxygen consumption between 20{deg} and 30{deg}C was 1.9. From these results it was estimated that oxygen consumption increases more than 1100 {mu}l {middot} g-1 {middot} h-1 in T. longicaudatus for typical diurnal changes in temperature and oxygen in desert ephemeral pools. Elevated VO2 may be coupled with increased growth rate and fecundity, because these characteristics were highly sensitive to changes in ambient temperature and oxygen tension. Depressing mean daily temperatures by 2.3{deg}C significantly decreased body mass, whereas hyperoxia (200 torr) significantly increased growth compared to that of animals raised under hypoxic conditions (70 torr). Fecundity was dependent on animal mass and ambient oxygen tension. Thus, for a 22-day season, one T. longicaudatus female could produce 30 more eggs per 10 torr increase in oxygen tension and 43 more eggs per 1{deg}C change in mean daily temperature. These results indicate that there are selective pressures for metabolic sensitivity to the high temperature-high oxygen conditions of the ephemeral environments inhabited by T. longicaudatus.

Source: D. A. Scholnick
University of Colorado, Department of E.P.O. Biology, Boulder, Colorado 80309

 

[three-fingers]

I'm certainly not trying to imply you gave any bad advice!
I've not even read through the thread, just thought I'd share my thoughts on the subject from what I quickly skimmed .

The way I raise them I find its incredibly difficult to overfeed, since I rely on infusoria and algae as a food source for quite a while, the key is just providing light and detritus. By the time prepared foods are fed, the tank ecosystem is fully capable of processing any waste/excess food though a combination of the algae and bacteria , the amounts of waste are so small at the start its like how planted tanks don't require cycling, and by the time the algae cant cope with the waste bacterial colonies are established enough to do so. Cycling triops tanks would really be a waste of time for this reason.
Just skimmed over the thread, and you didn't even advise to do that, don't really see why your indicating it's an issue in response to my comment.

Oxygen levels are usually completely saturated unless you are keeping them in something stupidly small or with a low surface to volume ratio (for example the pathetic round 'tanks' that come with some kits). Provided you are keeping them in a suitable container it's not really something you can increase short of injecting bottles oxygen into the water to super-saturate it (not even sure that would work). I often even see algae "pearl" in triops tanks.

The study however doesn't actually mention 'natural' and 'unnatural' sizes/O2 concentrations from what I can see, it simply indicates that lower oxygen concentrations result in smaller triops .