Triop Help?

[conner2008]

Hey guys and gals i just got my triops toghther and am ready to start hatching them tomorrow.
I have demineralised water, food light and eggs.
(yes i searched )
There has been some debate over the amount if light that is needed for triops to hatch, some suggest (the panflet i got with my tank) that 12 hours a day is enought but others say the first 3 days they need constant light?

Another one of my problems is, im hatching them in a 9 litre tank that will have about just under half filled with demineralised water do i have to hatch them in the small tank first?

The sand ive gotten with the kit is such a small bag it simply wont do, its like a handful of sand, i know it coral sand and ive done absoloutly everything i can to get hold of more coral sand but i cant, so ive got normal sand insted, will they be okay with the larger granules and will they still lay there eggs in it?

One last important question, will my triops be okay after a few days if the heat drops to normal indoor temperature of a house in a bedroom upstairs? i dont mean with the heating on as it is not on 24/7 i mean just on a normal winters day will the temperature inside the house remain high enought to keep them happy?

i really really really appreciate any help you can give me.

 

[three-fingers]

Hey guys and gals i just got my triops toghther and am ready to start hatching them tomorrow.
I have demineralised water, food light and eggs.
(yes i searched )
There has been some debate over the amount if light that is needed for triops to hatch, some suggest (the panflet i got with my tank) that 12 hours a day is enought but others say the first 3 days they need constant light?

12 hours is fine but IME 3 days is much better. More light=more algae=more infusoria=more food for baby triops.
As long as the temperature of the water doest get way too high or the lamp doesn't overheat.
That's assuming the eggs have come in detritus or you have the detritus in that teabag thingie.

Another one of my problems is, im hatching them in a 9 litre tank that will have about just under half filled with demineralised water do i have to hatch them in the small tank first?

That would be fine, with a larger volume of water I'd keep the light on the full 3 days though, it's less likely to get too hot and you need a higher concentration of infusoria for the baby triops to actually be able to find enough food.

The sand ive gotten with the kit is such a small bag it simply wont do, its like a handful of sand, i know it coral sand and ive done absoloutly everything i can to get hold of more coral sand but i cant, so ive got normal sand insted, will they be okay with the larger granules and will they still lay there eggs in it?

I don't know what kit your talking about, but most kits just come with regular sand. All the triops kits I've had just came with regular silicone sand.
I'm also not sure what you mean by 'normal sand', though I guess you just mean aquarium pea gravel. If that's the case, it's fine . They will lay eggs but you wont get as many since it's easier for them to eat them.

One last important question, will my triops be okay after a few days if the heat drops to normal indoor temperature of a house in a bedroom upstairs? i dont mean with the heating on as it is not on 24/7 i mean just on a normal winters day will the temperature inside the house remain high enought to keep them happy?

I would assume you have Triops longicaudatus, so that's a hard question to answer without knowing where you live or knowing anything about the insulation in your house. T.longicaudatus that come with kits don't respond well when the temperature drops below 15 degrees celcius, and die within hours when it drops below 10 degrees celcius.

 

[conner2008]

Hey bud, i really really really appreciated your reply, the sand ive got is not very fine its apprently the kind of sand you "put in a birdcage, the same kind you will get on the beach"-

I would also like to buy some of your eggs (yes search yes found your trading eggs) for whatever price you want to set aside after my first set of triops have died, i know i should realisticly have eggs in the sand but i wouldnt mind some backup eggs in for any reason it all goes wrong so ive you wouldnt mind setting along a price for me? as i dont have anything aquariaum wise you would want to trade

 

[three-fingers]

I'm unfamiliar with what sand is used in bird cages, but if it's sand that's collected from the beach you should avoid it, because even after washing it will contain too much salt for the triops. If it's the kind of grit-like stuff I'm thinking of then I'm unsure as to whether it will be clean enough for aquarium use, it could have anything used on like even bleach to make it whiter...I have no idea, but I wouldn't risk it.
I'd just go to a big tescos/argos/B&Q/homebase or where ever and buy a big huge bag of 'play sand'. While you will get WAY more than you need for that tank, a huge bag only costs £3-£4 and works great with triops. Coral sand isn't needed at all, it raises the pH and hardness of the water which is basically the opposite of the water conditions found at most T.longicaudatus locations in the wild.
Just make sure you only use 'demineralised' water to hatch them, as it's basically too pure to use all the time and results in moulting defects if you use it too much.

Unfortunately I don't have enough cysts left to trade or give away, sorry .

 

[conner2008]

I'm unfamiliar with what sand is used in bird cages, but if it's sand that's collected from the beach you should avoid it, because even after washing it will contain too much salt for the triops. If it's the kind of grit-like stuff I'm thinking of then I'm unsure as to whether it will be clean enough for aquarium use, it could have anything used on like even bleach to make it whiter...I have no idea, but I wouldn't risk it.
I'd just go to a big tescos/argos/B&Q/homebase or where ever and buy a big huge bag of 'play sand'. While you will get WAY more than you need for that tank, a huge bag only costs £3-£4 and works great with triops. Coral sand isn't needed at all, it raises the pH and hardness of the water which is basically the opposite of the water conditions found at most T.longicaudatus locations in the wild.
Just make sure you only use 'demineralised' water to hatch them, as it's basically too pure to use all the time and results in moulting defects if you use it too much.

Unfortunately I don't have enough cysts left to trade or give away, sorry .

Damn so how long should i leave them in this water for? 2 litre's of demineralised water they havent hatched yet but when should i start changing the water? 25% a day right? why is this so hard when everywhere says its so easy lol so should i go and get some spring water when do i transfer them over to the spring water and how? will leaving them in the demineralised water for 3 days be too long? otherwise im pritty screwed down to the fact you should only change the water 25% a day, and that the detritus is in the water with them which they need to eat for the first 3 days

 

[conner2008]

Also if you want if i get alot of eggs in the tank id be happy to help you out if youve ran out of eggs i'll just send it bagged up in an envelope

 

[three-fingers]

Nah it's cool, I'll have a small amount of T.cancriformis eggs once my current tank is gone, and I still have about 3 of the detritus packs for T.longicaudatus, cheers though .
The water doesnt stay demineralised for long (as there are minerals in the detritus that effect the water), but it's just not enough for a big healthy triops, don't worry about it too much, 3 days is fine.
Don't add any more water until they are feeding on powdered flakes or whatever you are giving them, on the day you start that, slowly start filling the tank up with more spring water, or water treated with aquarium water conditioner.

 

[conner2008]

Nah it's cool, I'll have a small amount of T.cancriformis eggs once my current tank is gone, and I still have about 3 of the detritus packs for T.longicaudatus, cheers though .
The water doesnt stay demineralised for long (as there are minerals in the detritus that effect the water), but it's just not enough for a big healthy triops, don't worry about it too much, 3 days is fine.
Don't add any more water until they are feeding on powdered flakes or whatever you are giving them, on the day you start that, slowly start filling the tank up with more spring water, or water treated with aquarium water conditioner.

Hey bud im really glad your online now, my triops were started off yesterday and they still havent hatched? all the conditions are right do you have any idea what is going on?
EDIT: i have a hatcling today and other pin head sized creatures, i really hope i havent just got one, but should i feed them today? or wait 3 days until after they hatched, i mean this is day 3 of the whole thing but it doesnt say wether to feed them day 3 after you see them hatch or day 3 after you first put them in the water? iam unsure which way to go because if they dont get fed enought they die and if they are overfed they die.

 

[three-fingers]

With the light on for 3 days they wont starve, better not to feed enough than feed too much,

They can take a while to hatch, and are very unpredictable, only some of the cysts will hatch on the first rehydration, some more the second dehydration and so on. Water parameters also effect hatching, hardness, pH, ect.

 

[conner2008]

Thanks for all your help buddy,
I know im probably getting on you nerves by now, but theres alot of questions i just cant seem to find the answers to on the net
One of my 3 hatchlings died last night, his covered in this cotton fungus and the water looks quit alot cloudier than it did yesterday, im going to remove it (somehow) but how can i clean the water without them dieing? Today im going to get some spring water and going to remove a cup or two out of the tank then add a cup or two of the warmed up spring water (im somehow going to warm that water to the temperature without removing the light from the tank, again im going to have to figure this one out,

One more question do i have to remove the ditritus? because thats what might be making the water dirty, only problem is that its all sunken to the bottom so getting it out will be another thing im going to have to figure out.

 

[conner2008]

Thanks for all your help buddy,
I know im probably getting on you nerves by now, but theres alot of questions i just cant seem to find the answers to on the net
One of my 3 hatchlings died last night, his covered in this cotton fungus and the water looks quit alot cloudier than it did yesterday, im going to remove it (somehow) but how can i clean the water without them dieing? Today im going to get some spring water and going to remove a cup or two out of the tank then add a cup or two of the warmed up spring water (im somehow going to warm that water to the temperature without removing the light from the tank, again im going to have to figure this one out,

One more question do i have to remove the ditritus? because thats what might be making the water dirty, only problem is that its all sunken to the bottom so getting it out will be another thing im going to have to figure out.

Oh yeah and also alot of water dissapeared today when the water got cloudy? i havent changed any water yet im going to do it tomorrow, have no idea what is going on and its worrying me because i cant go another 3 days with the light on in my bedroom because my sleep is getting affected and thats the only place i can have them, so i cant do it all again for a while,
do i have to heat the water i add first or can i just ad some and remove some without them being too badly effected?
i cant find my other triop it seems there just one, but i cant find its body or anything.

 

[three-fingers]

Don't worry about the detritus, it's doing more good than harm.
Cloudy water at this stage is unusual unless it's a green cloudy in which case it's normal (just algae growing) and don't worry. Whitish cloudy is a sign of toxic ammonia build up, so a water change would be a good idea.
You don't have to heat the water up as long as it's not stupidly cold - rain usually isn't that warm, in fact it's considerably cooler than shallow triops pools.
You can turn the light of too, it's not totally necessary, I just find it helps over the first few days.
Triops can and will eat each other if given the chance, that's probably where the other one went.

 

[conner2008]

Don't worry about the detritus, it's doing more good than harm.
Cloudy water at this stage is unusual unless it's a green cloudy in which case it's normal (just algae growing) and don't worry. Whitish cloudy is a sign of toxic ammonia build up, so a water change would be a good idea.
You don't have to heat the water up as long as it's not stupidly cold - rain usually isn't that warm, in fact it's considerably cooler than shallow triops pools.
You can turn the light of too, it's not totally necessary, I just find it helps over the first few days.
Triops can and will eat each other if given the chance, that's probably where the other one went.

Hi bud, got up to day and the remaining two are dead, im actually pritty damn gutted as i have to start the whole process over again, im sunre as to wether im going to just drain them out and add water again or am going to tip away the water and add more eggs, i might do it in the smaller tank this time and yes the water was white cloudy which i skimmed away alot of that collected at the top which one of them seemed to apreciate as he returned the the top of the water

Just thinking about what i can do differently, i think by day 3 im going to turn the light off, and start feeding Im also probably going to have to use demineralised again right?
so heres my plan:
Drain 90% of water out, use 1 litre of distilled water in the smaller tank that came with the kit, hatch them then after 3 days turn the light out and feed them, and then switch them over to the bigger tank? does that sound okay mate?
again thanks for all your help i wouldnt have even got this far without you lol

 

[three-fingers]

Sounds fine.

I think your trying too hard, that's what went wrong lol .

I'd just hatch them out in the bigger tank not completely full of water, then slowly add more regular water after day 3. You can top up with distilled water to account for evaporation. I'd put an air-powered sponge filter on after day three, otherwise you'll end up having to water changes every day to stop the water going cloudy.

 

[conner2008]

Sounds fine.

I think your trying too hard, that's what went wrong lol .

I'd just hatch them out in the bigger tank not completely full of water, then slowly add more regular water after day 3. You can top up with distilled water to account for evaporation. I'd put an air-powered sponge filter on after day three, otherwise you'll end up having to water changes every day to stop the water going cloudy.

Dude, one is still alive, i found one still swimming
and today his like a miniature full grown version of an adult his doing well i even named him..Zoidburg lol (Futurama)
Thanks for all your help bud if you ever need extra eggs just PM me without hesitation.