Triops Help

[Zhuria]

I got the kit with the 1.5 litre tank and Triops longicaudatus, and I was so excited to get started on Christmas eve that I followed the instructions in the booklet instead of doing the smart thing and checking online.

I filled the tank instead of leaving the water level low. How can I drain it carefully without losing any eggs? And how low do I drain it.. half a litre? My water temperature, quality etc. and everything else is fine, but there's too much water and I'm pretty sure they're not hatching because of it.

I have some more questions too..

- What kind of substrate can I use? I live near a beach, can I use rinsed beach sand? I don't have local access to a pet store but I can see what I can find at Walmart.
- When do I move them up to a bigger tank and what's the rule of thumb for an adult - 1 litre per Triops? 2 litres?

I'll probably think of something else to ask later! Thanks so much to anyone who helps

 

[razer121]

hi, unfortunatly.....chances are your eggs will not hatch now, they will probs need to be redryed before they decide to hatch howevea! there is still chance, fro starts yes try to get it so that you have just under 1 litre of water in there (making sure its distilled, or bottled water) to remove some of the water, use something like say a small bit of tubing to get under the top layer of water, try to get it to teh bottem of the tank and suck the water out this way, at least then none of your debrie/eggs will get sucked out. also you can move them to a larger tank when they are big enough to survive in it, normaly this is when they are about a cm to a cm and a half, filter wise you can use them, but like a betta you need to make sure there intake is not going to suck your triops in normaly people use a pair of tights over the intake, heater wise, dont listen to the book, get your temp at a constant 26degrees, your triops will more then likly hatch then as ive been having triops larva hatch in my tank and its now a month old!! still getting them in fact,

i cant think of anything else right now but just post if you think of something! id be intrested to see the triops!

 

[Zhuria]

Thank you! I got the water out, but how can I dry them? Can I use something to lift them out of the water and put them in a dish? How long do they need to be dried for? I can use the other 1/2 of my eggs in the meantime if I have to

 

[razer121]

well, direct sun light they need to be dryed completely, its a real pain i know...ive had to do it! either way best thing for you to do is get as much water out as you can and try get the eggs into some sand or something to dry out, then re-add the water when its dry, thats the best way.

 

[Zhuria]

Sounds good - can I use rinsed beach sand?

 

[Zhuria]

One of the eggs looks moldy or something, like it has hairs growing off it?

Are the eggs supposed to float or sink? Mine are floating.. wth I'm so confuuused


ETA: I see tiny tiny white things, but I think they might be protozoa

 

[razer121]

hm, i think you may have to wash that sea sand really well before you use it, it may well affect the ph and so on, who knows. there is no harm in trying though

those tiny white things, what are they doing?? are the sort of "jittering" to the top of the tank?

 

[Zhuria]

No, they're swimming in every direction. I have to look REALLY hard to see them, they're reaaaally small, smaller than I'd imagine triops are at birth

 

[razer121]

triops are about the size of a pinpoint after they hatch lol, it oculd be shrimp (sea monkeys) look tomoz and post what they look like as it could well be triops, the tend to jitter in every direction when in the larva stage

 

[Zhuria]

GREAT NEWS!

First off, this morning I scared myself because when I got up, the temp was down to around 73. I got it gradually back up.

Just got home from town, got some bloodworms for when they're bigger, and checked out different types of larger plastic containers for when they're adults.

I was starting to give up, but I figured I'd give them 2 more hours because the book says 72 hours is pretty much when you should give up if you don't see anything.

I just put some black paper to see if I could see any - I spotted one! I was so excited and then I spotted another! And then another! There are at LEAST three. They do look a lot like sea monkey babies, but I'm fairly sure these are triops. (my sea monkeys live next door, Bob is quite happy to have neighbours, even if they'd eat him if given a chance!!)

So I'm going to feed them since they must have been what I saw yesterday. And then do lots of looking at substrates and future tanks

 

[razer121]

good stuff have you a way of taking pictures?? id be intrested to see!

 

[Zhuria]

I do, in fact I have a waterproof camera, but I don't know if it would even capture them, they're so tiny! Like white fleas, lol!

But, when they're bigger, I will DEFINITELY share pictures


ETA: Wow! I swear they're growing in front of my eyes.. I think I may have counted 4 and one of them, I can see his forked tail! So cool!

 

[razer121]

so any update??

 

[Zhuria]

Yes! I started a new thread but I'll copy it here:

Okay, so my little guys are doing well! I have at least 3, maybe four that are 2-3 mm in length. There's also another hatchling swimming around in there, but I don't expect he'll last long with all the bigger guys in there

I just picked up a few larger containers for when they're bigger. One is 14L but I'm planning on putting in quite a bit of sand and around 10L of water, so enough for around 4-5 adults to live very comfortably, with lots of surface area.

How can I prepare this tank while I'm waiting for them to grow? Do I just put spring water and let it age? How do I transfer them when it comes time? Should I move them to a medium container with their old water plus some new water, let them get acclimated, and then do the same over to the bigger one?

I'm so afraid to kill them! I want to do this right the first time, so for anyone who has advice thanks in advance!

(I do have tropical fish, they do wonderfully on my tapwater, could I use some of their water somehow since it's already established.. Or something? lol)

I have 3 that are about 8-10mm long now! They're doing very well and I'm preparing to move them to a larger container soon - I decided on a 6.6L for now since I'm worried I screw something up during the move I'm waiting for this stupid jug of spring water to heat up but it just doesn't seem to want to.. Otherwise everything else is ready to go!

 

[razer121]

ok, pm me the link to the new thread please