Anyone for animals from temporary vernal pools?

[bananaman]

So, if you read the title of this post, you will see that I am talking about animals from vernal pools. What are these crazy things?
They include Triops, Fairy Shrimp, Clam Shrimp, and Brine Shrimp.
I currently raise Triops.
Do any of you raise them?
I have some pics that I will post over the weekend....

 

[pebes]

i'm dipping some triops eggs with the kids tomorrow. the directions that came with the kit are horrible though. will they do ok with ambient light @ 70 degrees?

 

[DragonsEye]

Toyed with trying triops but haven't gotten ahold of any yet. Neat lil buggers.

 

[boxofrain]

Cool beans!
When I was a younger man in the late '60's, I would wander down near the beach but far enough away no salt got to it from the ocean.
Fairy shrimp were the attraction for us yungin's.
Later in life I started breeding tropical fishes, the fairy shrimp became a vital part of rearing some of the baby fish.
Alas, toaday when I visit these coastal vernal pools, no shrimp are present any more.
I keep looking when I go back to the area as I love to kayak a small lake nearby.
Very fond memory, thanks for the flashback!

 

[carbonetc]

I think triops are some of the most amazing animals on Earth. I used a kit once, but only one survived, and that one died when I tried to give it a bigger home. I'd love to learn how to raise them reliably. I still have eggs in the garage somewhere.

 

[fuzzy]

they are very sensative so you shouldnt use tap water or any hard water like cps they will die if you change water unfortunately.... only way is to just remove 20-25 percent of original water and add distilled water... hope it helped... i have some other species of triop which has bigger shell and green colored and black one and the one is 3 times bigger than the kit triops

 

[Lil Stinkpot]

I was just thinking of trying Triops again. They look like so much fun.

 

[Millipede]

i tried triops once. i got one to grow to about a half inch then it suddenly died. like seemingly instant death. i was looking at it, walked away to do something then came back a few minutes later and it was dead. weird...

 

[Lil Stinkpot]

Millipede, is that your plant in your avatar? If so, got any more of that pot it's in? Nice!

 

[Millipede]

I just made it the other day you can see it here: http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?133285-Handmade-tiny-glass-ping-pot

 

[bananaman]

I have not found them to be sensitive.
They only need soft water when hatching. They hatch fastest at around 76 farenheight, but they hatch fine at room temp, it just takes a bit longer.
They need soft water and a 24 hour photoperiod to hatch, but I've found that they are fine with any water that does not contain copper or chlorine in it once they are bigger.
When they are bigger, they are fine with ambient light.
I hatch them in less than 500ml of water, as it is much easier for the .1mm larvae to find food in 500ml than 20l of water. Then, I transfer them to a 20l aquarium with a filter, when they will not get sucked up by the filter.
To transfer successfully, you first need to add tank water to the hatching container over a course of several days, then when the hatching container is mostly aquarium water, pour it into the big aquarium.

I wish I could find some fairy shrimp in the wild. I'd love that.

Pebes: Funny, I decided to start Triops eggs today as well...

Millipede: Triops often die while molting, if and it will look just like that. Otherwise, they die of old age.

Fuzzy, what species do you have?
The kits have T. longicaudatus, which I've gotten to be 1.5" long (not counting tail). I've never heard of a 4.5" long (again, not counting tail) Triops in captivity! I have heard that T. numidicus can get that long in the wild occasionally though most are around 2.5" long...

 

[Millipede]

there is a forest along the river here where the low parts fill with rainwater or flood water and then fairy shrimp can be found swimming about.. it's neat. i wonder what it must have been like before mankind leveled it all to build and farm stuff. its fun to think about that sort of thing

edit to say: the strip of forest left along the river is only about 200 feet or less now. it must have been immense at one time. im talking about the calapooia river in the willamette valey in oregon btw

 

[boxofrain]

I'm glad to hear they can still be found in the wild out here in Oregon.
Now my wife is gunna be miffed when we go to portland next.....I'll be wading around the mud near the freeway looking for Fairies!

 

[bananaman]

Lucky!
The only vernal pool dwellers near me are fairy shrimp on Enchanted Rock, a state park here in Texas, as far as I know.
If any texans out there know of vernal pool dwellers closer to Austin, please tell me!
I'd love to see some in the wild...

 

[Jcal]

I really didn't know what a vernal pond was until I seen this post. I see them all the time but just ignored them. I walked by one near my house to see what was swiming and snapped a few pictures!

 

[n bicalcarata]

those are so cool

 

[BioZest]

Awesome fish in that last pic.

 

[goods]

Those salamander larvae are really cool! Any idea what species they could be?

 

[BioZest]

Oh yes...beautiful *salamander larvae was what I meant...

 

[richjam1986]

I really didn't know what a vernal pond was until I seen this post. I see them all the time but just ignored them. I walked by one near my house to see what was swiming and snapped a few pictures!

Jcal, what state are you in? (could put that under "Location:" under your avatar )

Nice pics!