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Giant Triops & aquatic plants/live food

swords

swords

Hey folks,

I've got some giant species of the popular "instant pet" Triops coming.

I will be attempting two large species: T. cancriformis (4.5") and T. australiensis green form (4.25")

Triops australiensis
Not my picture:
Triops_numidicus_pic.jpg


I was curious for those of you who have kept regular Triops (or maybe these giants) do they eat live aquarium plants? I know algae, waste and java moss but how about things like glossostigma, anubias and other macro plants?

Also, I like to feed live foods so which live foods does Triops like? Freshwater fairy shrimps, daphnia, etc. Will they eat fruit flies from the water surface?

Since these are ancient crustaceans will they need some calcium and iodine in their water? Most sites I can find only state reverse osmosis or distilled is needed for hatching but how about maintenance since these large species can go for 50-90 days before dying of old age.
 
I read some pages by Triops breeders and it seemed kind of elaborate... From what I remember, there was some water chemistry maintenance required, as well as dry cycles when the population declines since some eggs from each generation won't hatch unless they've been desiccated. (Sometimes more than one such cycle is required, I think.) I think you might be on the right track so far as foods go; I know they'll cannibalize if you don't give them some stimulating prey but as for specifics I'm not sure. The guides I read talked about washed brine shrimp, but that sounds like a pain.
I'd love to see what you can do with them. I've wanted to try these guys forever but haven't had the chance. Have you ever thought about writing guides for weird terrarium subjects? If you want to start a website you know I'm down to lend a hand...
Best luck,
~Joe
 
I'm actually working on such a website now for all my critters, DIY projects, etc.
www.alienflora.com is open for contributions if anyone feels a need to share their expertise on a specific plant or animal.

Based on this video I am going to do the T. australiensis in an underbed style sterlite bin (large but shallow) with perhaps APS or peat as "dirt" and shallow water unless I can find some reddish colored sand that isn't calcium sand.
<object width="480" height="385">


<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WmjIvcLNEU4&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></object>


I am inclined to go with fairy shrimp because they don't need to be washed like the brine shrimps they are entirely freshwater born and bred and grow quickly to 3/4" which should feed the growing Triops. I am getting packets of "Triops food" with the eggs but I will wait to hatch them I think until I get a good fairy shrimp culture going.
 
Nice! Why am I not surprised? When my life is a little less chaotic I'd be happy to take a crack at some web design, if you'd like. I've been meaning to find some projects for portfolio work anyways. I'll keep you posted.
~Joe
 
Whoa that thing looks freaking weird! It looks like a horseshoe crab.
 
I use to find triops in northern arizona in the cattle tanks in both the spring and the fall. You would start to see them after the cattle tanks would fill with water from the snow melt off in the winter and the monsoons in the summer.
I would see them stiring up the dirt when feeding, there was a lot of cow pucky around the edge of the tanks so I am guessing that they would eat that as well as each other. I would find fairy shrimp and daphina in the ponds with them.
The bottom of the tanks was a slity clay/sand/dirt mix. The mix was very soft and thick when wet, it would stick to everything that it touched and rock hard once it dried out. I know that this does not really help answer any of your major questions but I hope that it might give you some ideas.
 
I did not know that they got that big. The ones I've seen only get about 1 1/2" long.
I always thought they where neat and thought about getting some since they remind me of my favorite fossils; trilobites.

---------- Post added at 10:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:39 PM ----------

Just saw you can get them on ebay....
 
Based on my experience, triops will nibble on any plant in their tank. I have experimented with fruit flies and daphnia, but the triops didn't chase or eat them. The daphnia even swam right past the triop's mandibles but they were not interested, so I just stick to feeding them with pellets and vegetables (carrots, lettuce, corn). For a substrate I just use washed play sand and they do fine with that. I used distilled water. I've read that they need detritus at birth, so I either use the "teabag" it comes with, or make my own detritus with crushed leaves. As far as I know, they like to eat worms (earthworms, bloodworms). Good luck on raising your new pets.
 
Thanks for the input guys! I appreciate experiences you have to share because I often find that far more helpful then generic care sheets which I swear someone just cut and pasted from one site onto their site since they are almost word for word the same sentences every where you look. That's great if they like crushed leaves because I always keep a bag of "Oak leaf Mold" onhand. It's a funny name for sterilized crushed oak leaf. I use it in all my vivarium soil mix to acidify as well as to feed my various cultures of Isopods and Springtails that I set loose in the enclosures.

I wanted to do some Triops but then when I saw the giant species available I thought that I would like to try those even more! They say they do not get to the hugest sizes in captivity (still much bigger than the standard species) but I am interested to see if I can raise them in a way that makes them huge, we'll see. There are far too many neat things on ebay. I am very tempted to order the exotic Killifish eggs of species I never could acquire back when I bred killies in the 1990s but I am quite sure it's probably illegal to import the eggs from Thailand without a permit... anybody know?

Seedjar, I always wanted to do a terrarium plant & animal magazine in print, even got in touch with a Dutch guy who runs a well known vivaria company who also used to publish a low run terrarium magazine. I tried to get interest started here to do an English version of it but only got a couple companies interested to advertise based on the Dutch copies he sent me as promotional material. If he could have afforded to send me some not-for-sale mock ups in English to spread perhaps it would have made a lot more impact with the US advertisers.

At least online publishing is far less expensive compared to publishing periodicals on paper which is a loosing prospect all around unless you have 60%+ advertising at high rates. Most distributors won't even pick up your title for a trial period unless you have at least 40% ads. Online there's none of that kinda crap. :)
 
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  • #11
I have a few baby Bathynomus giganteus (giant Isopods)

pscaber.jpg


:-O

It would be fun to have a 3 foot long deep sea Isopod! Put a harness on it and take it for a walk through the park! LOL
Supposedly a zoo in Texas has them alive in an aquarium to see in person. I would love to see them! I want to know how big the babies are. I like their mirrored shades!

I have this orange form of Isopod (Porcellio scaber) to clean my vivariums. They get about 3/4" in size and breed very well which is good because the vampire crabs think they are good to eat whenever they find them! I also have a NOID Isopod called "White Jungle Micropods" which only get about 1/8" or less fully grown. The tiny Jungle Pods are not so showy and go uneaten because they stay mostly in the soil do not get so big and attract attention to themselves! LOL

Isopods of most kinds are the greatest things to have in a vivarium, eating mold, fungus and animal waste, uneaten food, you can keep them in a tank with or without other animals. Many terrarium animals will eat them, I assume the same as they would in the wild eating what they discover or whatever wanders by. Isopods are fun to watch all by themselves they have very busy agendas! LOL

Speaking of "Just add water for Instant Pets" right now is playing the South Park "Sea People" (sea monkies) episode! Gross! :D
 
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  • #12
I had some when I was younger, I loved that thing until I lifted it's purple castle and he wouldn't move. He was sleep! Then he did some awesome tricks. Then he went on to a better place.

R.I.P. Shrimpz
 
  • #13
Swords, you have a site?
Time to get out some Lepitopteria pics!
 
  • #14
Isopods of most kinds are the greatest things to have in a vivarium, eating mold, fungus and animal waste, uneaten food
Click to expand...

they are pretty harmless so long as they have plenty to eat.......however if they run out of other things, they like chewing on plant roots......
 
  • #15
I haven't had any problems with the pods eating plants but like any animal it is wise to feed them properly or they will make do. I use about 1/3 oak leaf mold when I mix up substrate which gives them plenty of food to start with that's mixed throughout the soil and then toss in a small piece of lettuce or some fish flakes on the surface every week or two until the tank gets growing and there are natural leaf litter being generated. An occasional sprinkling of new leaf litter/oak leaf mold avoids them bothering the live plants, at least from what I've seen.
 
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  • #16
Hey I thought of something, would you guys put a sponge filter on a "tank" (tub) that's 36"L x 16"W and filled about 8" Deep? I can get a sponge and air pump and start the tanks cycling if you think it's necessary.

I guess I will be watering my plants with "triops emulsion" instead of fish emulsion! :D
 
  • #17
I ordered some giant triops eggs off eBay... I had optimal everything and they never hatched!
 
  • #18
That's the gamble of buying eggs, I've had eggs of other things like killifish and insects which never hatched. Seeds a can be the same way. I don't get miffed about it I just buy from recommended sellers and if I get a dud I get a dud. Sometimes a second try from the same seller yields much fruit. Just the luck of natures draw.
 
  • #19
I have tried triops 3 different times, and I never have much success. They get to the size when they start to change color and die off. The most success I had was when I completely ignored the directions and just threw the eggs into poland spring water next to a window. This year I got about 20 hatchlings, all but 2 died, and then some huge fairy shirmp started growing and my triops died. The fairy shrimp were cool but they died quickly after the triops.

So good luck with them!
 
  • #20
I've grown the normal sized Triops. Fun! But they ARE cannibalistic!

---------- Post added at 01:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:40 PM ----------
swords said:
Hey I thought of something, would you guys put a sponge filter on a "tank" (tub) that's 36"L x 16"W and filled about 8" Deep? I can get a sponge and air pump and start the tanks cycling if you think it's necessary.

I guess I will be watering my plants with "triops emulsion" instead of fish emulsion! :D
Click to expand...

I grew them in a 5 gallon with a sponge filter. Cycled the water before starting the eggs.

Let me try to find the photo.

Ahhh, here it is!

DCP_1543.jpg
 
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