Triops

They're cheap too!

>>2255836
First time I saw one was on a clickbait article, about cryptids.

Cool looking for sure.

>>2255905
Yeah they are. And for some reason other than kids, most people don't treat them like they would ghost shrimp in their community tank. Triops are seen more as a kids first aquatic pet than an interesting and helpful member of the aquarium.

>>2255908
If it weren't for the extremely short life span and eating fish fry and there own kind I would try them again.

>>2255836
I'm actually considering getting an aquarium and Triops, get them to breed and sell the eggs.

Is it worth it, or should I just limit myself to just taking care of them/renew populations?

>>2256007
Idk if you would be successful in selling them since they're already widely available. I say just enjoy them as pets.

>>2255836
I tried it once, but the fuckers didn't hatch :/

>>2255836
I never thought about them actually being useful. They're super cool lookin though.

>>2256076
Yeah, not even I did. But I did research recently and it turns out they're pretty cool. Most people just see them as children's pets.

>>2256047
Maybe the pH was off, or the temperature was too harsh. Maybe there was too much salinity. Not sure m8.

>>2256045
Not that widely where I live, also the Triops toys can't be selled here since they use longicaudatus instead of cancriformis.
As far as I know, the only way to get them in my country is a website and some second hand pages.

I just wanted to have an extra cash supply while keeping them as pets. Dunno if I could have more oportunities with Artemia or the sort (which I may need to breed to feed them I think)

>>2256184
Then you should go for it. Though you would need some sort of advertising so people in your country even know what the hell they are.

>>2255908
I think it's simply because that's how they are marketed. It's always toy kits with triops eggs aimed at kids with the whole prehistoric theme, never packaged as helpful bottom feeders for aquarium enthusiasts.

>>2256327
I'm hoping this thread might shed some light on them. I'm honestly curious if anyone here actually has them as members of their aquarium community.

their lifespan really sucks unless you're constantly breeding them.

I would like them better if they didn't die so quickly.

>>2255836
Is this some type of miniature horseshoe crab?

>>2256429
I don't think they're directly related to them, but they both have been unchanged for millions and millions of years and have an extremely similar appearance and a similar niche too I believe.

>>2256352
I guess buying a shit load of them might do the trick.

>>2256429

They resemble horseshoe crabs due to convergent evolution.

Actually though, horseshoe crabs are closer to scorpions than they are to true crustaceans like triops.

Would a smaller specimen make a good tankmate for a Betta fish? Especially a chill one like mine?

>>2255908
>interesting and helpful member
>used to own a triop community tank
>triops would fuck each other up and cannibalize
>missing fish
>all of my other shrimp are missing

I had three of these in a community tank for awhile. They were in with mosquitofish, and were fed nothing.
They were the best cleaning crew I have had, as they would spend their time digging about .5-1" into the gravel bottom. I do hear they can be aggressive towards fish, but mosquitofish are top-dwellers, and the Triops spent most of their time on the bottom. I did have to wait until they were just under an inch to put them in, as the mosquitofish would munch any smaller individuals. At maturity they were almost two inches. Really cool to watch, especially if you get some that end up with blueish coloration.
I have ordered eggs and everything, I need to start the second generation soon. I tried raising eggs that they left in the tank, they hatched but none survived. They need a drying phase, so you wont get generations unless you remove the eggs and air-dry them for a couple of weeks. Fish also go apeshit over the larvae, so you need to let them mature in a separate container.
All in all, I would certainly recommend them with fish that are fast enough to avoid them, and won't try to tear your Triops apart. I also didn't note any cannibalism, at least until they died naturally. The most annoying part is the short lifespan. I think mine went for about 50-70 days.

>>2256496
Maybe you're fish were too small. I have bettas so they'll easily defend themselves.

>>2256482
Just make sure they're not too small. A betta would probably eat the baby triops. They'll probably respect each other since bettas usually spend time at the top of tanks and triops at the bottom.

>>2256519
Sounds like a pain in the ass to breed them. Breeding pandas sounds easier.

>>2256532
It is. The larvae are very finicky. You need a lot of natural spring water, with added limestone, and then you can't let the water parameters change at all or they just drop. Once they are mature they are very durable though.

>>2256538
God how do these things even survive in the wild if they're that brittle?

>>2256543
The wild ones might have more options than living in a tank and must have a specific environment to guarantee that process. They've been around since forever so they know what they're doing.

>>2256543
Well, they are normally living in temporary rainwater pond settings.
>Dry weather in the summer, pond disappears and the eggs dry
>Spring rains (essentially distilled water) fill pond, hatching eggs and getting them into a soft water environment that slowly rises in hardness
>Are mature once water parameters start rapidly changing as pond dries out again, they lay eggs
>overwinter and repeat in spring
This occurs in places with dry winters and wet springs. They are limited to a small portion of North America.

In a tank:
>Storebought eggs already dried
>Spring water pretty close to distilled, you add the limestones then to initiate a slow rise in hardness
>Totally die if anything other than slow rising hardness occurs
>Once mature they don't give a fuck, and fill your tank gravel with eggs regardless of water parameters. They then proceed to eat half of said eggs while rooting around, and it is way too much of a hassle to get in there with a pipette and gather more than 5 or 6.
>Lazy caretaker ignores project
>One generation of cool Triops and now tank with no cleanup crew
>Attempted repeat fails, and caretaker gives up.

>>2256554
Do they lay eggs in the substrate?

>>2256577
Yep. They dig little pits then lay eggs inside and rebury. If you want to collect them you have to memorize where they made a pit, and pipette them out after digging a bit. Eggs are tiny, probably about .3-.5mm. The standard Triop substrate is sand, but they had no troubles digging in my clay-gravel substrate, and it was cool watching them lift each little rock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJmkBLG-6HQ

These things are neat.

>>2256160
>pH was off
no (i checked)

>the temperature was too harsh
they were at room temperature, no extremes

>Maybe there was too much salinity
I used the same water as for my other tanks (freshwater)

I still have some eggs, I'll try again soon.

Think a few of these guys could live in a dwarf puffer tank?
I'm having a hell of a time finding things to help clean that they won't immediately destroy.

>>2257125
Have you tried ghost shrimp? I put in 50 in my 20gal once with 2 female puffies and 1 male and they were all mauled except one that lived there forever.

>>2256760
>they were at room temperature, no extremes
There's your problem. The water should be kept at a temperature of ~24° Celsius.

>>2257125
Puffers require brakish water right? I think the salinity might be too high for the triops, but I'm not too sure.

>>2257139
Nope nope nope nope common misconception but true pea/dwarf puffer fish do better in freshwater.

>>2257146
Oh wow, so I don't need brakish water to keep those dwarf puffer fish that they sell at Walmart?

>>2257133
Sometimes I'll put a few ghost shrimp in there but they're always gone within a day or two.
I might just get some triops and see how it goes

>>2257137
room temperature in early summer. should have mentioned that, yeah.

>>2257137
technically that is room temperature

>>2257148
The don't sell dwarf puffers at walmart. Just green spotted puffers (Tetraodon nigroviridis) which do need to go into brackish.

>>2257157
Ahhh, thanks for the clarification.

>>2256760
Using the aquarium water was your fuckup. You need to use fresh storebought springwater. It has to be just above distilled, and tank water is often too hard.

>>2257172
>tank water is often too hard
not here, lad. no carbonates in a 150km radius

>>2257184
All I can tell you is that I've never gotten them to hatch except with storebought natural spring water.

What's a good substrate? One I can find on amazon.

>>2257797
fine aquarium sand

>>2257197
I have my own well. Does that count as (((natural spring water)))?

>>2257890
No, depending on how the well is done, it's either a hole drilled until it hits the water table, or its a fancy storage tank.

>>2257893
>hole drilled until it hits the water table
yeah, that's the one

Did you try reverse osmosis water? Because i can get that for free.

>>2257929
no you don't understand

>>2257931
>problem is too hard water
>reverse osmosis water is somehow not good enough
I think it is you who doesn't understand something here

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>>2257929
ro water is troo clean for them.
Tap is too dirty.

>>2258068
>Tap is too dirty
Maybe in Burgerstan.

>>2258065
>>2258209
They are very finicky with the hatching water. Tap water is too dirty, as metals, differing level of hardness and softness, and local addition of chloramine (doesnt gas out like chlorine) all make tap water unusable. RO water is too clean. There must be a baseline level of dissolved minerals to be perfectly neutral water, not too hard, not too soft. Storebought natural spring water is perfect, and is all that works for me. Well water is guaranteed to be too hard.

>>2258394
Those things listed sound like a lot to worry about.

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>just a kid
>get triops for my birthday because they're amazing
>set up all the shit but get something wrong, think i put in too much of something that came in a little green packet
>weeks pass, they don't hatch
>empty the tank down the sink, defeated
>a year passes
>ask for triops for my birthday again
>get my sister to help this time so i dont fuck it up
>notice that she made the same mistake i made the first time but still hope
>weeks pass and no luck
>commense the ritual of dumping the plastic tank's water away
>catch a glimpse of a tiny, transparent wriggly creature
>watch it as it spirals down the sink

I might grab some again now that I'm all grown up, they sell them in Toys R Us which always baffled me

>>2259526
Yeah, they're pretty commonly available. I also had bad luck during my childhood.

>>2259523
Hardly. Use any of the dechlorinators on the market and triops will be fine.

>>2259526
>>catch a glimpse of a tiny, transparent wriggly creature
>>watch it as it spirals down the sink
Had this happen with a charry shrimp during s water change. The worst feeling.

>Get triops once out of a book fair catalog many years ago
>everything goes fine, at first
>the oldest sibling in the brood ends up eating it's lessers
>soon im left with a single inch and a half shrimp in this fish bowl
>it lays eggs
>end up releasing it and its eggs into a forest preserve lake

Triops are amazing but goddamn.

>>2261202
why'd you release them