Goals!

I want to work up to three adult triops in as many generations, and maintain at least three in successive generation.

I'm aiming to grow my own supply of triop food. I'm looking into brine shrimp and daphnia as possible live options for them to hunt, and exploring aquarium plants.

I would like to find a fish to live with the Triops. This fish would have to require a small amount of water (5 gallon tank - 3 Triops don't leave a lot of breathing room), be large enough not to be eaten/attacked by the triops, nice enough not to eat/attack the triops and enjoy the same conditions as triops.

Ideally, I will be harvesting my own eggs.

Plans!

Once I get my first round of adult triop(s) flourishing and laying eggs I will add a snail or two and some ghost shrimp. The snails will keep the tank looking neat. The ghost shrimp are fun to look at and may provide a few meals for the Triops.

Triop eggs have to dry completely and be re-hydrated to hatch. As a consequence, most Triop keepers dry out their tank for two or more weeks after the last one dies and start fresh. I don't want to have to do that. I don't want to disassemble my tank, I don't want to go weeks without Triops, and I don't want to relocate all of my bonus-creatures. In an attempt to avoid the full tank dry-out I'm going to try harvesting eggs, drying them, and hatching them in a seperate container in the main tank. If I time it right I might be able to repopulate the tank as soon as the last senior Triop dies. I have a few ideas for how I might do this, but nothing is concrete yet.

Why write a blog about Triops?

There are so few resources for Triops keepers! I'm relying heavily on the few forums and websites there are and I'm so grateful for them! I want to add to the available resources. I know I'll need to keep a record of my generations, what works and what doesn't, as well so I might as well put in a few extra minutes of effort to turn those records into blog posts.



Happy hatching!

I've adored triops since the first time I saw a Triops kit in a craft store. In my teens I made a few attempts at them using kits, but they never lasted as long as they could and I didn't have the resources to set up a tank. Now, I'm setting up my first full size tank and setting out on a Triops adventure!