Triops

What are Triops?

Triops are essentially prehistoric shrimp. They haven't changed in about 200 million years.The bigger ones grow to about 2 inches. Average life span is about a month.



Triops

Why raise Triops?

In my case, because they showed up in my cube at work. Our admin, Elena, decided to buy the engineering staff some Christmas gifts from thinkgeek.com. I got a minature monsters kit.

Front of box

Back of box

Estatic Dean

It seemed pretty silly until I started reading about them online. They have three eyes. There are no females, only males, and hermaphrodites. Native Americans of the southwest considered Triops food. One interesting fact that was carefully omitted from the box is that Triops are cannibals. Apparently it is very common for the biggest Triop in the bowl to eat all of its smaller companions. I'm not saying this is a reason to raise Triops, but if you do don't bother naming the smaller ones :)

Just Like Sea Monkeys

The way Triops are sold reminded me of Sea Monkeys. i.e. brine shrimp eggs, packaged in a bright box, and marketed at kids. I had some myself. In the ads the Sea Monkeys wear lipstick, live in castles, and play leapfrog:

Sea Monkey Ad

Sea Monkey Ad

Sea Monkey Calendar

Sea Monkey Package

But in reality they look like this:


My Sea Monkeys experiment predictably ended with a burial at sea. Later I found out you can buy them by the thousands at any tropical fish store -- not as pet, but as fish food.

Day 1

In goes the nutrient pack, gravel, and triop eggs.

Adding gravel

Adding eggs

Day 2

It's alive! Several triops have hatched. They're very small, and
difficult to see:

Triops

Day 7

Five triops are still alive. These things grow at an amazing rate. After less than a week, the largest Triop is about a 1/4 inch.

Triops

Molted skin

Triops

Day 9

No cannibalism so far, but I'm keeping them intentionally overfed. There was talk of starting a dead pool. Basically everybody would choose a triop, and the last man standing (swimming?) would win. But we were stopped by common decency -- that and they all look alike.

Triops

Triops

Day 12

Still five triops. No cannibalism, but I've observed fighting on more than one occasion. If these things really grow to 2 inches, the tank is definitely too small.

One of the Triops appears to have eggs:

Pregnant Triops

Day 14

Here's some more observations on the triops:

• Triops only have two normal (compond) eyes. The third, which looks more like a blemish, is a nauplius (simple) eye; it's used to determine which way is up!
  
• Triops move randomly, aimlessly, almost blindly.
  
• The biggest triop keeps picking fights.
  
• Some triops dig in the gravel.
  
• The triop food smells.
  
• The water fouls very quickly, and smells -- even with frequent water changes.
  

Day 18 (Cannibalism)

And then there were three. When I returned to work on Monday two of the Triops had disappeared. Carefull inspection of the tank revealed this partially eaten body:

Triops

I guess 48 hours with no food in a cramped tank was too much. I'm just glad I wasn't around to witness the carnage. Even though this is expected behavior, I find this very disturbing. I've never had pets that eat each other.

Day 19 (A New Home)

In an effort to reduce cannibalism, I've moved the Triops into my old 10-gallon aquarium. The power filter keeps the water pretty clean so I can over feed them a bit without fouling the water. The extra space, and terrain should give the smaller Triops a place to hide.

New Home

Triops

Day 27

One Triop died while I was away skiing. I'm told it died of natural causes (no signs of cannibalism). Elena couldn't bear to discard the body, so she placed it in a plastic bag and tossed it in the freezer!

Frozen Triop

I suppose this could be useful if we ever want to perform an autopsy. Or cryogenic supsension. In the future, when medical science has sufficiently advanced, we could revive the Triop. ... Hey, if it's good enough for Ted Williams' head ...

Day 41

The largest Triop passed away. At 41 days old, it was officially a senior citizen. Here's a photo the day before it died:

Triop

Here's its final remains:

Dead Triop

Day 43 (The End)

The last Triop died. 43 days is a good long life for Triop, but it's still sad to see them pass on.

Dead Triop

Day 46 (A New Beginning)

Much to my supprise, I found a baby Triop swimming around the aquarium. Based on its size, it appears to be about a week old.

Baby Triop

Triop eggs typically require a wet-dry cycle. They won't hatch until they've been completely dry for a couple of weeks. This is a survival adaptation; the Triops natural habitat is transient pools of water, which are created by seasonal rains. Waiting for a wet-dry cycle ensures a freshly refilled pool. Some eggs require multiple wet-dry cycles. However, a few eggs do hatch immediately.