Aquarium Forum - View Single Post - Blue Crayfish - safe for them to eat Triops (Tadpole Shrimp)?

stewy.cvl · 12-15-2009, 06:56 PM

Toxicity was one of the main things I was concerned about.

As far as triops go, I think they are pretty cool... they are bottom feeders with like 35-40 legs, and they rarely swim up in the water (if they do, you've got a low oxygen tank), but they are constantly moving around on the bottom. Like a lot of inverts, they eat just about anything, and they would make great custodians in a tank. The shallow tub that comes with the kits is really only good for raising the eggs/larvae... adults should definitely be transferred to at least a gallon fish bowl, but I recommend 5 gallons or more, as these guys can grow 1-2 times their size per day depending on the species. Filtration, regular water changes, and air stones help, but only the water changes are necessary (you might not even need that, if you are only doing a single generation). They are also cannibalistic, and what regularly happens is that 5 or 6 triops wind up being eaten by one or two that get HUGE by the end of the week. This is why I recommend separating them by size, but this is not necessary if you don't mind a little cannibalism.

Their method of reproduction is the most interesting thing about them. There are males and females, but in dire situations, the sex of a single specimen can change, and they can reproduce asexually. They generally live in temporary puddles, and in the wild, the eggs are carried to new puddles by wind or animals, or they get stuck in the mud where their parents lived. The eggs are constantly "testing" their surroundings, and if there are high levels of organic matter (indicating a higher risk that predators are about), or if it is too hot, or cold, or dark, or there are high levels of pollutants, etc, then the eggs will wait for up to 25 years to hatch.

Once the puddles dry up, and then fill with fresh rain water, and the conditions are right, the eggs will finally hatch, and the triops will live up to 100 days, producing eggs regularly the whole way through. This makes the breeding process pretty easy: wait for eggs to be laid, collect the substrate the eggs land on, dry this mixture of substrate and eggs for a week or two, add some distilled water and perhaps some nutrients, wait a day, and TRIOPS!

I think that these little guys could teach your son a lot about life cycles, and some interesting biology, but if he is young, beware. Although they may live 100 days in the wild, you'd be lucky to get 50 out of them in captivity, so make sure he doesn't get too attached. This is why I think breeding "experiments" could be better than thinking of them as pets. This way he understands there is an ongoing process that never stops, and that hasn't stopped for over 200 million years! Fossils are fun, and these guys are the oldest living fossils on the planet...

If you want some more info, there is some good stuff here: Triops Home Page

12-15-2009, 06:56 PM	#3 (permalink)
stewy.cvl stewy.cvl's Photo Gallery Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 14 Name: Stewy Location: BTown, IN My location Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 0 Times Said "Thanks" 0 Times Was Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Blue Crayfish - safe for them to eat Triops (Tadpole Shrimp)? Toxicity was one of the main things I was concerned about. As far as triops go, I think they are pretty cool... they are bottom feeders with like 35-40 legs, and they rarely swim up in the water (if they do, you've got a low oxygen tank), but they are constantly moving around on the bottom. Like a lot of inverts, they eat just about anything, and they would make great custodians in a tank. The shallow tub that comes with the kits is really only good for raising the eggs/larvae... adults should definitely be transferred to at least a gallon fish bowl, but I recommend 5 gallons or more, as these guys can grow 1-2 times their size per day depending on the species. Filtration, regular water changes, and air stones help, but only the water changes are necessary (you might not even need that, if you are only doing a single generation). They are also cannibalistic, and what regularly happens is that 5 or 6 triops wind up being eaten by one or two that get HUGE by the end of the week. This is why I recommend separating them by size, but this is not necessary if you don't mind a little cannibalism. Their method of reproduction is the most interesting thing about them. There are males and females, but in dire situations, the sex of a single specimen can change, and they can reproduce asexually. They generally live in temporary puddles, and in the wild, the eggs are carried to new puddles by wind or animals, or they get stuck in the mud where their parents lived. The eggs are constantly "testing" their surroundings, and if there are high levels of organic matter (indicating a higher risk that predators are about), or if it is too hot, or cold, or dark, or there are high levels of pollutants, etc, then the eggs will wait for up to 25 years to hatch. Once the puddles dry up, and then fill with fresh rain water, and the conditions are right, the eggs will finally hatch, and the triops will live up to 100 days, producing eggs regularly the whole way through. This makes the breeding process pretty easy: wait for eggs to be laid, collect the substrate the eggs land on, dry this mixture of substrate and eggs for a week or two, add some distilled water and perhaps some nutrients, wait a day, and TRIOPS! I think that these little guys could teach your son a lot about life cycles, and some interesting biology, but if he is young, beware. Although they may live 100 days in the wild, you'd be lucky to get 50 out of them in captivity, so make sure he doesn't get too attached. This is why I think breeding "experiments" could be better than thinking of them as pets. This way he understands there is an ongoing process that never stops, and that hasn't stopped for over 200 million years! Fossils are fun, and these guys are the oldest living fossils on the planet... If you want some more info, there is some good stuff here: Triops Home Page Last edited by stewy.cvl : 12-15-2009 at 07:38 PM.