Triops
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iturnrocks
- Tiny Shrimp
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carbon etc
- Tiny Shrimp
- Posts: 69
- Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2006 4:20 pm
So are you saying they only need that detrius in the very beginning of their lives? I imagine when you transfer them to a 10 gal that teaspoon of detrius no longer goes very far.The "Triassic Triops" kits come with a packet of detrius that looks like a teabag. Without something like dirts from their pond or that stuff, the triops die in a few days from some sort of fungus.
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iturnrocks
- Tiny Shrimp
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Detritus basically contains algal and protozoan cysts. This is the first food Triops will eat after hatching. Once you put algae in water and add light, you shouldnt need to keep adding it, it should grow like crazy.
Also, once your Triops are big enough to transfer to a larger tank, they are probably already eating food larger than algae.
Homemade Detritus
The problem of hatching triops is that the water must closely mimic conditions found in their natural habitat. Without a suitable source of detritus or other water conditioning, larval triops usually die after a few days, often due to sharp increases in bacterial numbers or lack of food. The most common way commercial kits provide a proper environment is through mixing the eggs with dried pond detritus which contains algal and protozoan cysts, provides disolved organic compounds in the water, etc.
Now, most of us don't have a pond in our backyard for harvesting natural detritus but we do have a pet store in town. What I use for making homemade detritus is ground coconut shell (usually marketed as bark) which is sold in compressed bricks for reptile bedding. This stuff is great, a single $6 brick will let you make enough detritus to hatch triops for the next decade (at least). I mix the coconut bark with tank water from an established triops or other fish tank until it forms a thick mud. I then dry it in a food dehydrator, but it could just as easily be spread thinly in a baking pan and allowed to thoroughly airdry. That's it.
The tank water provides the protozoan and algal cysts. The coco-bark leaches tannins into the water which both simulates the natural pool environment and inhibits bacterial growth. It's also edible for triops which is a bonus.
Detritus Update:
Another method for creating detritus is to take some fallen dry leaves from a tree or strands of hay and soak them in old pond or rain water or existing aquarium tank water for an few hours and then dry them out again. This allows the infusoria which has grown onto your material to go into a 'hibernation' state ready to hatch out the next time you place the Detritus in water.
Break up the plant material into small pieces around 1cm in size as this makes it easy for the pieces to float to the sides of the tank and not take up too much surface area.
Tip: To make it easier to remove the detritus from your tank. Place it in a perforated bag. Herbal tea makers sell these types of bags or you could use muslin cloth or dish cloth stitched into a small bag.
I bought a pack of the cheapest dish cloths from Tesco supermarket and a pack of three costed me a grand total of £0.29 (€0.41 $0.54)!
These are loose weave, double layered stitched cloth, so I simply cut one corner up 4cm x 15cm and stiched up one side leaving the top open.
I then added a piece of lead weight to help one end sink and after adding my leaves I closed one end by using one of those food bag closure clips you get from the supermarket. Very handy your local supermarket.
I then placed the bag into a old 750ml 'baby beetroot' jar, added some rain water, shook the jar, removed the lid and left the jar exposed to sunlight.
After an hour or so you'll see the water turn brown if you used old leaves, this is simply a non-toxic and natural Tannin plant compound leaking into the water.
After one or two days look closely at the jar and you should see tiny, tiny things moving about. Add this 'soup' (including the bag) to your hatching tank containing 0.5Litres of pure distilled/ionised water. Then add the eggs.
This way the newly hatched Triops will have plenty of creatures to feed upon.
Obviously the bag is no longer required after 3 or 4 days as the Triops have hatched out and have grown so big that the tiny Infusoria food source is no longer enough to feed them. But don't throw it out. Simply dry it off and you can use it again to hatch out your next batch!
What is Detritus for?
Detritus is the name given to organic waste material from decomposing parts of dead plants. This material when dried out after being soaked in pond or mature aquarium water will contain on it the eggs of tiny Protozoa creatures and algal cysts (tiny plant seeds) (these forms of life are collectively known as Infusoria).
These creatures hatch out once it becomes wet and along with particles of decaying plant material settle near the surface of the water.
Triops larvae being so small at birth, need an even smaller food source and move upwards towards a light source to find something to eat at the surface and in the wild they would easily find this natural source of food.
So in a bowl or tank environment we need to add our own.
If they don't find Infusoria or there isn't enough of it per squared centimeter of water then the Triops quickly die due to starvation.
Hopefully this section explains why you need to add Detritus to the water and why you don't use a large amount of water as otherwise you'd need to add a lot more Detritus to compensate.
A small teabag sized amount of Detritus, as supplied by Triops kits, is ample enough for 0.5 litres of water.
Taken from: http://www.mytriops.com/articles/prepar ... tritus.stm
Also, once your Triops are big enough to transfer to a larger tank, they are probably already eating food larger than algae.
Homemade Detritus
The problem of hatching triops is that the water must closely mimic conditions found in their natural habitat. Without a suitable source of detritus or other water conditioning, larval triops usually die after a few days, often due to sharp increases in bacterial numbers or lack of food. The most common way commercial kits provide a proper environment is through mixing the eggs with dried pond detritus which contains algal and protozoan cysts, provides disolved organic compounds in the water, etc.
Now, most of us don't have a pond in our backyard for harvesting natural detritus but we do have a pet store in town. What I use for making homemade detritus is ground coconut shell (usually marketed as bark) which is sold in compressed bricks for reptile bedding. This stuff is great, a single $6 brick will let you make enough detritus to hatch triops for the next decade (at least). I mix the coconut bark with tank water from an established triops or other fish tank until it forms a thick mud. I then dry it in a food dehydrator, but it could just as easily be spread thinly in a baking pan and allowed to thoroughly airdry. That's it.
The tank water provides the protozoan and algal cysts. The coco-bark leaches tannins into the water which both simulates the natural pool environment and inhibits bacterial growth. It's also edible for triops which is a bonus.
Detritus Update:
Another method for creating detritus is to take some fallen dry leaves from a tree or strands of hay and soak them in old pond or rain water or existing aquarium tank water for an few hours and then dry them out again. This allows the infusoria which has grown onto your material to go into a 'hibernation' state ready to hatch out the next time you place the Detritus in water.
Break up the plant material into small pieces around 1cm in size as this makes it easy for the pieces to float to the sides of the tank and not take up too much surface area.
Tip: To make it easier to remove the detritus from your tank. Place it in a perforated bag. Herbal tea makers sell these types of bags or you could use muslin cloth or dish cloth stitched into a small bag.
I bought a pack of the cheapest dish cloths from Tesco supermarket and a pack of three costed me a grand total of £0.29 (€0.41 $0.54)!
These are loose weave, double layered stitched cloth, so I simply cut one corner up 4cm x 15cm and stiched up one side leaving the top open.
I then added a piece of lead weight to help one end sink and after adding my leaves I closed one end by using one of those food bag closure clips you get from the supermarket. Very handy your local supermarket.
I then placed the bag into a old 750ml 'baby beetroot' jar, added some rain water, shook the jar, removed the lid and left the jar exposed to sunlight.
After an hour or so you'll see the water turn brown if you used old leaves, this is simply a non-toxic and natural Tannin plant compound leaking into the water.
After one or two days look closely at the jar and you should see tiny, tiny things moving about. Add this 'soup' (including the bag) to your hatching tank containing 0.5Litres of pure distilled/ionised water. Then add the eggs.
This way the newly hatched Triops will have plenty of creatures to feed upon.
Obviously the bag is no longer required after 3 or 4 days as the Triops have hatched out and have grown so big that the tiny Infusoria food source is no longer enough to feed them. But don't throw it out. Simply dry it off and you can use it again to hatch out your next batch!
What is Detritus for?
Detritus is the name given to organic waste material from decomposing parts of dead plants. This material when dried out after being soaked in pond or mature aquarium water will contain on it the eggs of tiny Protozoa creatures and algal cysts (tiny plant seeds) (these forms of life are collectively known as Infusoria).
These creatures hatch out once it becomes wet and along with particles of decaying plant material settle near the surface of the water.
Triops larvae being so small at birth, need an even smaller food source and move upwards towards a light source to find something to eat at the surface and in the wild they would easily find this natural source of food.
So in a bowl or tank environment we need to add our own.
If they don't find Infusoria or there isn't enough of it per squared centimeter of water then the Triops quickly die due to starvation.
Hopefully this section explains why you need to add Detritus to the water and why you don't use a large amount of water as otherwise you'd need to add a lot more Detritus to compensate.
A small teabag sized amount of Detritus, as supplied by Triops kits, is ample enough for 0.5 litres of water.
Taken from: http://www.mytriops.com/articles/prepar ... tritus.stm
-
carbon etc
- Tiny Shrimp
- Posts: 69
- Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2006 4:20 pm
-
iturnrocks
- Tiny Shrimp
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- Joined: Wed May 31, 2006 6:32 pm
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shrimpscampi
Interesting read here guys. I've had one of those Walmart kits in my desk drawer for months maybe I'll get out the old betta hex and give them a go. I have some mesh media bags used for carbon and such that would be perfect for teabags.
One question though, when you say brine do mean just plain old aqurium salt or do you use synthetic saltwater mix? and at what concentration do you mix it?
One question though, when you say brine do mean just plain old aqurium salt or do you use synthetic saltwater mix? and at what concentration do you mix it?
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badflash
- Master Shrimp Nut
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I used driveway salt. I was trying to kill snails. It was an accident that I ended up with triops. The idea is that with a saturated solution of salt, the eggs will float. At that stage in their cycle they are impervious to the salt. It just needs to be rinsed off before you add clean water.
With 5 pounds of dirt, and 2 tablespons per batch, I won't be saving eggs.
With 5 pounds of dirt, and 2 tablespons per batch, I won't be saving eggs.
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iturnrocks
- Tiny Shrimp
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