prehistoric triops....

[razer121]

ok guys a funny one here, yes these are prehistoric pets lol.....and no i havent hatched them yet, i am having problems, i need to put them in distilled water but i dont know how to get distilled water lol i know you can buy them kettles that do it but im sure there is a way you can do it without one right?

if anyone knows please tell me!! i am desprate to get this darn things to hatch lol later days guys :D

[Locke Fireclaw]

Go to a garage and buy some. :) It's distilled water that is used in un-sealed car batteries.

Locke

[Kynoch]

Are these the ones which the yanks call 'sea monkeys' ?

[Glod]

In the post I linked below they used bottled mineral water. I think it's just preferable to avoid tap water due to all the stuff that's added to "protect our health".

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?s=&showtopic=220901&view=findpost&p=1839751

Triops are more like small prehistoric crab things...

http://mytriops.com/articles/images/Triops_numidicus.jpg

The ones people generally grow only get to an inch or so tho :)

[Kynoch]

Ahhh, they remind me of Trilobites from my Geology days at college.:D

[FlyingHaggis]

Are they called horseshoes crabs as well?

[razer121]

i knew i was doing it wrong lol, i just used boiled water :o going to go out and buy some spring water now :) i will update if i get anything and thanks again guys! ent these things the coolest :rolleyes:

[Tami]

"Are they called horseshoes crabs as well?"

No for one thing triops (I believe) are fresh water and Horseshoe Crabs are salt water.
Triops have 3 eyes and Horseshoe Crabs have 4 compound ones.
Triops are related to shrimp.
Horseshoe Crabs are not crabs, rather they are closer to scorpions.
I have seen many horseshoe Crabs in florida.

[saltynay]

No they're similar looking though, a Triops is a shield shrimp and lives for 8-14 weeks at best. They live in temporary pools such as ditches which means they have virtually no predators as fish are unlikely to colonise in what is basically a puddle. They lay their eggs which are very cleverly evolved and eat any organic matter. The eggs can survive for upto 27 years (lab testing hasn't gone any further) completely dried out then once water is present the eggs begin there metabolism. Eggs are often time released so some hatch immediately others wait until they are wetted once then hatch some will need to be dried and rehydrated twice. The eggs are coated in a membrane that allow them to sink into silt when layed once dried the membrane contains air which will cause the egg to float when water is reintroduced the sunlight then causes the egg to hatch. Yes these are sold as sea monkeys but that species is quite small

I feed these to my fish and also breed them in my waterbutt in the summer to stop mosquitos, they also clean out the pond before the fish eat them :). They are over 200million years old and have hardly changed they are the oldest surving animal species. There are pictures somewhere around from Russia which apparently show one which is 5ft long though the official record is 4.5"

For distilled water just boil a large saucepan and cover with a plastic sheet that is lowered in the centre toform a conical shape above a cup. http://www.break.com/usercontent/2007/8/Survivor-Man-vs-Bear-Grylls-351095.html You should watch some survival shows lol this is how to distil urine use the same basic method for tap water but in a saucepan not the desert

[ArTizan]

Wow Awesome! They looks wicked, some excellent Friday knowledge, thanks :)

They look like something out of UFO: enemy uknown though.

[razer121]

well i got some spring water and im now in the process of trying again :) this time i have been as carfull as i could....realy hope it works this time wish me luck :)

[Shelley]

Ooh they sound interesting, enjoyed reading thatinfo Saltynay. Razer you will have to post pics of the little critters when they hatch.

I think we had Seamonkeys at work once.... can remember them somewhere. We had an Ant Farm at home lol, that was cool! until my Brothers Kids shook it up and we lost our Ants, little ****! :(

[six5tring]

We had a triop called Noris recently. He ate all of his brothers and sisters and died after a couple of months! Very cool though.

six

[Fat Bob]

this is how to distil urine use the same basic method for tap water but in a saucepan not the desert
Remind me never to come to your house for a cup of tea.

[razer121]

haha.....anyhow i dont know if i was ment to but i stirred the water with a metal spoon (the eggs and such were sticking to the sides) anyhow someone somewhere told me that metal can affect natural water or somthing and now im worried lol, its been around 6 hours since i added them, really cant wait for this to come alive will try to grow them as big as i can, and then encase one of them in a resin glass thing (did it with my spider "fredric" so yea i cant wait for them to start to hatch an such, i have a light beaming on them all day so that should help as it also helps keep them warm although, it does make little bubbles everywhere lol will update later on tonight :)

[saltynay]

haha.....anyhow i dont know if i was ment to but i stirred the water with a metal spoon (the eggs and such were sticking to the sides) anyhow someone somewhere told me that metal can affect natural water or somthing and now im worried lol, its been around 6 hours since i added them, really cant wait for this to come alive will try to grow them as big as i can, and then encase one of them in a resin glass thing (did it with my spider "fredric" so yea i cant wait for them to start to hatch an such, i have a light beaming on them all day so that should help as it also helps keep them warm although, it does make little bubbles everywhere lol will update later on tonight :)

The optimum temperature for breedingis 23C and for size they need 26 during the day and 18 at night and just give them lots of food even if they don't eat it at that time, Triops can't overeat:).

[razer121]

ok, thanks for the info :) its hard to find much infomation on these little critters lol, i thought i saw a little spec move about half hour ago but i have since not been able to find it...hoping to wake in the morning and see them moving about :) well good night for now folks....update in the morning :D

[razer121]

well, its been over 24hours now...still got nothing, still have that feeling im doing something wrong :( but im determind to keep trying!! if anyone can give me hints on anything i might be doing wrong?? cos im mega stuck lol

[jacobzcoool]

Have you tried rebooting it?

Oh, wrong thread :p

[razer121]

one has hatched!!! after around a week i just saw a triop eating upside down just as i was about to throw the water out!! how lucky is that?? well im a happy chappy now finaly after spending near on £20 just to see it hatch...now its got to grow up so i can see it!! there so tiny...about 1mm in size if that!! he keeps disappearing lol well just thought i would let you all know :)

[six5tring]

They grow very very quickly!

[razer121]

well, i looked at my triop last night im going to name hm/her soon as im so proud, but i noticed a few things....he is so hard to see at the mo! i saw him last night but cannot see him today...it makes me worried that he has died lol....but i have faith in him, anyhow he is nearly pure white, does anyone know when he will take colour?? also...is it normal that out of all the egss only 1 hatchs.....

[six5tring]

we had about 1/2 dozen hatch then one ate all the others!

six

[Shelley]

one has hatched!!! after around a week i just saw a triop eating upside down just as i was about to throw the water out!! how lucky is that?? well im a happy chappy now finaly after spending near on £20 just to see it hatch...now its got to grow up so i can see it!! there so tiny...about 1mm in size if that!! he keeps disappearing lol well just thought i would let you all know :)

Yay! congrats!

[Fat Bob]

They grow very very quickly!
Am I alone in wondering what they taste like?

[six5tring]

Am I alone in wondering what they taste like?

I'm guessing cruchys... maybe bear grills will munch one for us!

[saltynay]

Am I alone in wondering what they taste like?

My bets are it tastes like chicken:) or possibly similar to a crayfish

[razer121]

ok....lol on a side note ye i dont think they would taste that nice.given all the legs (50-75!!!) that would be enough to make my skin crawl as they went into my mouth lol....but anyhow i think "lucky" has died but...i have anouther 3 that have hatched :) there going strong!!! whoo!!!

[Fat Bob]

...but anyhow i think "lucky" has died but...
I am sorry for your loss. Shame he wasn't a little larger - you could have stuck him in the freezer until Christmas.

[razer121]

anyone whos been following would know who "lucky" is......well take a look at this :)

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r175/razer12121/DSC01764.jpg

thats lucky!!! 2 days later i saw him scraping the side of the tank!!! (i have 2 tanks lol) anyhow, i havent fed him for 2 days as i thought he may have died, so i went and got some food for him, he started eating it the moment it hit the water!!! whoo!!! LUCKY LIVES ON!!! muwhahaha :D i cant wait to see him tomoz morning and see how much he grows:)

[razer121]

so just thought i would update a little bit....my triop (lucky) is now around 1cm in length :) im so impressed with him lol i will try and get a better picture of him soon and let you all see him :) i can see his little beady eyes and everything!

[jacobzcoool]

Very nice :)

Glad he (she/it?) survived

[razer121]

well...long time no update but now....i must explain first, "lucky" has died, he/she got stuck in his own crap and well i tryed to relese him but he soon died a little while after, anyhow instead of just flushing "lucky" down the toilet i decided to "give" him top "cruz" he has now been a good snack for "cruz" who has grown loads! take a look at these pictures of "cruz"

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r175/razer12121/triops/cruz.jpg

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r175/razer12121/triops/cruz1.jpg

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r175/razer12121/triops/cruz2.jpg

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r175/razer12121/triops/cruz3.jpg

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r175/razer12121/triops/cruz4.jpg

yes he has reached an inch in size!!! whoo!!

[razer121]

so now hes gotten MUCH bigger (like nearly 2 inchs i swear) heres some nice clear pics :)

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r175/razer12121/triops/HPIM0624.jpg

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r175/razer12121/triops/HPIM0640.jpg

ok granted not the best but he just doesnt keep still!!! and is nearly always eating lol

[saltynay]

looks like its going well, is cruz from the original egg batchs genetic pool

[razer121]

cruz is from the second batch, lucky was feed to cruz as i saw him as good nutrition for him, and it was very intreting to watch :)

[Westy5]

Nice one!

Well done on your successes

[razer121]

thanks :) im real happy to although looking at the last picture ive just noticed that cruz seems to be leaving "his mess" behind lol