Batch 2: Day 24 ~ R.I.P. Sharkey

Friday afternoon, and it's curtains for Sharkey. I noticed his water was low, and it was pretty toasty in the windowsill, so I changed 50% of his water with tap water from the office. He seemed to be enjoying his newly deep water, and was doing the celebrated triops flip-and-eat.

Later in the day I noticed he was very sluggish, and his tail seemed very stiff and stuck in a slightly upward-turned position. When he began flipping over on his back and was unable to right himself immediately, I knew the dreaded shrimp-reaper was hiding in the sand.

Sharkey's last stand, and a commemorative movie clip:
        

Pondering: did Sharkey die of old age, or did it have something to do with the tap water at the office?

Batch 2: Day 23

Triops: type genus of the family Triopidae: small hermaphroditic crustaceans with a small third median eye
Hermaphrodite: a plant or animal that normally has both male and female reproductive organs
Moron: A person whose mental acumen is well below par, especially cases in which the person in question has no clue as to the gender classification of his or her pet triops

Movie: Sharkey gets goosed by a ghost!
  

Batch 2: Day 20

Final Score Sharkey:5. Tankmates:0
No need to name the smaller triops - all that remained of her this morning was the tip of a tail whisker, which I am assuming Sharkey was saving as a war trophy. If Sharkey has any regrets, it would probably be that I changed her water and gravel before she could eat her own moltings.

Now let's just see how big I can grow her before she joins her murdered tankmates in that great brackish billabong in the sky; I'm sure they'll have a lot to talk about.

Sharkey: "If only my tank-mates hadn't been so delicious!"
    

Pondering: what won't Sharkey eat?

Batch 2: Day 17

Sharkey and her remaining tank-mate are still chugging about, although I must say that the smaller gal is looking a bit skittish. I can imagine what must be going through her tiny mind:

"Dear diary; Sharkey and I were a team once; shrimps of the same inner mold. But now things are different; I see the look in her eyes when I dare to snag a morsel of food. How long until I am another casualty of the tank, one more notch on Sharkey's greed-numbed carapace? I see the light of hope, but it shines dim and cold in my nether hours..."

It's a nerve-wracking state of affairs. However, if the smaller female survives over the weekend, I will grant her a heroic name....

Here is Sharkey, perhaps plotting some doom:
    

Pondering: can male triops "convert" to females depending on number, or climate, or just for the heck of it? Seems possible; I might have to do some research.

Batch 2: Day 14

Mass murder! Friday: 6 monsters. Monday: 2
Sharkey and an unnamed accomplice have killed and eaten all other members of the tank. There are no signs of bodies in the tank, or even pieces of bodies: now that's efficiency for you, folks. I guess that goes to show you what a couple of desperate, famished triops are capable of, and also reminds us (as citizens of a community) to finish what we start and cover up all the evidence.

Of further note, here's a knee-slapper for embarrassed parents: Sharkey is a girl! I found out late Friday before I left the office; I spotted egg sacs on Sharkey's underside; I guess she was holding out for the right time to let me know. Another lesson to us humans: don't deny your identity; the truth will come out eventually, when you're swimming around naked on your back.

Triops versus Sea Monkeys

My well-meaning mum bought me a sea-monkey kit when I was young. My first negative impression was that the feather-like shrimp, even when fully grown, looked nothing like the charming (perhaps slightly disturbing) sapien-esque characters on the box. My second disappointment was their small adult size: if you're a lucky sea-monkey owner, your pets may reach 1/2 or 3/4 of an inch at best. They simply weren't large enough to enjoy from more than a couple of feet away.

Triops are also shrimp, sometimes called "tadpole" shrimp. Not only do they double their size about every day for the first week (instant gratification), they grow up just as freaky as they appear on the package. They look like a miniature alien race that will eventually grow to enormous size in the dark depths of the oceans. In a time of false human prosperity and hope, they'll take over the Earth and shear off the heads of our greatest leaders with their razor-sharp mandibles, announcing their ascension in guttural, warbling chorus: "We're going to eat most of you for lunch while swimming upside-down; and if you survive, stick around - we only live for 40 days or so...."

Batch 2: Day 10

I left a covering (plastic plate with a hole cut through) on their tank for the night to test for evaporation and heat; this method seems ok aside from a bit of condensation in the tank. The water looked a little greenish today, so I decided to do a water change. Here's some visual excitement during the momentous occasion, including a great video of them going ballistic while waiting for their new water to warm up. Relax, guys!
    

Of note: I discovered the female digging at the gravel like a mini whirlwind machine of destruction. Either she didn't care for the décor, or she was attempting to make a spot to lay her eggs. I tried moving some of the stones for her but she wouldn't have any of it; apparently I wasn't doing her any favors, so I just sat back and watched.
        

Batch 2: Day 9

Interesting news! I finally confirmed that one of the triops is indeed a female. Check out these pictures of her; note the egg sacs on her underside, on both sides of her body.
    

It's nice to know there's some feminine delicacy in the tank to complement Sharkey's bull-in-the-China-shop brawn. Sharkey, by the way, has grown another 1/16-1/8 of an inch just from yesterday. I found one of his skins floating about and I tried to save it, but it broke apart quite easily. Triops molt a LOT, and each time they leave a glassy replica of themselves behind. The shed shells can be quite pretty. Here's a couple of pics from today, plus a video featuring Sharkey motoring about.
      

A nifty trick is to drop a pellet of food on their bellies when they're swimming upside-down near the surface. Also, if you take a very fine sliver of carrot or lettuce, you can "hand-feed" them by holding it out to their bellies (gently) and letting them nibble.

Batch 2: Day 8

6 healthy triops, the largest of the batch, Sharkey, is around 3/4 of an inch without his tail whiskers. He's a fat brute and seems to love feeding off my fingertip. Check out these pictures of Sharkey, one handsome fella:
    

I think I have a definite female but it's hard to be sure. I can't catch "her" in the act of feeding to verify the egg sacs that should be on the underside of the body.

Here are some pictures and videos from Day 8:
    

In the beginning...

...my first batch of triops was doing GREAT - 7 active swimmers, the largest around 1/2 an inch... until I left for the weekend and all of their water evaporated. They made it to 14 days and were quite happy to be alive, until I indirectly murdered them. Thus the lesson: cover your tank, especially if the mouth is wide and you're using a lamp.
Here are a few pictures of that last sad batch:
    

Setting Up

You can get triops eggs and kits from a pet store, a department store that sells fish, a science and nature store, or online. A basic kit comes with eggs, food, and instructions, and costs around 4 or 5 bucks. You can shell out for a "deluxe" kit, which can include such things as a small tank, magnifying lens, and water conditioner, but really all you need are the eggs and some chow - you can use small fish pellets or flakes if you lose your triops treats.

Here is everything I used for a very successful hatching:
• 1 pack of triops eggs
• 1 pack of triops food pellets
• A large, shallow glass container (around 3 bucks at a craft store)
• Fine gravel (this is optional; gives them something to dig around in)
• Distilled water
• A 60-watt lightbulb and small lamp (to keep the critters warm)

The instructions will tell you what to do with the eggs and water, but here are my major tips:
• Keep the lamp on them at all times. They are desert creatures and prefer it warmer rather than cooler.
• Do not allow your tank's water to evaporate! Especially if your tank has a very wide mouth, water will evaporate pretty quickly. If you will be away for a couple of days, cover part of the tank with aluminum foil to prevent major loss of water BUT ALSO move the lamp further away to prevent overheating.
• Do not overfill the tank when you're hatching. The infants have trouble swimming up and down (takes a lot of energy) and might not be able to get to the food easily. Just a couple of inches is fine.

I welcome any comments by other triops owners! I'll keep you posted with pictures, movies, and descriptions.