Prehistoric Pet?

What are Triops?

- crustaceans that look like miniature horseshoe crabs.

- Prehistoric monsters aka dinosaur shrimp

- Triops have a relatively short lifespan of 20 to 90 days

- grow quickly to their adult length of one to three inches.

- How large they grow depends on the amount of light and food they receive.

- After hatching, they often double in size daily!

(extracted from wikihow)

4 Steps

Step 1: Fill your tank with about 1 litre (1/4 of gallon) distilled or bottled spring water (preferably bottled spring water) . Make sure the water is between 23 and 29 degrees Celsius or between 75 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit and there is a light before adding the eggs. Put a piece of black paper behind the tank. If you bought a kit and it came with detritus (eggs), follow the instructions and add this

Step 2: Stir in your packet of triop eggs and wait for at least 18 hours. After this time, look closely at the tank. You should be able to see little white specks swimming over the black background. Some of these are your triops! The other creatures (Fairy Shrimp, Cyclops, Water Fleas etc.) will probably be eaten by the triops, so don't worry.

Step 3: Wait another 3 days after the majority of triops have hatched. After that waiting period, you can raise the water temperature to 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit)and have them on a day/night schedule. Feed them the food the kit gave you or use tropical fish pellets, not goldfish pellets. Crush them between two spoons, then add half of this to the tank

Step 4: Continue to feed once a day till they are 5 days old,then they eat 2-3 times a day. At 7 days and over, feed them a full pellet to each triops 2-3 times a day. Keep feeding till they don't eat anymore, then take out the excess food they don't eat. Have fun!

Tips:

Don't be disheartened if you can't see triops after 18 hours. Be patient. Some triops hatch over 48 hours.
Cleaning the tank: Triops naturally live in puddles, so they don't need clean water like aquarium fish. However, you can change the water after a week so the water doesn't get too dirty or smelly.
If you don't have any distilled water to use, do not panic! Leaving tap water in an open container exposed to the air for 24 hours will allow most of the chlorine to evaporate. This is what aquarium keepers call "aged tap water". However, tap water is still not as good an option as distilled water or other bottled drinking water, because it has more minerals (see "Warnings" section below).

1. Carefully pour away half the tank. Then top up with the water you have chosen at the same temperature as the tank your triops are in. This can be repeated several times if you aren't satisfied with the clarity of the water. Make sure it's the same water you used before.

2. Always wash your hands after handling the tank. They swim in their own feces, and are covered in bacteria and fungi!

Put in some sand or small gravel after 11 days with your triops so they can burrow and lay eggs in the substrate, but you don't have to as they lay 10-30 eggs a day!
Feeding your Triops small bits of frozen carrot, shrimp, blood worms, or fish will cause them to grow quicker, and larger.
Be careful not to overfeed your triops, as this will make the water cloudier and disgusting. In addition, over feeding will drastically reduce the oxygen levels, meaning your triops will not grow and die, so clean that tank!
Don't panic if you see your triops "jumping" out of their skin. They tend to shed. You don't have to remove the shredded skin out of the tank since it doesn't harm the triops.

Warnings:

Try to use distilled or spring water. *Don't use tap water as councils add chemicals like fluoride and chlorine to it. Although this is good from a human's point of view, it's not for triops!
Another major problem with tap water from some localities is the dissolved minerals it may contain. These salts can be a mixture of calcium, magnesium and sodium with less quantities of other minerals. These have been proven to reduce hatching in triops. When choosing water, it is advisable to obtain water that is as pure as possible and free from bacteria. Demineralised water (also known as de-ionised) is recommended. It is commonly available from supermarkets for putting in irons and topping up car batteries, as the previously mentioned salts found in tap water can damage these items as well. There are now many drinking waters available that are relatively pure. Simply refer to the bottles label to find out what is in it and avoid ones that contain any chlorine, chloromine or ozone.
Triops can fertilize. They aren't really one exact sex either. So you might see some pink colored eggs somewhere in the tank!

Things You May Need:

Triop eggs
Tank (2 litres is a perfect size)
Distilled water or bottled spring water
Second tank (for cleaning)
Clean tank at least once every week
Triop food
(optional) plants (not plastic plants but real aquatic ones) Triops will feed themselves from plants if they are starving. Plants are like a 24-hour salad bar for the triops.