How to grow triops from eggs - week one

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Although triops aren't plants of course, they're animals, caring for them is very similar to planting seeds and nurturing seedlings. The instruction manual that came with my latest packet of triops eggs called it having a "blue thumb" (you know, like having a green thumb means that you're good with plants).

This is my second attempt, and the first attempt was actually pretty sad. But it's just like gardening, when the next season arrives, you want to try again. You know, learning from mistakes - if you're a gardener you get it, if not you're probably thinking that the triops police should be putting out a wanted poster for me. Come to think of it, there are a LOT of different plants that would be using the same wanted poster. Of course, my mistakes were just that, mistakes, I didn't intentionally shorten the life of these wonderful living things.

As a gardener, I'm a big believer in preparation. You know the old saying "Dig a hundred dollar hole for a fifty dollar tree"! So for the triops I found a perfect location this year - my garage. And the temperatures will be good for the next few months, which means that I'll only have to add additional heat for a short period.

I've watched videos, I've read up on the little creatures, I've practically got the instruction booklet memorized. They don't need anything from me for the first 72 hours other than making sure that their water temperature is correct: between 74 and 86 degrees F.

It's Saturday, and since I "planted" the eggs last night I'm gonna consider this to be day one. And that means that Monday will be Day Three when I will begin feeding with the Baby Triops Food. Here, I'll zoom in on it for you:


I have a hunch that I overfed my triops last year, so this year I'm going to be more careful about the amount I feed them. The instructions say that I should draw a circle 1/8 inch in diameter and fill that circle, and feed them that daily. On Day 5, the instructions say to feed twice a day, once with the baby food, and once with 1/4 of two-ground-up pellets of the adult food. Day 7 will be the last day of baby food, and that will be Friday.

After the baby phase is over I'll move to young adult, and then adult.

Update: Sunday morning - Day one. the triops have hatched and I can see them swimming around. They're very tiny! Tomorrow I'll start feeding them their baby food.


Update: Sunday afternoon - Day one. I put a trilobite fossil in front of the aquarium as inspiration for the triops. In a matter of hours they go from tiny dots to recognizable shapes, with tails.


Update: Monday morning - Day two. did the first feeding of triops baby food.

Update: Tuesday morning - Day three. I can clearly see the beautiful forked tail.


Update:Wednesday morning - Day four. triops grow fast, easily doubling in size every 24 hours. From a tiny speck to about 1/4 inch (a little over .6 cm)


Update: Thursday morning - day five. Large enough now to clearly see the detail, including the carapace - the "shield". I'd say about a half inch, or about a centimeter. Today I will start adding a small amount of crushed up adult triop food in the afternoon, along with the baby food, which I will continue through tomorrow. On Saturday I will discontinue with the baby food, and use only the adult food. Scorpius the triop should reach his full size by then, which I understand can be as big as two inches (5 centimeters).

I have named this triop Scorpius.


Update: Friday - day six. Scorpius will be an adult tomorrow. And it really is true what they say, they grow so fast it's absolutely amazing. From what I've read their lifespan is from a month to 90 days, so I'll hope for the best. As usual, I will give the best care that I can, cherish the time we have together, and never ask for a second more, because I know that there would never be enough time.

Pets enhance our lives.

Day six, the last day of being a juvenile, about three quarters of an inch long (2 cm). Tomorrow: an adult!

Update: Saturday - day seven. Looks to be about an inch long, and from what I've read he (or she) is now an adult, although apparently they can get up to two inches. Maybe Scorpius is done growing, maybe there will be a growth spurt later in life. I'll continue to update for week 2 in a separate post, and let you know.

Day seven triops

Seven day old triops, about an inch from tip of nose to tip of tail.

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