Triops cancriformis has survived 180 million years, but dies within hours in my tank.

digitalphrage

oh god how did this get here i am n
I recently hatched out some T. cancriformis, but they are quickly outgrowing their hatching container. I've tried to follow the care instructions I've seen online (and elsewhere) as closely as possible, and in the hatching container they've thrived.

However, the hatching container is just that, a small plastic tub for them to hatch out in. Once they outgrow that, you're supposed to put them into a larger tank where they can grow and mature.

I set up the permanent tank a few weeks ago using sand, water and filter media from an established tank. It was essentially fully cycled from the get go, and based on water param testing, I can only imagine, it's still fully cycled (no ammonia, nitrites, and very minimal nitrates).

Anyway, as advised, I placed one triop in the tank to see if it lived 24 hours, at which point I'd know for sure the permanent tank was safe for them. The first one died over night, second one died over night, third one and so on, they just keep dying.

Out of curiosity, I placed a killifish fry in the tank to see if it would live. It did, for several days, so I thought, water must finally be okay! I put a triop in there, and a few hours later, it's dead.

The water in the hatching container is exactly the same water as that in the permanent tank -- water parameters are identical, the tank and hatching container are side by side, and I use the same water source (water from one of my established tanks).

I feel like I'm missing something, any ideas?
 
When I was much younger, I tried the same thing, trying to transfer them into a small 5g. They always died. I was convinced I had somehow gotten soap residue in the tank. Turns out that wasn't true, since fish live fine in it. They've only lived so long because of the whole "suspended animation" thing they have going on. I find that they're actually pretty delicate creatures when it comes to water params.
 
From a seller on ebay. Not too expensive and shipping was quick -- plus a high hatch rate, a couple extra eggs and I got some seed shrimp out of the deal, which were probably stowaways in the triops sand.

The problem of course is that I'm running out of triops to act as guinea pigs in the permanent tank. I'd like to have at least a few of them survive to adulthood.

And yes, they're really, really cool and entertaining, so I highly recommend buying some and trying them out!
 
When I was much younger, I tried the same thing, trying to transfer them into a small 5g. They always died. I was convinced I had somehow gotten soap residue in the tank. Turns out that wasn't true, since fish live fine in it. They've only lived so long because of the whole "suspended animation" thing they have going on. I find that they're actually pretty delicate creatures when it comes to water params.

Thanks for the input. It's just so odd. I feel like I'm missing some factor or over looking something....unfortunately, the hatching container only holds a pint of water or so, the remaining adults are already too large for it and I'm having to do twice daily water changes just to keep the water in reasonable condition.

Maybe next time I'll try a different species and see if I have any luck, but I was lured to the cancriformis because it's supposed to grow larger, doesn't need a heated tank and I find the speckled coloration more interesting than other species.
 
Maybe the species is your problem, however when I had my problems I had them with a different species, Triops longicaudatus. Good luck, and please post your results!


EDIT: Not to be OT, but where in the heck is the link to change your avatar and signature. I've been searching for 15 mins, can't find it for the life of me!
 
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Maybe the species is your problem, however when I had my problems I had them with a different species, Triops longicaudatus. Good luck, and please post your results!


EDIT: Not to be OT, but where in the heck is the link to change your avatar and signature. I've been searching for 15 mins, can't find it for the life of me!

Hey, I can help with that. Go to your profile page. On the bar that has "Advanced Search" on the right, one of the options is "Forum Actions". Go there, and click the "General Settings" link. On the page that comes up, there are some sidebar menu items on the left, and in one of those sidebars is an option to edit avatar.
 
Maybe they are delicate enough that PH has to be taken into account? And water hardness?

You'd think, but the pH and all other water params that I can test (pH, kH, gH, temp, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, etc) are exactly the same since I'm using the same water source for the permanent tank and hatching container.

I guess I'm just going to have to use all the remaining triops as guinea pigs and just set up a completely new and separate tank. It's really quite a mystery to be honest. I would have thought a fish fry would be more delicate, but apparently that's just not the case.

Anyway, I do appreciate all feedback and help you guys, I was mostly just thinking I had forgotten or missed something obvious. And yes, if I fail with this species, I may opt to try longicaudatus as I've heard its a little easier. As I said, main reasons for choosing cancriformis were the fact that this species likes cooler temps (and doesn't need a heated tank) and because I find its appearance to be more interesting and pleasing.
 
Well now.... Does the big tank have hiding places? If not, stressing to death is an option. Finally, maybe if you try them again you could have them hatch in the big tank with a sort of screen to keep them out of it while allowing water to mix? Maybe try taking water from the big tank and putting it into the little hatchery tub?
 
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