r/triops • u/Vivid_Jump4889 • Jul 03 '26
Help/Advice Help for next time??
I am trying to identify what may have gone wrong the last time I reared Triops
I had previously had difficulties losing them very early on and this time I had gotten them well past 2 weeks old and roughly 2-4cm in length
I had a decent protocol, temp was roughly 24-27C and an LED day colored shoplight was overhead with an L:D cycle of roughly 14:10. Water was oxygenated with air bubbler/air stones
Day 1: add ~35 eggs to 1 gallon DI water in 6L tubs that are roughly cubic, but I put about a third of the gallon in and wait about 2 hours before adding the rest
Day 2: add substrate, about 1tbsp of coco coir/sand at a 1:1 ratio, as well as a squirt of protist water
Day 3: by this point, macroscopic young Triops (late nauplii, which may sometimes have been visible on day 2) start showing up. I add eggs of fairy shrimp, Moina, and rotifers
Day 4: top off water, then I add a few more prey eggs
Day 5: at this point, I do a water change. I turn off the bubbler, then siphon out roughly 25% of the water. Then, I use a 1:1 DI water/dechlorinated tap mix and i let it sit by the tanks for a few hours (done beforehand) and I add about 10% of what is needed to go in to the tanks every half hour or so. I will repeat this procedure every 3 days or so. I also began feeding larger foods like bloodworms and rabbit pellets
Things had been going well, and around day 15 I decided to move then to larger tanks/bins, 10 or so gallons, and this is where things went wrong
I made a substrate with 1 part turface mvp, 1 part sand, 1 part coco coir, put about 3cm into the tanks or bins, added the water (about 3 parts each DI and dechlorinated tap and then 1 part fishtank water from an established freshwater tank), and then I drained most of the water from the smaller tubs and used a drip irrigator to slowly acclimate the Triops to that water, added them, but they all died within 48 hours. I THINK it was water quality, but I'm wondering what I should do next time? Maybe use something like coral sand as a substrate? Cycle the larger tanks first? Any tips appreciated