Triops and Their Food

A lot of people are now interested to learn more about the Triops. After hatching, you will need to start feeding your Triops. For those who are into raising Triops, this is the time when you will have a lot of fun with your little pets.

Like any other aquatic creatures, Triops also need food in order to survive. You see, Triops are not fussy eaters. Triops are classified as omnivores and so you will not find it hard to feed them. To determine their favorite foods, you will need to look into their habits.

As compared to other aquatic creatures, the Triops seem to be hungry all the time. They spend their lifetime looking for food. In the natural setting, the Triops usually feed on the plant fragments, smaller creatures, and tiny insects. According researchers, Triops also feed on mosquitoes (the larvae). In the studies, the Triops ate the larvae of the mosquitoes thereby reducing the number of adult mosquitoes.

The Triops eat what they come across. Very few Triops swim around and most of them just stay at the bottom of the tank or container. These freshwater crustaceans love to eat on plant roots and so there are times when they tend to dig away the plant, causing the plant to die.

So here are the plant foods that you can feed your Triops:

Carrots – if you have carrots at home, peel off its skin. Just take one carrot and it can already feed your Triops for a couple of days. You can feed the carrots raw or you can also parboil it. Triops can consume parboiled carrots much faster than the raw carrots; so it’s up to you whether you will boil the carrots for 3 minutes first or shave the carrots in small fragments and feed it directly.

Lettuce – with the lettuce, you will need to parboil at least one leaf. After doing so, break the leaf into tiny fragments. This is an excellent treat for omnivore fish too just in case you have some in the tank together with the Triops.

Potato – peel the skin and cut a small portion of the potato. If you can get a potato with the roots still attached to it, the better; parboil the small portion potato and chop it into very small pieces.

Aside from the plant foods, you can also feed the Triops with meat since it is an omnivore. Some of the meat foods can consist of the following:

  1. Bloodworm - as the name suggests, these worms are red colored. Freshwater fish love the bloodworm. You can get them at pet shops locally. Get a cloth and pour the water with bloodworms. Remember that you will need to put only the adequate number of bloodworms in to the tank. If you're allergic to these worms, wash your hands thoroughly.
  2. Earthworm - common earthworms can also be fed to your Triops. Just get the small ones and place them in a bowl. Leave the earthworms for six hours to empty the digestion tubes. After the specified time, you can now rinse the worms in cloth and put them in the tank. Cleaning the earthworms is necessary to ensure that the Triops won't catch any disease.
  3. Daphnia - this also called water flea. Once the Triops hatch, you should have a ready supply of Daphnia at home. Dried daphnia can also be purchased from pet shops. Put the daphnia in a separate container with water and after a couple of days, you can now feed these creatures to the Triops.
  4. Fly - common flies can be caught and then place them in the tank. Triops love them.
  5. Brine shrimp - this is usually being fed to goldfishes but you can also feed them to your Triops. For only $0.95, you can already have lots of brine shrimps. To remove the salt that covers the brine shrimp, rinse with water first before feeding.

Aside from the plants and meat foods, you can also feed the Triops with commercial food. When you buy the eggs of the Triops, it already comes with a packet of food. This food has been pre-prepared for the hatchlings.

For starters, you can use the baby fish foods sold commercially. Since the fine food particles contain a mixture of plant, oil, and fish, the Triops will love them. This will provide your Triops with a balanced meal, thereby making them healthy. The fish food will stay afloat for some time before it will sink. Make sure that you don’t over-feed the baby Triops because you can kill them not by overfeeding but of the rotting of uneaten food particles.

Catfish pellets are also ideal for Triops. Just like the baby fish food, the pellets can also provide a balanced diet for the Triops. One small plastic container of these pellets can feed Triops for a long time.

Another good choice is the jellied fish foods. The jellies can be brine shrimp, bloodworm, or daphnia. Since the fish food is in jelly form, it immediately sinks to the bottom of the tank.

Raising Triops is not expensive. In fact, these small creatures can only live for 14 to 18 weeks at the maximum. One packet of commercial food may be enough depending on the population of the Triops that you have inside the tank.

Triops can survive on their on in the natural setting without any help from humans but if you are keeping them as pets, it is very important that you attend to their needs. Aside from ensuring that the water has the right pH level, you will also need to feed the Triops regularly. The tank does not contain any food sources and if you don’t provide food, the Triops will eventually die. If you don’t want that to happen, make sure that you have a ready food source available at home.

If you would rather opt for the plants and meat, you will need to feed them alternately. This is one way to ensure that the Triops are thriving and in good health. The commercial foods are already balanced and so you will simply feed them at the right time. Survivability is not a problem with Triops because these creatures are easy to grow.

Next time you go out shopping, drop by the local pet shop and get some food supplies or you can already purchase some potatoes, carrots, lettuce, brine shrimp, daphnia, etc.

Like other creatures, Triops need food everyday and considering their voracious appetite, you will need to feed the Triops several times a day. Overfeeding will only be a problem if you’re using commercial products but if you are feeding your Triops with potatoes, lettuce, brine shrimp, and worms, there is nothing to worry about. Still, it would help if you know the best times to feed your Triops and at the right amounts. Keep in mind that you also need to look into the state of the tank. It should be kept clean and free from any disease.

Start caring for Triops now and see how much they can grow in a week. If researchers are taking great interest in studying this creature, then why don't you take care of them at home as well? Just feed the Triops properly and regularly to ensure long life. This is your responsibility as owners of the Triops.

Have fun with your Triops now and pick only the ideal food items and commercial fish products.

Triops - Eggs are the key to their survival »