We have life!
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Fairy shrimp, and a lot of them. All those little white dots are alive. They're pinprick-sized right now, and are very strongly attracted to light. There are also a couple of larger dots in there, which I think might be beavertail fairy shrimp as opposed to redtail fairy shrimp like the rest. They don't move quite like triops.
The triops have also hatched, except the 5-year-old ones. There's only about 5 in each container, and I can't photograph them because they're in with sand. They look exactly like sand grains unless you can see them moving.
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This is how I'm hatching everything. The fairy shrimp are in here, the triops are over by a window. Both need light to hatch. It's about a cup of distilled water, and the stuff in there with them is the detritus they were packaged with. It helps grow microorganisms for them to filter-feed and eat. There's also a pebble of limestone to add some gradual calcium. I have a lid on there usually to keep the cats out.
The triops are in similar setups, except that they came packaged in sand. Water, a couple tablespoons of sand, and a limestone pebble each. In a day or so I'll acclimate them to water with more trace elements in it.
The 5-year-old triops haven't hatched yet. I'll give them a week from submersion to hatch, and if they don't hatch I'll dump the whole container into the big tank.
Fairy shrimp, and a lot of them. All those little white dots are alive. They're pinprick-sized right now, and are very strongly attracted to light. There are also a couple of larger dots in there, which I think might be beavertail fairy shrimp as opposed to redtail fairy shrimp like the rest. They don't move quite like triops.
The triops have also hatched, except the 5-year-old ones. There's only about 5 in each container, and I can't photograph them because they're in with sand. They look exactly like sand grains unless you can see them moving.
This is how I'm hatching everything. The fairy shrimp are in here, the triops are over by a window. Both need light to hatch. It's about a cup of distilled water, and the stuff in there with them is the detritus they were packaged with. It helps grow microorganisms for them to filter-feed and eat. There's also a pebble of limestone to add some gradual calcium. I have a lid on there usually to keep the cats out.
The triops are in similar setups, except that they came packaged in sand. Water, a couple tablespoons of sand, and a limestone pebble each. In a day or so I'll acclimate them to water with more trace elements in it.
The 5-year-old triops haven't hatched yet. I'll give them a week from submersion to hatch, and if they don't hatch I'll dump the whole container into the big tank.
