# Tadpole shrimp



## rhodophyta (Jan 23, 2006)

Anyone else keeping tadpole shrimp? (_Triops cancriformis_)


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## michelleml (Oct 24, 2009)

Are these the same triops you can find in stores as sea monkeys
and it has an extremely fast life-cycle, and develops from an egg to an adult in just two or three weeks (depending on temperature? If so we've boought them a few times and have been succesful and having up to four at one time. Very fun to watch


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## rhodophyta (Jan 23, 2006)

Mitchell, no, the sea monkeys are saltwater, the same thing as brine shrimp with a different marketing ploy name. The Triops you may be thinking of is T. longicaudatus commonly sold as dinosaur shrimp, but they are not as large as the cancriformis and not as suited to the aquarium. I think perhaps all of the different Triops species you can buy are wild collected eggs, except for a small number of people breeding the tadpole shrimp, T. cancriformis which will reproduce in the aquarium if there is enough food for the adults and enough sand to bury the eggs in. The female balls up about thirty of her eggs and then glues sand grains to the outside, making them very difficult to find until you know what you are looking for. They must rest for four months in dried out sand before they will hatch and can be stored in a refrigerator or freezer for a few weeks which some think will increase the hatch rate.


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