What are Triops?			Eggs and Babies			Why they're important			The Species
	The Appeal of Triops			How to raise Triops			Shop for Triops			Scientific papers
	Anatomy of Triops			Container Types			Food Recipes			Tank Setups
	Eggs & Detritus			Companions to Triops			Water types			Quick Hatching Guide

	FAQ - General			FAQ - Hatching			FAQ - Caring			FAQ - Food

Q:
What is the brown and green pellets supplied with my Triops kit?

A:
This is the Triops food supply.
The brown or black pellet is shrimp food.
The green pellet is algae.

Q:
I've ran out of the brown and green pellets supplied with my Triops kit. What else can I use?

A:
You can use catfish pellets and algae wafers.
If you go to your local pet shop and look for any tropical fish food that is designed for bottom feeders then this will be fine to use.
Do not use goldfish food, this is designed for cold water fish and is unsuitable. Flake food is also unsuitable as it floats and will tend to disperse into the water and so pollute it.

Some good fish food suggestions -

• TetraPrima
• TetraTabimin
• Hikari Tropical Algae Wafers
• Hikari Tropical Algae Wafers
• Hikari Tropical Sinking Carnivore Pellets
• Hikari Crab Cuisine
• Spirulina
• Aquarian Catfish Tablet Food
• Cyclop-Eeze
• Tetra Fresh Delica - Bloodworm
• Tetra Baby Food
• Bloodworm sinking pellets

Q:
I've ran out of the fine baby Triop food supplied with my kit. What else can I use?

A:
This is just very finely ground fry (baby fish) food.
Pop down to your local pet shop and get yourself some baby fry food.

Q:
What other food can I feed my Triops?

A:
There is a huge number of alternative foods you can feed your Triops.
As they are omnivores, they'll eat virtually any vegetable you put into their tank. Just ensure that you 'par-boil' it first (this means put the vegetable into boiling water for 5 minutes). This will soften the vegetable and makes it easier for the Triops to eat it.

Put a small amount of the vegetable (about the size of 2 peas) into the tank and see if they'll eat it. At first they may avoid it as it's new. But after an hour or less they will hopefully start eating it. If not, then take it out and try some thing different. Never leave uneaten food in the tank. It will go rotten and pollute the tank and the Triops.

Meat should only be fed sparingly. Perhaps once every other day. Very small amounts of non-salty fish or uncooked chicken or turkey. I find buying a small piece of uncooked tuna steak, cutting it up into small pieces and freezing it will supply you with enough for many weeks!

For other ideas and much more detail on how to feed your aquatic pet, please read the Food and recipes MyTriops page.

Note: Remember to not overfeed your Triops. This is the number one killer of Triops as uneaten food pollutes the water and kills the Triops. Remove any food uneaten after 3 or 4 hours.

One of the key adaptations of Triops is their amazing ability to eat almost anything available in their environment. This is important in order to maintain the rapid development needed to quickly colonise temporary ponds. It is said they requiring about 40% of their body mass in food per day! So Triops are constant detritus feeders or scavengers. They will eat anything that fits into their tiny mouth, from bacteria, algae, protozoa, lower metazoans, insect larvae, tender plant roots and shoots, and will prey on smaller Triops, fairy shrimps, and tadpoles if they come across them.