Choosing Life

I've been struggling with the decision. Last night I decided that I am bringing life into the world.

Right now the life is barely large enough to be seen with the naked eye, but the speed with which it is growing is amazing. In just a few days it should be ready for me to start using my special make-shift filter.




I'm hatching a new batch of triops. Triops are supposedly one of the oldest creatures still in existence, having changed little in 70 million years. They live in vernal pools of water which may only last a brief period of time, so they must be able to hatch and reach reproductive maturity very quickly. The eggs can remain viable for up to 20 years allowing them to hatch again even if it is a long time before the now-dessicated pool again fills with water.

Once hatched, triops have a very strong will to live. They will eat just about anything, are constantly scrounging and fighting for food, and if one of their peers shows any signs of weakness, they will cannibalize it. I've seen this myself. In my past rounds of growing triops, I would notice about 6 or 7 budding creatures, then one day I would wake up and find only half of them left with no signs of the others. I usually end up with 2 or 3 finalists who live out the rest of their lives into adulthood. But once again, as one of them grows old and too weak to fight off its peers, the others will attack, killing and mercilessly eating their old friend, not necessarily in that order.


Last night I took out my special triop container containing the old sand and gravel from my last generation. By keeping that old substrate, I have not only triop eggs, but also the spores and cysts of the microscopic creatures that lived in the old water. These microscopic creatures become the food for the triops once they hatch.

Left over substrate from previous triop generation.

They are very sensitive about water conditions, so I filled the tank with some distilled water.

Finally, I had to set up a lamp to give not only light, but warmth.

The next morning (only about 10 hours later), there are probably dozens of these tiny moving dots, less than a millimeter in length.

Close-up of one of my new babies.

I cannot tell you how proud I am. Like any proud parent, I will be posting new pictures documenting every first smile, crawl, and cannibalization. Stay tuned.