# Sea Monkeys?



## CrazyFishDude (Dec 31, 2012)

(I haven't been on the forum in forever, sorry about that)

So I've been very interested not only in our awesome bettas, but also I've recently been researching and simply fascinated by vernal pool dwellers, such as Triops and fairy shrimp. I am considering getting some "Sea Monkeys" (which are a hybrid strain of brine shrimp commonly sold commercially) to experiment with breeding them and drying/rehydrating their eggs. I choose to go to Toys R Us and buy a small box of "Sea Monkeys" and look strangely out of place (a teen with a Mohawk and Marilyn Manson shirts doesn't really fit in well at a Toys R Us) instead of buying regular brine shrimp eggs because I'm a beginner, and the hybrid "Artemia x nyos" is usually easier to raise than normal brine shrimp, so I will start out with these guys. Any advice on how to care for them? What are some good foods? Should I use the tank that comes with the kit or use a bigger Tupperware container? Thanks! :-D


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## jona31 (May 19, 2013)

if ur starting out with seamonkeys and or triops use the kits with the tanks they come with entire booklets that show you how to take care of them goodluck


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## Saphira101 (Nov 14, 2012)

Sounds cool! I used to catch vernal pool fairy shrimp in a big puddle outside my house, but I've had no experience with "Sea Monkeys".


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## CrazyFishDude (Dec 31, 2012)

Thanks. If that's what I should do then I hope the tank that comes in the kit isn't incredibly cheesy and kiddy-looking lol. I don't know why but I'm so picky about that.


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## CrazyFishDude (Dec 31, 2012)

Saphira101 said:


> Sounds cool! I used to catch vernal pool fairy shrimp in a big puddle outside my house, but I've had no experience with "Sea Monkeys".


Oh man I wish I could find some fairy shrimp! They seem so cool but I can only order them online, which I'd rather not do.


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## Saphira101 (Nov 14, 2012)

CrazyFishDude said:


> Oh man I wish I could find some fairy shrimp! They seem so cool but I can only order them online, which I'd rather not do.


The wild ones that I catch are _really_ hard to care for, though. Water changes tend to kill them, they have to be drip acclimated or they will usually die... (Learned this the hard way).

I also haven't found a good food for them. I usually just end up feeding them to my leeches instead lol. XD


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

I'm sorry... Your leeches? Are you saying you keep leeches as pets? Lol.


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## Saphira101 (Nov 14, 2012)

MattsBettas said:


> I'm sorry... Your leeches? Are you saying you keep leeches as pets? Lol.


Of course I'm saying I keep leeches as pets! They are awesome. I have two currently, named Bob and Joe. I caught them in my friend's slough last Wednesday, but I have had leeches before this.


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

*facepalm*

So how do you keep them? What do they eat?


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## Saphira101 (Nov 14, 2012)

They are kept in my "pond tank" which contains tadpoles, young stickleback fish, and a few water beetles. I feed them earthworms. They're really interesting, especially the way they swim. It's really hard to explain... kind of looks like when you tie a ribbon to a fan. I haven't tried putting them on my arm or anything (not too keen on that idea), but they seem to be carnivorous. When I feed them, I put them into jars and drop a small earthworm in. They will attach themselves to the worm, and I can only assume that they suck its blood or something... the worm turns paler, but it doesn't usually die.

There are a lot of fascinating creatures in ponds/sloughs, if you know where to look. When I caught Bob and Joe, I also caught about 20 young stickleback fish, 10 tadpoles, three long-toed salamander (Ambystoma Macrodactylum) larvae, a small dragonfly nymph, a caddisfly larva, and a few water beetles. The salamander larvae went into their own divided 10 gallon. The two smaller ones that are the same size went on one side, and the large one went on the other, for fear that he'd eat the little ones. I feed them small earthworms, and they have a sponge filter in their tank. The rest (save the dragonfly nymph and the caddisfly larva), went into a 20 gallon. The 20 is currently bare-bottom (though I will change it soon, don't have any spare substrate at the moment), and I will probably split the sticklebacks between two 20's, because the tank is overstocked. The dragonfly nymph and the caddisfly larvae went into separate jars set up to accommodate them, as they will eventually need to shed their larval skins and become adults.


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## Indigo Betta (Sep 27, 2012)

I used to keep Sea Monkeys, I think the main thing to remember is don't overfeed them and make sure they are well aerated. (Just use a straw with tiny holes punched in it to gently put bubbles into the water.) 
If I remember correctly we lost ours when somebody accidentally dropped their container, oops! 

The pond tank sounds really interesting, it must be fun to watch the caddisfly larvae, Dragonfly Nymph and Tadpoles develop into adults. What do the water beetles eat?


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## CrazyFishDude (Dec 31, 2012)

Wow, I guess it did not sink in when I read that first post that leeches are pets lol. Maybe it's because I'm like deathly afraid of all bugs whatsoever (except for some water bugs like daphnia, with those guys I don't really care).


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## CrazyFishDude (Dec 31, 2012)

Also another random question: How often, if at all, should I perform water changes on the Artemia tanks? None of the sites I looked at gave much information about anything....


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## Saphira101 (Nov 14, 2012)

Indigo Betta said:


> What do the water beetles eat?


It really depends on the type of water beetle. Any of the predacious diving beetles will eat worms (or sometimes tadpoles), "backswimmers" will eat anything that moves, so it's usually not great to put them in the pond tank. Lesser water boatmen usually eat plant matter, but I once caught them snacking on a tadpole that hadn't made it. I haven't caught any other species of water beetle yet.

We should probably get back on topic though! Lol


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## CrazyFishDude (Dec 31, 2012)

So wait, do I change the water for the Sea Monkeys or not? I couldn't find any helpful info on the Internet whatsoever lol.


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## Indigo Betta (Sep 27, 2012)

I found a site that might help you.

http://www.seamonkeyworship.com/top10.html

If you scroll down to question number 4 it explains about cleaning.


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## CrazyFishDude (Dec 31, 2012)

Indigo Betta said:


> I found a site that might help you.
> 
> http://www.seamonkeyworship.com/top10.html
> 
> If you scroll down to question number 4 it explains about cleaning.


Oh I must have missed this site. Thanks a lot. The information here was very helpful. :-D


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## NeptunesMom (May 4, 2012)

Okay. I just looked at the seamonkeyworship page... and now I want one. They are cute in a kinda weird way.


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