(SEA) MONKEY BUSINESS!!!! (Sea Monkeys)

Member Name: luseantom

Product:	Sea Monkeys
Date:	02/09/05 (1348 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: amusing, entertaining, cheap,

Disadvantages: none really

It was my son's Birthday a couple of weeks ago, I was wondering around Toys r us when I came across the educational section, My son loves Science at school so I thought I would buy him something scientific. I saw these Sea Monkeys and thought they looked interesting, I didn't really know too much about them at the time but thought for £6.99 they were the perfect present.


What are Sea Monkeys?
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Well I wasn't sure myself at first what these things are, but apparently sea monkeys are just tiny eggs in a packet that are kept in suspended animation until you hatch them into the water. They are kept in instant life crystals for years, which preserve their lives until they are ready to be hatched. Sea monkeys have been around since the late 70's but are uncommon. They are a hybrid variety of brine shrimp, for many years brine shrimp have been harvested to supply to pet shops as fish food. They are living, breathing, instant pets.


The packaging
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So his birthday came and we opened the box, well it's really just a plastic tank with packaging around it. The tank is about 20 cm high and 10 cm wide, and inside it were two booklets and 3 sachets numbered 1,2 and 3. The bottom of the tank is green and shaped like the bottom of a seabed, and the top just has a green lid with a few air holes in it. The plastic part in the middle is see-through with small magnifying bubbles around it.

Starting your tank
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Firstly, you need to rinse out your tank to get rid of any chemicals that may be harmful to the creatures. Once you have done this you need to fill the tank with cold water to the level. Then you add in the sachet with number 1 on it, this is the water purifier. You then stir in the powder and leave it to settle for 24 hours, this is so that the water is the correct temperature for the creatures to live in. This is the boring part.

After 24 hours you can add, sachet number 2. This sachet contains the live eggs you just add the sachet to water inside it its like powder with little grains of white and black, which are the eggs. Stir the water gently. Once in the water wait for a few minutes and you will see tiny little white things swimming about erratically, these are the sea monkeys, they are about the size of a full stop at the moment.

On day 2 you need to oxygenate your tank, you can do this by either buying a pump or you can do it the cheap way by pouring the water from the tank back and forth into a jug, carefully. You have to do this 4 or 5 times once a day for a week. After a week the sea monkeys will have doubled in size.

You should keep your tank on a windowsill but out of direct sunlight. This is because light rays are used by algae to create chlorophyll, which causes the sea monkeys to re-produce.

The good thing about these creatures is that they are born with food supplies so you don't need to feed them for the first 5 days. You get a little scoop inside the tank when you purchase it and sachet number 3 is the food. To feed the creatures (after day 5) you use the scoop to put the tiniest amount of food into the water, the food dissolves into the water. The sea monkeys gather the food with their specially evolved legs. You then only have to feed them when the water becomes clear, if the water is cloudy then they have been over fed.

If you over feed the sea monkeys then the uneaten food consumes oxygen, which suffocates the poor little creatures, and they die.

Another good thing about these creatures is that they re-produce on their own, within about 3-4 weeks. So if your sea monkeys die then you just add hot water into the bottom of the tank and the eggs will fertilise again so you have new sea monkeys…Happy Days


What Happens Next?
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When sea monkeys are born they have three eyes and as they get older they lose the middle eye. This is one way to tell when they are full-grown, although it is hard to see the third eye. There are other, easier ways to tell when Sea Monkeys are mature. First, they grow bigger - up to 3/4 of an inch long second, the males will grow pincers under their chins. Third, you will see an egg sac on the stomach of the female. And finally they will have moulted their shells quite a number of times. If you look on the bottom of the tank, you might see some black things that look like Sea Monkeys. These are discarded shells. You can tell when they are moulting it is hard but if you watch carefully you can see them shedding their shells.


My opinion
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I originally bought these for my son, but I am fascinated with them they are brilliant little thing, it amazes me how they have been born in my home from a tiny little packet. They are really relaxing to watch them swimming around. And it's amazing to watch them grow and mate.

They swim so erratically around the tank and they swim upside down and sideways, along the top of the tank to get oxygen. They really are entertaining, much more exciting than a fish, and a hell of a lot cheaper and easier to keep than a fish.

My advice is that these would make great pets for any child, they are entertaining and educational. They are easy to look after and not at all expensive. Kids would love them, and adults also.

My sea monkeys are a month old now and are brilliant, they can last for a couple of years and even when they die they are re-producing all the time so you have more to grow. You could end up with a whole generation on sea monkeys in your tank.

For more info on these wonderful creatures check out www.sea-monkeys.com.

You can purchase them from £5 - £20 from places such as
Toys r us, Early Learning Centre, Amazon, Ebay and other online shops. You can also get them from those gadget shops.

They are designed for ages 6+

Summary: amusing, entertaining, cheap,