Sea-Monkeys the Easiest Pets of all
82What Sea-Monkeys are Marketed as Looking Like.
What Sea-Monkeys Actually Look Like.
 | Amazon Price: $11.82 List Price: $11.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $3.99 List Price: $7.00 |
 | Amazon Price: $14.99 List Price: $12.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $18.84 |
I was given my first Sea-Monkeys kit as a child of about 6 years old, and I was instantly captivated by the exciting cartoon of smiling creatures waving on the front of the box.
The kit consisted of three packets full of dried ingredients.
Packet 1 contained the Water Purifier, which you added to the appropriate amount of water and mixed together before leaving for 24 hours to purify.
Packet 2 contained the 'Instant Life' powder, (or eggs I am guessing). This you mixed in with your purified water, stirred for a minute or so and then if you held up the container to the light you could see tiny white vibrating dots trying to swim against the current. They had hatched immediately upon contact with the water. By day two they have doubled in size, and after this continue to grow very quickly.
Packet 3 contained the special growth food, and after 5 days you can give your baby Sea-Monkeys their first meal using a tiny measuring spoon provided.
At first I was fairly disillusioned with my Sea-Monkeys, because in spite of waiting and waiting for them to begin to resemble the human-like, web footed, smiling characters on the front of the box, they simply grew to look more and more like my second picture at the top of this hub. It was some years later I found out that a Sea-Monkey is just a glorified Brine Shrimp, (similar in type to the ones you buy in Aquatic Shops so that you can feed them to your tropical fish as live food).
However, in spite of the fact they never did grow into the human-like sea creatures I expected, they did begin to fascinate me, especially when they got to the stage of having interesting little wavy fins, and then they began to mate by swimming around attached to each other in pairs. Sometime later they had babies of their own, and as a child I was incredibly proud of myself for helping them to achieve this.
What's more, you could have quite good fun with them, for instance, if you put them in the dark for a while, and then brought them out into the light, they would seem to be performing major acrobatics around their tank, (my guess now is that it was because they were blinded by the sudden light and couldn't see where they were going).
The marketing behind Sea-Monkeys was brilliant. You could purchase all different kinds of accessories for them such as the Micro View Ocean Zoo, (a small tank with magnifying glasses built into the sides), or the Aqua-Leash, (a mini turkey baster for sucking them up into if you needed to transfer them anywhere else), an air pump, (essentially the same as the leash only you used it to blow bubbles into the tank rather than suck Sea-Monkeys out). In fact there were even such strange accessories as a necklace which consisted of a miniature bowl with a lid so that you could wear a few Sea-Monkeys around your neck in their own tiny tank, or a pen that had a tiny tank built into it for the same kind of purpose.
Sea-Monkeys are still available today, only you can get even more exciting accessories for them, such as a 'Light Up Aquarium Cover' and various new design Aquariums.
|
THE AMAZING LIVE SEA-MONKEYS MARINE ZOO RED TANK (BRAND NEW)
Current Bid: $11.69
|
|
SEA MONKEYS Magiquarium aquarium Glow in the Dark Tank
Current Bid: $12.95
|
|
Schylling Sea Monkeys Original Instant Life : Excellent for Starter set / Refill
Current Bid: $7.59
|
|
Sea Monkeys Instant Life® Refill Pack Grow Your Own Pet
Current Bid: $7.89
|
For a child's first pet I think these little critters are great, as they don't require vets, they only live a couple of years, and if you get truly fed up of them you can feed them to your tropical fish! If you don't want to spend lots of money on gadgets and accessories for them, then a large jam jar works just as well as an aquarium, and they need little else other than occasional feeding. You can start the whole set-up for about £3 if you provide your own 'Aquarium/jar', but even the 'Micro View Tanks' start at only about £5. There are various combined kits I have featured that would make an interesting an exciting present for a child at Christmas or for their Birthday.
Make sure your child keeps them somewhere out of direct Sunlight, and where their tank won't accidentally get knocked over. As a young child one of my first couple of batches of Sea-Monkeys were knocked over by myself and I was mortified. It ended up being a complete pantomime of my entire family grovelling around on the carpet, picking the poor little stranded, fluff covered Sea-Monkeys up and replacing them in the dregs of their tank water. Needless to say they all died and I lived with the terrible guilt (that only a child knows), for months afterwards.
These also make a great novely gift for adults as my Sister bought me some more when I was in my twenties just for the nostalgic value. I have to confess second time around mine didn't last as long as first time around, but it was fun whilst they lasted.
| Amazon Price: $11.82 List Price: $11.99 |
| Amazon Price: $3.99 List Price: $7.00 |
 | Amazon Price: $17.95 List Price: $19.99 |
| Amazon Price: $14.99 List Price: $12.99 |
CommentsLoading...
Hey never mind Spryte, you can still buy them for a few pounds and even the Aquariums are mostly in the £5-£10 bracket. No idea what the crystal farm is, but may be similar to a "Grow your own Crystal" set I bought my Sister as a laugh recently. Thanks for popping by :)
spryte - As a child I was permitted to get the Sea Monkeys, but not permitted to put them in water. How weird is that? I had some shrimp later for my aquarium, though.
misty - very good hub, especially the comparison photos!
I am guessing that the pictures convinced even your parents that these were going to be a major pet and they didn't realise how tiny and insignificant these little creatures really are. Thanks for commenting :)
Patty!! OMG! That would be like getting a bike and not being able to take it outside! Or a sled and you live where it never snows!
Hmmm...one year my parents bought me a Barbie pool...and they wouldn't let me add water for a more realistic effect. Of course, years later, when I handed it down to my younger sister...that never stopped her from filling it up and sliding her hamster down the slide...
Still. Sea monkeys and no water...that's just not right. :)
Poor hamster Spryte ahhhhhhh:)
*grins wickedly*
Oh that hamster had it good...and when I finish the hub I'm writing, you'll understand that statement ;)
look forward to it :)
I have never heard of these guys! Very interesting. I wonder if my little friends would like to have some?
Very informative! Thanks,
Madison
Great fun, you should give them a go, I am sure your little friends will love them :)
I remember sea monkeys! I so brought mine to science class in elementary school. I forget why, but I remember getting playfully picked on for months. LOL
Great Hub, we saw them advertised in the comics.
Alas, I too am one of those unfortunates who did not have Sea Monkeys. As I do not think that they would have lasted going through the maws of the postal system of both the States and then also the South African side.
I also do not think we were allowed to bring Livestock into here from other countries, as we had to smuggle some finches from the Cape into Transvaal, when returning from a holiday with Grand parents.
Although I wanted them not even sure if we were allowed to spend money overseas, as I was still only a kid of 8 or so.
Needless to say we had a whole range of local monkeys and marmosets of our own, especially the most popular being, a cute little character called a "Nagappie" translated would come out as a little night ape. This poppet would fit in a soup bowl, or coffee mug, and had the cutest big eyes that always stared at you.
Misty, great hub. Wonderful pictures! I got sea monkeys when I was ten. I was terribly disappointed when they didn't actually look like monkeys or the pictures in the ad. What I really wanted was a monkey.
Ummm, spryte - I was allowed to have a bike at 10 but only to ride it around the backyard grass twice. Then my father hung it in the basement and used it to go to the auto parts store whenever he fixed his car. Also had a sled hung in the basement, never used. I was allowed to pull my wagon around the grass though.
Thanks for stopping by Aya, yes I was disappointed too, but the fascination did grow on me once I accepted they were never going to be monkey-like. :)
Patty, gosh, your family were really cruel to you weren't they? First they let you buy Sea-monkeys, but don't allow you to add water to them, then they get you a bike you are only allowed to ride twice!! I would have asked to be adopted out if I were you :)
I think the pet rock I had when I was a kid could give sea-monkies a run for their money in terms of ease. But the sea-monkies would probably be more fun. Thanks for the trip down memory lane to my childhood.
Thanks for your comment, yes you are probably right, I am guessing Sea-Monkeys were at least more active than a pet rock :)
i think that sea monkeys are better than the animated picture on the box
you should try to keep your sea monkeys as happy as possible as they are living breathing fish NOT TOYS!!!
i have sea monkeys and i thought they were not going to hatch so i thought i would throw them out but i gave them a chance and the next morning bang there was sea monkeys the size of pinpriks swimming around in the tank.I went to school(ballerkameen)and i was exited all day!!! Now my sea monkeys have grown i am feeding then once every 5 days and we are all happy!!!
Thanks freeeest, I actually enjoyed owning Sea-Monkeys too after I got over the disappointment of them not looking like the picture on the box :)
i heve a question.There are black dots in my tank are they poo?If so what do i do about it?
Well, I am no expert on the care of Sea-Monkey's, I simply found them fun. I suggest you go to the Sea-Monkey's website and ask the same question there. Good luck :)
i have loads of sea monkeys now and they are getting bigger!!!
what are the crystals?and how big do sea monkeys grow?
The crystals look like tiny diamonds, (not sure what they are made of), and the sea monkeys seem to play with them and 'surf' around through the water on them. Sea Monkeys seem to grow to be about 1cm long in my experience.
Hope this has helped. :)
thank you for answering my questions!!!
You are welcome freeeest :)
how long did your sea monkeys take to growfull size?
It was a long time ago now freeeest, but I estimate it was about 3 months.
all my sea monkey food has run out and i cant gt any food in the shops because they dont get it in stock allot can i feed them normal fish food crushed up because my sea monkeys are going to die otherwise?
i know how to get on sea monkey site but how do u ask qs on the site?
i dont have an email how do i ask qs?
I don't think normal fish food will work freeest, and I don't know how long you have owned your Sea-Monkeys for, but the small sachet of food usually lasts months. To get an email address you can go to any server such as www.yahoo.co.uk and click on the 'sign up' or 'register' link. Fill in the boxes and you will get a free email address. You can then go to the Sea-Monkeys website and either ask questions, or order replacement food. You will need a credit card or Paypal account to pay for it though, but as I am assuming you probably don't have one of these yet, I suggest asking your parents to use theirs to make the payment for you. There are also other sites on the Internet that sell Sea-Monkeys and their food, so if you are in the UK you may find it easier to go to the UK site.
I truly hope this has helped and you manage to get your Sea-Monkeys their food okay. :)
*peeks in and pats Misty on the head*
You are such a great sea monkey guru :)
Thanks Spryte, I try my best :)
lol. I actually have an executive set on my desk. An executive set of sea monkeys. yep its true. Im the only one in this office with pizzaz. lol. Loved the hub, and the pics!
Wow Mellasviews, how cool, I am almost tempted to get more myself after reading your comment :)
my sea monkeys are dead now so ive got tadpoles instead have you got one of these pages about tadpoles???
Hi Freeeest, so sorry to hear about your Sea Monkeys. I sadly don't have a page about Tadpoles as they are not something I spent enough time keeping to learn much about. I am sure if you do a search on the Internet for "Keeping Tadpoles" you will get loads of sites come up that can help though. You could also consider Hermit Crabs as pets, and the same people who sell Sea Monkeys used to do these, (they were called "Happy Hermits"). They were interesting too, as you could buy all different shells for them to change over to when they outgrew their existing shells.
Lol when I came to the bit that says "And if you get truly fed up of them you can feed them to your tropical fish"... Tee hee. Glad to see you recovered from the guilt caused by your early spills.
Thanks Mandy, the guilt has worn off now thankfully :)
For Patty: after a couple of unusual really snowy winters, my parents finally bought us a sled when I was about 13 and almost too large to use it. We lived in Oklahoma and never had enough snow for it again until I was 18.
They are a special strain of brine shrimp.
I know this Nicko, and did mention this in the hub, but thanks for commenting.
where can i buy the sea monkeys
Hi Rainey. Click on any of the links above for the Sea-Monkey equipment and it will take you to the site that sells them. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did. :)
lol - Good old Sea Monkeys - I had to grow thousands of them for my dissertation. Sadly, I had to feed them to fish, and did feel a little guilty...
LOL Sufi, what a great comment, yet so tragic at the same time!!!
I have always wondered what a sea-monkey REALLY looked like, thanks for sharing!
I just had a flash back of being 10 years old again...
Thanks for the wonderfully worded hub, I enjoyed reading it with a smile.
Thanks H.C. Porter, they do bring back happy memories don't they. A fun first pet for a young child, as well as being quite fascinating :)
Haha. I remember having one of these when I was a kid. Fun! :)
Thanks for commenting festersporling1, I had several of them as the novelty factor was great once you realised that they weren't going to grow into the cartoon images depicted on the packet, and enjoyed them for what they were :)
OMG Misty..I just ran across your treasure of a Hub. Sea monkeys have a special place in my heart as they were my first live "pet". Can't believe they're still around today. Poor little guys have been the brunt of many jokes around here over the years, but how can you help it? I've heard everything from "Uncle Joe, drank my Sea Monkeys by mistake", to "They died and were buried at sea" (the toilet of course). At least today, they have substantial housing !
Thanks Green Lotus, they always make me smile when I think of my experiences with them. Loved your comment. Thanks again.
I too love sea monkeys. I always used to think they were like the live brine shrimp you feed to betas, but they are not. They get much bigger. Cute hub! The pictures are awesome.
Hi Tamarind, they are actually brine shrimp, just a selectively bred type of Brine Shrimp which is why they are bigger. So pleased you enjoyed the hub :)
Hi Misty
Nice article :)
Hope you dont mind me putting this here cos I figured it was reasonably relevant information. Ive just set up a new website dedicated to Sea-Monkeys called Sea-Monkeys Rule!. Feel free to come on over and have a look
www.seamonkeysrule.info
My friends and I have been exchanging sea monkey kits since high school. Mine just had babies...and I can't help but feeling proud!
Cheers "Seamonkey", link approved, thanks.
Hi CJCarter, it is a buzz when they have babies I admit. I felt the same, and again enjoyed the experience when my late Husband and I kept Guppies in a tropical fish tank, the babies were numerous and ended up all kinds of different colours once they reached maturity.
Hey, I know this hub is kinda old, but i love it!!
When i was younger(possibly six!?!?!) My parents bought some, probably to keep us occupied or something, anyways, i remember being able to feed them sometimes, they lived for quite a long time...and even had their own babies!!
Now i want some more... I am 13 now, But they cost about $17.85 australain dollar...I might try online...
Hi Daniel, yes mine had babies too and thrived for a very long time. You can buy them online easily, they are not expensive at all. If you look back at the text in this article and look to the right of it you will see various adverts I have included for seamonkeys online and where you can buy them.
I never had the sea monkeys. They are one of my favorite in ocean life though. Voted up, useful,and beautiful. Good hub.
This is the first time I heard about sea monkeys. Thanks for the information. Voted up!
Thanks Fluffy. You should give them a try as it is kind of fun to watch them grow up, (even as an adult).Glad you enjoyed this.
Hi chamilj, glad you enjoyed this too, plus learned about a creature that is new to you. Thanks for the vote up.
hi new to the sea monkey fan club,can some 1 tell me how to clean there lil tanks??.& do i need to get enything else for them to keep them alive?? i bought them for my son about 2months ago & surprisingly there still alive,do i need to do enything else to keep them alive & could some 1 tell me how to clean thea tank as its looking a lil cloudy,& the lil instructon book just ssays to not feed them if tank is cloudy??
I never read anything about cleaning the tank leroy, (I am guessing they do not expect them to live all that long). I suspect the advice about the cloudy tank and the food is good advice, so don't feed any more until the tank clears. You can buy new kits for the water, but my guess is you would need to also buy a second tank, and then literally sieve your Sea Monkeys out of their old tank and transfer them into the one with the new water in it. They can live a long time and reproduce themselves if you treat them correctly.
Can sea monkeys see? They have eyes, right?
Yes, they do have eyes so they can see. If you put them in the dark for a while and then bring them into bright light they start performing all sorts of acrobatics, so this proves they can see.
WELL NO THEY ACTULLY GET BLIDED FROM SUDDDEN SUN LIGHT SO THEY CANT SEE WHAT THERE DOING READ IT IN THE ARTICAL YOU"LL SEE! BUT MISTY HORIZON 2003 IS CORRECT THEY DO PERFORM UNNOTIFING ACROBATICS!!!!!!!!!!1
I sugggest fish bowls but be very careful you can leave behind some of them and they will die out OF WATER in 3 seconds count. once i had see monkeys at about the age of 10 and i transported them in to a fish bowl and 5 where left dead on the bottom of the tank they originaly WHERE in so tip be VERY CAREFUL AT TIMES WHEN MOVING SEA MONKEYS AIN A DIFFERENT TANK.!!!!!!!
i got sea monkeys but only have put water purifier in at 8:00 i can put the eggs in the tank hopefully they will hatch on monday after school.also misty u have answed all the qwestions so im gonna give u an aploause(clapping) very good
Good Luck sea monkey 457, you are no doubt going to have plenty of fun checking out your tank on Monday and looking for the tiny white vibrating dots that are your baby sea monkeys.
@ Jeff, if you want to post a comment minus the link and self promotion comment, that is fine, but otherwise I can't allow it because it is Spamming my article which already offers Sea Monkey products for sale, (why would I do that???).
Hahahaha, I was also was so proud when my pets mated... As I grew older I got ashamed of that but you're so cute and honest about that it just disarms me. :D
Thanks Eranofu, you should have seen what I was like when our Guppies produced babies then ;)
i have a half gallon fishbowl with sea monkeys...and baby triops in another bowl :) i love the monkeys:)
Good on you TriopGirl, I hope you continue to enjoy them for many years :)
Hey I just fed my sea monkeys for the first time! I was wondering about how long until they grow to full size?
It has been a long time since I last had sea monkey's Pengu, but I am pretty sure it was probably only about a month before they were full sized.
Thanks man!
LOL Pengu 'WOman' in my case :)
Good Luck with your Sea Monkeys.
2 more things:
#1: How long do sea monkeys typically live for?
#2: How big do they usually get?
Oh and sorry for the misunderstanding????
It is hard to tell how long they live for because there is a constant cycle of them shedding skins and producing new ones, as well as an ongoing cycle of them producing babies. At any one time you could have several generations of Sea-monkeys living in your tank. I would hazard a guess that they would live to about 6 months old as an individual, but overall your colony will continue indefinitely if you treat them right.
As for the size they grow to, well mine were about a cm long in general.
Thanks WOman!
LOL, no problem Pengu. Good Luck with your Sea Monkey pets, (they really are good fun).
Um, I just noticed that one if my sea monkeys has two black dots right under its tentacle things. One on each side. Um, and it also has this fluffy stuff like coming out of it. Oh and it doesn't look like their poo.
Without knowing which end it appears I can't be sure, but if it is the head end two black dots could be the eyes, the other end it usually IS their poo, although this would normally trail slightly in a small thread until it falls away.
Look at the second picture in this article and see if the black dots look the same as in the picture, in which case they are eyes.
No, it's not their poo but now three of them has it! It actually looks like its on their tentacle things
This is a new one on me then Pengu, unless it is their egg sacs (if it is at their back end below the SeaMonkey tentacles!)
Quote from the official site "What are those sacs hanging off my Sea-Monkey? Are they Sea-Monkey testicles?
Uh No, actually, those are the females' egg sacs."
I really wouldn't worry about it too much as they are reproducing constantly anyway. If you are really concerned you can check out the actual Sea-Monkey FAQ's:
The black spots on the tentacles are apparently deadly bacteria.
Thanks for that info Deb, can you paste a link here to that information as it could come in useful to other people if I include it here. I have never heard of this as a SeaMonkey problem before, and to be honest was erring more towards the 'egg sacs' theory.
Really? How long does it take to kill the se monkey? Because mine aren't dead yet!
I am not totally convinced by this 'Deadly Bacteria' theory yet Pengu, as I did some research of my own, and all I could find after trawling through about 10 SeaMonkey websites was a reference to black spots in the tank being a deadly bacteria, yet you said they were actually on your SeaMonkeys. The fluffy stuff can also be them shedding their old skins, in which case they should drop off and drift to the bottom of the tank after a day or two.
If you are very concerned you can buy a sachet of the 'Sea Medic' from the SeaMonkey website and add it to their tank.
Thanks for the suggestion but I think I'll just wait it out and see what happens?
I reckon I would do the same Pengu. Let me know how you get on :)
one of them is just lying on the ground and he hasn't moved for like the whole day but he's still alive because he's waving his tentacles! He was the one with the most black stuff!
Very strange, she could be laying her eggs as they do lay them at the bottom of the tank.
You could try emailing the SeaMonkey website for advice: support@sea-monkeys.com
I hope they can help and can suggest what the problem might be. Make sure the tank is not too warm, and if you have an aerator pump some air into the tank.
It died so it doesn't matter. But the other two didn't get it as bad and they seem to be fine. Exept swimming a little slowly.
Strange Pengu, it could still be worth emailing the site in case they can tell you what the problem might have been. The only other thing I can think is that sometimes they struggle to shed their skins, in which case they die. The survivors may have succeeded in shedding theirs and are getting used to their new ones.
Great site! Just this morning I added the packet #2 to my 3rd batch of monkeys since being a child and I already see some babies! :)
Thanks swiffer100, nice to know your fascination with Sea-Monkeys has not wavered over time :)
Hah great to see some some one take interest in the monkeys????. Mine are 1 1/2 months old now.
Hi whitwhit1, I guess once you have owned Sea Monkeys the fascination never really goes away, even 30+ years later ;)
Hey!!! So... I put in water purifier and spring water, went to bed and then went o school in the moring, sea monkeys are in my tank.. and i didn't even put the eggs in yet... what happened? where the eggs accedentally put in as water purifier? i am glad they hatched. but i'm confused.
I am confused too Greenkittehz unless the tank had been used for a prior batch of Sea-Monkeys and was not washed out properly before the next batch were added, (reason being the eggs will survive completely drying out, but will hatch when reintroduced to the correct liquid medium.) If not, then it sounds like an error in the packaging, (are you absolutely sure what you have seen in the tank are Sea Monkeys?
spryte Level 2 Commenter 3 years ago
I never got to have sea monkeys when I was a kid...but I always wanted to (especially because of that picture!). Instead, my parents bought me that crystal farm thing...I forget what that was called.