The Passion of the Sea Monkeys

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

My Sea Monkey Diary, Day 2: I added the eggs/salt mixture to the water about 80 minutes ago. Sure enough, I was able to ID a few hatchlings within a few minutes. Every critter I saw was swimming towards the surface, where they apparently like to hover. Why do they do this? (Probably for the oxygen content, but possibly also to escape from predators that tend to lurk elsewhere, but this is just a WAG on my part.)

In any event, I have a theory as to why so many people have observed their hatchling population decline so steeply over the first few days. I suspect that many of the hatchlings are dying of dehydration on the edge of the tank just above the waterline! This can happen, I think, through two distinct mechanisms: 1) the surface tension at the top of the tank, which may attract and then slowly strand them on the surface of the tank, and 2) the crude mechanical turbulence of the water’s surface (from stirring the water or moving the tank) in which the water laps above the normal meniscus and strands the creatures on the tank surface in either a fine, rapidly evaporating sheen or, more likely, in small droplets that they are helpless to escape. On close (but unaided by magnification) examination of the surface area, I see what looks like at least one hatchling already dessicated on the tank wall, although I can’t be sure.

I very much doubt that cannibalism is taking a toll at this early stage in their development, although others have documented that occuring amongst mature (and quite possibly underfed) populations. The tank water is very finely but thoroughly silted with the micronutrients.

I hope that as they grow (they should double in size over the next 24 hours) they will become less vulnerable to the hazards of surface tension – no small threat to critters so miniscule, weak, and, while suspended in water, virtually weightless (relative to the water, that is).

22

“Do you want to play with your Sea Monkeys over a digital phone? Find out how Here!” :smiley:

23

I’ve got a tank full of seamonkeys myself. The tank sits precariously to one side of my computer monitor. I keep them there so they can benefit from my Ott Lite, because if I put the tank in a windowsill, it would probably get WAY too hot, and the cats would be quite likely to knock it down. So they have to take their chances.

The first generation has reached adulthood. I see the occasional baby seamonkey, but they never get very big. I don’t know if the adults kill the babies, or if the tank conditions aren’t just right, or the adults are simply eating all the food and not leaving any for the babies. The babies aren’t growing, even though I have dosed the tank with Gro-Kwikly and Red Magic Vitamins.

I have nicknamed one male the Horndog. If there is a mating couple in the tank, he is usually the male of the couple. Sometimes he mates with Big Mama, sometimes with the Pale Frail, and sometimes with another female that I haven’t named. If there are two mating couples, then Grandpa Whiskers is usually the other mating male. He also seems to have no visible preference for any particular female, he’ll just latch on to the nearest one. And when I say “latch on”, I do mean latch on. The male sea monkey has large pincers, sometimes called chin whiskers, with which he grasps the female and hangs on for dear life. He will continue to hold onto her, mating on occasion, for several days. I have seen the Horndog in a mating clinch for at least four days in a row. The female will occasionally try to shake off the male, or at least that’s how I interpret the spasms she sometimes goes into.

I feed the shrimp twice with the regular food, and then once with the Red Magic, then twice with the regular food again. The Red Magic Vitamins are supposed to give the shrimp more color to their bodies, which are normally a translucent white with a dark gut line running down where their spines would be if they HAD spines. However, the shrimp vary in how much color they’ll take on. So I have some orangish colored shrimp and some paler shrimp.

I have named some of them. The Horndog got his name because of his activities with the females. Grandpa Whiskers has the largest set of pincers/chin whiskers. The Pale Frail and the Pale Male are the palest of their respective sexes. Big Mama is the largest shrimp in the tank, and she’s female. There are a dozen or more other shrimp in the tank, but I can’t tell them apart enough to name them.

I always wanted Sea Monkeys when I was a kid. Heck, I wanted MOST of the things that were advertised in the comic books. I got this tank a couple of months ago, on impulse, and sent off for the Deluxe Accessory kit (which contains the vitamins, a couple of tank tools, another feeding spoon, and various powders which are supposed to have various effects on the shrimp). I also got the Sea Monkey book, which was not as helpful as I really expected it to be. For instance, while I enjoy sea monkeys, and I enjoy roleplaying games, I really, REALLY do not want or need to know how to create a sea monkey character. I could have done with less fluff and more scientific information in the book. It seems to be mostly filled with joke answers to questions.

24

So…would you go as far to say that “Sea Nazis Must Die”?

Anyway, glad to see that I’m not the only one who’s heard of Triops. I used to see those little critters in my Science and Surplus catalog all the time. Never grew any, though.

25

Oh lordie-lou, that’s so much more than I ever thought I’d know about Hot (Sea) Monkey Lovin’.

26

Just thought I’d post an update to this thread. My tank is still doing well. I have close to two dozen Sea Monkeys in various stages of development. I’m guessing based on their various sizes that I have 3-4 generations going. I have two pairs mating even as I type this, and a couple other large females with egg sacs which look ready to pop at any time.

For those with more Sea Monkey expertise than I, I have a couple of questions. I have no interest in spending any money on a bubble aerator thingie so I’ve been using a turkey baster to blow bubbles into the tank in hopes of oxygenating the water (also it stirs the settled food up off the bottom of the tank which strikes me as a good thing for tank maintenance). Is this a good idea? They seem to be doing all right…

Also, can I feed them regular fish food or something I can get at a pet store rather than buying the “Sea Monkey Growth Food” at $3 a packet? Any suggestions as to a good alternate food choice?

Scrivener, how’s your tank doing?

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Well, now that you have live sea monkeys, you should try to improve on this experiment.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=65105#thread65105

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They died – within 24 hours (and maybe 2 or 3) of hatching! :eek: I followed the instructions and used bottled, distilled water, so I don’t know what went wrong.

There’s quite a few unhatched eggs left. Presumably what these eggs require is another cycle or two of wet/dry conditions. So I’m allowing the water to evaporate, and I give the tank a stir every week.

There may be some hope for my Sea-Monkeys yet! :slight_smile:

29

You’re only supposed to feed them Sea Monkey food, one small scoop every five days or so. Feeding them regular fish food is supposed to be a quick way to kill them off.

The bubbles from the turkey baster are much larger than the bubbles I get from the aerotor. I get zillions of tiny bubbles with each pump. Before my packet of goodies arrived (I got the [url=http://sea-monkeys.com/html/shoponline/detail_k3.html]Jumbo Pack[/url} of accessories and food packets) arrived, I was using an old insulin needle to oxygenate the tank, which also shot out zillions of tiny bubbles. I’m glad I got that package, because I HAVE been using the oxygenator and the “leash” regularly. I don’t recommend the Sea Monkey book, though…it’s long on fluff and short on facts and tips.

I clean my tank about every other week, though I’m thinking of cutting back the frequency.

30

No, regrettably it’s not false advertising — did you read the fine print on the package of sea monkey eggs? It expressly states that sea monkeys will not smile and wave at you until you’ve experienced 1) four months without sex and 2) a fifth of vodka. They waved and smailed at me after that ---- and looked damn good doing it -

31

That should be “smiled” ------ as you see, I’m with my sea monkeys now -

32

I never purchased a Sea Monkey kit but I’m sorry to hear that my purchase of Xray Specs funded white supremacists!

33

I caught most of the “Sea-Monkey” episode of South Park tonight. Gawd, that was funny.