I apologize for the late posting, as things have been a bit hectic lately. But here is the update.
I have been diligently cleaning all the bacteria I have seen in the tank daily. As of today, the water is clear, not at all cloudy for the first time in nearly two weeks! I am super excited about that! However, I still have to receive my Sea Monkey Medic to completely clear the remaining bacteria in the tank. I am anxiously awaiting on it's arrival.
Most of my adults have passed and all my pregnant females. I still have 50-60 adolescents thriving in the tank, so I am still hopeful.
I also ordered vitamins for the little guys and gals which should help them to get better, as well as give their pale bodies a pretty red hue. This is said to be totally safe for them, so we shall see.
As always, keep your fingers crossed for my tiny pets! More updates to come soon!
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Friday, February 8, 2013
Tragedy Strikes The Tank...
I have bad news since my last post. I have had five adult deaths in the tank in the past two days, one of which was a pregnant mother. There is another pregnant female at the bottom of the tank now that I am almost positive is going to die as well. I can see the babies moving inside her egg sack, so hopefully her body will release them before or after her death.
I have concluded that there must be a bacteria in the tank. There is no other reason for so many deaths so quickly, as I have not been under or overfeeding, temperature is correct, they have plenty of aeration and I am keeping the water topped off so the salinity won't become too strong.
I am sending away for some Sea Medic, which is the only thing Sea Monkeys can have put in their tank for sickness or bacteria that is safe for them. Hopefully it will arrive quickly. I'm quite attached to these little guys, so seeing them die is worrisome for me.
I will keep you posted as to what happens. This coming Tuesday is their 5 week mark and I will be posting then, if not before.
Keep your fingers crossed for my fascinating little pets.
I have concluded that there must be a bacteria in the tank. There is no other reason for so many deaths so quickly, as I have not been under or overfeeding, temperature is correct, they have plenty of aeration and I am keeping the water topped off so the salinity won't become too strong.
I am sending away for some Sea Medic, which is the only thing Sea Monkeys can have put in their tank for sickness or bacteria that is safe for them. Hopefully it will arrive quickly. I'm quite attached to these little guys, so seeing them die is worrisome for me.
I will keep you posted as to what happens. This coming Tuesday is their 5 week mark and I will be posting then, if not before.
Keep your fingers crossed for my fascinating little pets.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Little Known Sea Monkey Facts For Your Enjoyment
Before I get into the good stuff about my own colony of Sea Monkeys, I thought I'd post some facts about them first. It's actually pretty interesting stuff!
-Sea Monkeys are a hybrid type of shrimp not found in nature. They are a cross between Brine shrimp and Fairy shrimp. Their correct Latin name is Artemia NYOS, after the New York Ocean Science Lab where they were created in the 1950's.
-When you see the little packets of Sea Monkey eggs they are in a state of animated suspension called Cryptobiosis, which means "hidden life". They can remain inside their eggs like this for up to a full decade even in the harshest of climates!
-Sea Monkeys have been taken into space flights with NASA, brought back to Earth and still hatched normally!
-The eggs will never hatch without 4 things: water, the correct water conditions (such as salinity and purity), adequate oxygenation the proper temperatures which is 70-80 degrees F.
-Baby Sea Monkeys are born with only one eye. By the time they reach adulthood (4-6 weeks after hatching), they have three!
-Sea Monkeys breathe through their feet.
-The adults have 11 pairs of legs!
-Male Sea Monkeys have whiskers which they use to grasp the base of the female's tail during mating. They are also used to fight with other males. This is usually over a female.
-When pregnant, female Sea Monkeys have a pink or black egg sack where their body and tail meet. They are capable of reproducing with the help of a male, or asexually. Birth is given either to eggs or live Sea Monkeys. There is no recorded gestation time the female will carry her egg sack; simply until she decides it's time to give birth. Each pregnant female normally yields around 20 babies.
-They only have to be fed once per week, and NEVER have to have their tank cleaned as they eat the algae between feedings and even get oxygen from it!
-Sea Monkeys molt up to seven times during their lifetime.
-They need to be kept in a warm area placed in indirect sunlight. Direct sunlight will result in their tank becoming too hot and they will ultimately die.
-Sea Monkeys are guaranteed to live a minimum of two years when taken care of properly!
*All information in this post is the product of my extensive research.
-Sea Monkeys are a hybrid type of shrimp not found in nature. They are a cross between Brine shrimp and Fairy shrimp. Their correct Latin name is Artemia NYOS, after the New York Ocean Science Lab where they were created in the 1950's.
-When you see the little packets of Sea Monkey eggs they are in a state of animated suspension called Cryptobiosis, which means "hidden life". They can remain inside their eggs like this for up to a full decade even in the harshest of climates!
-Sea Monkeys have been taken into space flights with NASA, brought back to Earth and still hatched normally!
-The eggs will never hatch without 4 things: water, the correct water conditions (such as salinity and purity), adequate oxygenation the proper temperatures which is 70-80 degrees F.
-Baby Sea Monkeys are born with only one eye. By the time they reach adulthood (4-6 weeks after hatching), they have three!
-Sea Monkeys breathe through their feet.
-The adults have 11 pairs of legs!
-Male Sea Monkeys have whiskers which they use to grasp the base of the female's tail during mating. They are also used to fight with other males. This is usually over a female.
-When pregnant, female Sea Monkeys have a pink or black egg sack where their body and tail meet. They are capable of reproducing with the help of a male, or asexually. Birth is given either to eggs or live Sea Monkeys. There is no recorded gestation time the female will carry her egg sack; simply until she decides it's time to give birth. Each pregnant female normally yields around 20 babies.
-They only have to be fed once per week, and NEVER have to have their tank cleaned as they eat the algae between feedings and even get oxygen from it!
-Sea Monkeys molt up to seven times during their lifetime.
-They need to be kept in a warm area placed in indirect sunlight. Direct sunlight will result in their tank becoming too hot and they will ultimately die.
-Sea Monkeys are guaranteed to live a minimum of two years when taken care of properly!
*All information in this post is the product of my extensive research.
Four Week Old Sea Monkeys Mating
I wish I had started this blog when I began my adventure into the Sea Monkey world. However, I was skeptical that it would even work regardless of the two year lifespan money back guarantee.
It has been exactly four weeks now since I began my first tank. I now have 12-15 adults and roughly 50-60 babies in my one gallon tank! They are absolutely loving having more space to swim and play in! As of now I have only had one Sea Monkey to die in the entire four weeks, so I suppose I'm doing a pretty good job at this thing. :)
At this point, my Sea Monkeys have already began to mate. It seems the females are a bit apprehensive to this, as they try to shake off the males who are firmly gripped to the base of their tails. Obviously the females just have to deal with it due to the fact that the male's whiskers are very firm grippers, and they refuse to let go no matter how hard the females try to get away.
The picture above is one I captured of my Sea Monkeys that have been mating for two days now. They can actually stay like this for up to a week! As of this morning I awoke to find three sets of adults doing the nasty! I'm pretty happy about this, because I never thought I would be lucky enough to catch this actually going on in my own tank!
About a week ago is when I first saw a pair mating. That particular female has a nice sized egg sack now full of pink eggs, however this hasn't stopped another male from trying to mate with her again today. Weird.
Below is a picture of my already pregnant female being mated with...again. I don't quite understand as to why the male attached to her decided to try to mate with her, considering the fact that she is already pregnant. I guess male crustaceans and human males aren't so different after all!
Directly where her tail and body meet is the egg sack, which will actually grow even bigger before she gives birth. I hope when she finally decides to birth her babies that I can get some pictures of that as well. From what I have read from my extensive research, it's pretty harsh to watch.
The one thing I am worried about is that when mating, sometimes the male won't allow the female to eat. When this happens obviously the female dies. Even if this does occur, her body still releases the eggs! I hope I don't run into this problem and haven't seen any evidence of it so far.
That's about all I have for my fourth week update. I will be posting consistently about what's going on with my colony, so keep an eye out for new posts!
It has been exactly four weeks now since I began my first tank. I now have 12-15 adults and roughly 50-60 babies in my one gallon tank! They are absolutely loving having more space to swim and play in! As of now I have only had one Sea Monkey to die in the entire four weeks, so I suppose I'm doing a pretty good job at this thing. :)
At this point, my Sea Monkeys have already began to mate. It seems the females are a bit apprehensive to this, as they try to shake off the males who are firmly gripped to the base of their tails. Obviously the females just have to deal with it due to the fact that the male's whiskers are very firm grippers, and they refuse to let go no matter how hard the females try to get away.
The picture above is one I captured of my Sea Monkeys that have been mating for two days now. They can actually stay like this for up to a week! As of this morning I awoke to find three sets of adults doing the nasty! I'm pretty happy about this, because I never thought I would be lucky enough to catch this actually going on in my own tank!
About a week ago is when I first saw a pair mating. That particular female has a nice sized egg sack now full of pink eggs, however this hasn't stopped another male from trying to mate with her again today. Weird.
Below is a picture of my already pregnant female being mated with...again. I don't quite understand as to why the male attached to her decided to try to mate with her, considering the fact that she is already pregnant. I guess male crustaceans and human males aren't so different after all!
Directly where her tail and body meet is the egg sack, which will actually grow even bigger before she gives birth. I hope when she finally decides to birth her babies that I can get some pictures of that as well. From what I have read from my extensive research, it's pretty harsh to watch.
The one thing I am worried about is that when mating, sometimes the male won't allow the female to eat. When this happens obviously the female dies. Even if this does occur, her body still releases the eggs! I hope I don't run into this problem and haven't seen any evidence of it so far.
That's about all I have for my fourth week update. I will be posting consistently about what's going on with my colony, so keep an eye out for new posts!
Adult Discovery of a Childhood Desire
I always wanted Sea Monkeys as a kid. I never got them, so I suppose this explains my fascination with them now.
I accidentally ran across the kits at Toys-R-Us and just had to have some. I started with the ever familiar Ocean Zoo tank that included the water purifier, egg packet and a one year food supply. I followed the instructions exactly, and after 24 hours of dumping in the egg packet I began to see tiny babies swimming around in the jerky movement that the newborns seem to do.
I was so excited that this actually was working, that I went back and purchased two more kits. One of them hatched perfectly just as the first one had, but the other never had any progress at all which was of course quite disappointing.
I waited until my first tank reached two weeks old, while the second successful tank were still small babies.
Then I decided...why keep these cool little creatures in such a small space that needs constant manual aeration? So, naturally I went and purchased a one gallon tank, air pump, bubble stone and a decoration for the tank.
Since the tank was so much bigger I then had to purchase three more packets of water purifier which had to sit for the normal 24 hours. I made sure the temperature in this new tank was the same as my small Ocean Zoo tanks. At this point I dumped the contents of my first tank in, followed by the second and then topped off the tank with purified water.
I was afraid this may have been a mistake, as I wasn't sure if the babies would survive the transition though I was confident the juveniles would have no problems.
To my surprise, each and every Sea Monkey made it just fine and thrived!
I accidentally ran across the kits at Toys-R-Us and just had to have some. I started with the ever familiar Ocean Zoo tank that included the water purifier, egg packet and a one year food supply. I followed the instructions exactly, and after 24 hours of dumping in the egg packet I began to see tiny babies swimming around in the jerky movement that the newborns seem to do.
I was so excited that this actually was working, that I went back and purchased two more kits. One of them hatched perfectly just as the first one had, but the other never had any progress at all which was of course quite disappointing.
I waited until my first tank reached two weeks old, while the second successful tank were still small babies.
Then I decided...why keep these cool little creatures in such a small space that needs constant manual aeration? So, naturally I went and purchased a one gallon tank, air pump, bubble stone and a decoration for the tank.
Since the tank was so much bigger I then had to purchase three more packets of water purifier which had to sit for the normal 24 hours. I made sure the temperature in this new tank was the same as my small Ocean Zoo tanks. At this point I dumped the contents of my first tank in, followed by the second and then topped off the tank with purified water.
I was afraid this may have been a mistake, as I wasn't sure if the babies would survive the transition though I was confident the juveniles would have no problems.
To my surprise, each and every Sea Monkey made it just fine and thrived!
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