I have recently gained a new interest, that being Sea Monkeys. Or Aqua Dragons, whichever word works best for you. So what are they? Sea Monkeys are brine shrimp, very small filter feeding crustaceans, that eat Algae.
They were first popularized as an 'Instant Pet' in the late 50's, when a man named Harold Von Braunhut saw them being used as live fish feed. He was impressed with how brine shrimp eggs can be dried and kept for potentially years, and still be hatchable.
Whatever the brand, most kits of this sort are basically the same thing. You add salt and brine shrimp eggs into distilled water (the chemicals used to keep tap water safe often harmful to brine shrimp) to a small tank. Then wait for them to hatch. For the first few days, the baby brine shrimp are extremely tiny. But after about 3 days, they start to get bigger. If in ideal conditions, brine shrimp will grow relatively quickly.
Now, I recently fell down a rabbit hole of videos about sea monkey, primarily PicoCosmos. I just became fascinated with these little creatures, and decided I wanted to try raising them again. I tried once when I was around 9, and it didn't work out. But Ive learned a lot! and I think I can give them the ideal conditions to grow.
This brings me to my tank. My tank is from the Aqua Dragons brand, as I've heard these kits have a better hatch rate. These brine shrimp hatched 5 days ago, but they're still in a juvenile stage. When I gain an interest like this, I kind of go overboard into making sure I do it right. As such, I got a small USB air pump, grow lights, and a heater. The pump gently aerates the tank, the heater keeps it around 79-80°F which is ideal for brine shrimp. The grow lights provide 12 hours of artificial sunlight a day, to promote algae growth.
So far I've fed them once, on day 4. I dissolved a small amount of food into a bit of tank water, to better help it disperse into the water. The food in these kits is always dried algae, and that can introduce algae spores to your tank. I want algae to grow in this tank eventually, because brine shrimp will eat it. Because these little guys are filter feeders, they will actually keep a tank clean, by themselves.
I've heard that overfeeding is the most common reason for brine shrimp colonies to die. So Im taking the advice of PicoCosmos, and being controlled with the amount I feed them. Less than half a scoop, every 3-5 days, only feeding them if the water is clear. Cloudy water means the brine shrimp need more time to clean the water. What I find fasinating about these little guys, is the sort of ecosystem that develops in their tanks. I also think it's relaxing to watch them swim around.
So, what are my long term plans? If I can get this colony to adulthood and things stay stable, I'll be transferring the sea monkeys into a larger, 0.8 gallon (about 3 litres) tank. And that should sustain a good population of them. I will note that it's common for sea monkey populations to boom and bust, even in ideal conditions. But the colony can come back, with a little help.
Anyway, I think I've inflicted my current fixation upon you enough. Thanks for reading!
-James Cyberzone
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