Sea Monkeys FAQs

Your Sea-Diamonds® are on the bottom of the tank because the water in your tank is insufficiently saline.

Either let about 1.5 inches of water evaporate (to concentrate the salt levels) or add Plasma to increase the salinity.

The Sea-Diamonds® should then achieve neutral buoyancy.

If the water is too saline, the Sea-Diamonds® will float on the surface.

If all goes well and you don't overfeed them (the leading cause of premature Sea-Monkey expiration) the family should last for years.

Individuals may not last this long, but their families will continue to thrive if weel looked after.

The reason for a sudden death is any tank is always environmental.

The most likely causes are;

Over feeding.
Changing the water without using Purifier No. 1®
Tank getting too hot or cold.
Air freshener or polish being sprayed in the room.

If this is the case and you are in the UK you can claim one of the discounted replacement sachets offered by following the link on the front page of this site.

You cannot directly order from this site as it is here to provide information to Sea Monkey® owners.

We are in the process of adding new countries to the list of locations where we can post spare parts to so please check back regularly.

Use the large scoop for the Plasma III® up to once per week.

It optimises the salt balance in the tank and will not negatively interact with other aspects of the Sea-Monkeys®.

No harm in trying.
Sea-Monkey® eggs and chemistry have a long shelf life but all depends on what they have been subjected to over the years.
To optimise the chances of hatching use bottled drinking water, keep the water in the mid-70's and keep a Night Light on 24/7 for the first week

The best option is to use bottles still spring water as if your tap water contains ANY trace of copper it will prevent the eggs hatching and kill any Sea Monkeys.
 

We are sorry that the 100+ Sea-Monkey® eggs in your set have not hatched.

There can be many reasons for this subnormal hatching rate, including the sun's photoperiod and outside temperature.

Hopefully the list of questions below will help you identify why you have failed to hatch your Sea Monkeys® successfully.

• Did you wait 24 hours between adding the water purifier and the eggs?
• Was the tank kept in a place that was too hot or cold?
• Did anyone smoke in the same room as the tank (nicotine kills salty simians surprisingly soon and will stop the eggs hatching!)
• Was tap water added to the tank? (Any Copper in the water is deadly to Sea-Monkey's)
• Was the tank placed in direct sunlight and left there?
• Is the temperature of the water above 75F, consistently?
• Have any polishes or air fresheners been used in the same room as the Sea-Monkeys.

Normally the only cause of a non-hatch is environmental so please check all the faq's to see if you can find the source of the problem!

If you have found out why your Sea Monkeys® did not hatch and you are in the UK you can claim one of the discounted replacement sachets offered, by following the link on the front page of this site.

Sea Monkeys are true miracle of nature.
Sea-Monkeys actually exist in a suspended animation while inside their tiny eggs.
The Instant-Life cyrstals in which the eggs are packed, preserve their viability and help to extend their unhatched life span!

Sea-Monkeys have one eye when they are born and eventually they grow two more additional eyes.

In addition to 3 eyes, they breathe through their 'feet'!

In an emergency like this the only thing you can do to try to save your little friends is to remove a small amount of tank water using the Aqua Leash® placing it into a clean glass. Now catch your Sea Monkeys® up using the Aqualeash® and add them to the water you have removed.

Now take a coffee filter or very strong paper towel and pour the tank water through this to try to remove as much of the food as possible!
Catch the strained water in another glass and after rinsing the tank out with bottled water return it and the sea monkeys to the tank.

If you have a spare sachet of Water Purifier No.1® (which you should always have in case of emergencies) mix it us as quickly as possible and carry out a 100ml water change.

With any luck that will minimise any losses to your Sea Monkeys®, however a lot of it will rely on luck.

Dont worry, this is just the way that your Sea Monkeys excrete their bodily waste

Sea Monkeys® regularly moult out of their old skins as they grow, however these are generally transparent when they are seen on the bottom of your aquarium.
If the things you are seeing are dark coloured then unfortunately they will almost certainly be expired Sea Monkeys®.

Firstly you should never transport your Sea Monkeys® for more than 1 hour in any of the transport pods.
All of the pods are designed to hold no more than 2 Sea Monkeys® at any one time as they hold enough into the bubble at one time, because they hold enough oxygen in the water contained in the pods for this number.
All pods should be filled completely with water so that the Sea Monkeys® are not thrown around as you move the pod.

Feed the babies on Day 5.

Don't use more than about half of the small scoop the first time that they are fed. Too much food will cause them to suffocate and lead to a mass die-out.

You must wait at least 5 days but no more than 7 days before feeding them for the first time. When you do you must feed no more than half a small scoop of Growth Food.

The best method for feeding your Sea Monkeys® is to suck up 3 Aqua Leashes® full of water (do not suck up any Sea Monkeys®!) of tank water. Put this into a small vial and add the correct amount of Growth Food® to the vial. Now shake the vial until the food is thoroughly mixed with the water and quickly pour this back into your tank.

Feeding your Sea-Monkeys once a week usually works quite well.
It really depends greatly on how many of your pets survive to adulthood after the first few weeks of life. Less than 16 adult Sea-Monkeys, and you may want to reduce it to once every 8 to 10 days.
If your Sea-Monkeys water begins to become cloudy, it's a sure sign that you're over-feeding them.
If this is the case, stop feeding them until the water clears up.

Nothing!

A healthy adult Sea-Monkey will have a dark streak running the length of their bodies, this shows that they are eating properly and have a full gut.

Never attempt to feed your Sea-Monkeys® anything other than food that was especially designed for them.

If you're interested in feeding your pets something different, Transcience produces a number of other supplements for your Sea-Monkeys®. When using one of these food supplements instead of the regular growth food, it is important to avoid overfeeding them.
Always only use one type of food per feeding, never use both at the same time!

You can find details of all these other supplements on the main page of this website. www.sea-monkeys.eu

Sea Monkeys are quite happy being fed every 7 - 10 days depending on the number within your tank. Assuming you are in the UK or Europe then that should give enough time for you to order up and receive replacement packs before any casualties occur.
Due to the small amount of food that they consume you should notice that your food is running low before you run out so please order in extra supplies in plenty of time!

Sea Monkeys can produce eggs by mating, but thay can also produce eggs if no males are in the aquarium!

If there are males in the tank then one of the males will catch one of the attractive females and then will ride around the tank with her anywhere from a few minutes to hours fertilizing the eggs!

If there are no males in the tank then often the females can produce fertile eggs through a process called parthenogenesis.

The female Sea Monkeys® normally carry their eggs for any where between 5 days and 20 days depending on temperature.
She will then release the eggs where they will fall to the bottom of the tank, some hatching immediately, but most laying dormant.

The main methods for aerating your Sea Monkey® aquarium are as follows:

If your kit came with a Million Bubble Air Pump® use this to aerate your tank.
A few pumps once per day and your pets will be provided with plenty of oxygen.

If you do not have a Million Bubble Airpump® yet as a temporary measure you can try very gently stirring their water with a plastic spoon for a couple of minutes.

If you have an Aqua-Leash® simply lower it into the tank and press your thumb slowly down on the bellows to release bubbles into the water. Don't release your thumb up just yet, lift the Aqua-Leash® out of the water and then release your thumb. Now repeat the whole process 15 or so times, and your tank will be nicely oxygenated.

If your Sea Monkeys are swimming continually at the surface it means that you are not aerating to tank regularly enough for the number of Sea Monkeys® you have in your tank.

Increase the regularity with which you aerate your tank and you may want to consider a 100ml water change using Water Purifier No.1® to reduce any toxic levels of chemicals which have built up in the tank.

If the particles are large and will settle to the bottom of the aquarium then the easiest method is to use the Aqua Leash to suck up the debris and remove it from the tank.

If the debris is very fine and in suspension then carefully catch up your Sea Monkeys® using the aqua leash and put them and a small amount of tank water into an egg cup (or something similar).
Once you have done this pour the water through a coffee filter and capture the clean water in a fresh glass. Refill the vessel with the filtered water and return the Sea Monkeys® to it.


If you remove or change any water please remember you MUST already have mixed 'Water Purifier No.1®' with 300ml of fresh water 24 hours previously.
Never replace more than 100ml of water in one go!

One of the most important things in ensuring success with your Sea-Monkeys, is to start off with pure water.

Ideally you should use either a quality distilled water or bottled still drinking water.
 

All the Sea Monkey® aquariums are built to hold around 300ml of water as the sachets are calibrated to provide the correct conditioned at this level.

When the Sea Monkeys® first hatch you may see up to 100 babies, but these will gradually reduce as they grow due to natural selection, with the fittest surviving. The tank will happily hold 50 adult Sea Monkeys® providing you are aerating the tank daily.

You can use a larger tank for your Sea Monkeys®.

You must follow the few simple rules laid out below to be successful;

ALL sachets are calibrated to give the correct environment when mixed with 300ml of water. You must therefore calculate the volume of your new tank and add as many Water Purifier No.1® packs as required. For example a 3lt tank would require 10 x sachets of Water Purifier No.1® to ensure the correct conditions.

The new tank needs to be set up 24 hours prior to the transfer and should be stood next to the current tank to ensure the temperatures are identical prior to the transfer.

On the day of the move take as much of the old water as possible and transfer it to the new tank with your Sea Monkeys®.

If your Sea Monkeys® are swimming continually at the surface it means that you are not aerating to tank regularly enough for the number of Sea Monkeys® you have in your tank.

Increase the regularity with which you aerate your tank and you may want to consider a 100ml water change using Water Purifier No.1® to reduce any toxic levels of chemicals which have built up in the tank.

The optimum water temperature for the most rapid hatching of the baby Sea-Monkeys® is 78 degrees F or 26 C. Temperatures lower than that result in longer hatching times, sometimes up to a week!

Regular maintenance of your tank will improve the water quality of your tank and ensure your new pets reach retirement age!

Using the tiny tank tool squeegee you can carefully wipe the sides of your aquarium to remove any algae.

If you remove or change any water please remember you MUST already have mixed 'Water Purifier No.1®' with 300ml of fresh water 24 hours previously.

Never replace more than 100ml of water in one go!

Much of the 'gunk' is the shed skins of the Sea Monkeys as they have grown out of them and waste they have produced.

It is best to remove this using the aqua leash.

Sea-Monkeys are a variety of Artemia or Brine Shrimp.

They are a specially selected strain which have been bred over generations under laboratory conditions to produce extra tough shrimp which can survive in the artificial conditions which you provide for them at home.

The correct latin name for a Sea Monkey is Artemia nyos, named after the New York Ocean Science Laboratories where the hybrid Sea-Monkeys were bred.

As you will notice they are closely related to the brine shrimp but are not the normal brine shrimp which are often used as fish food!.

Please check you local rules, but it is unlikely that they will be restricted.

Even Australia allows Sea-Monkeys® and they are among the strictest countries in the world when it comes to importing animals.

Because of their requirement for a salty environment Sea Monkeys® cannot survive if released into the natural environment.

The purifier packet contains not only special ingredients which make all the chemicals that the water companies put into tap water harmless to your Sea Monkeys®, but also contains the correct levels of salts and natural chemical which make their environment safe for them, however this takes up to 24 hours to work.

On rare occasions they may hatch if you have forgotten to wait 24 hours, if your local water is not to heavily treated, but often the tap water chemicals prevent the eggs from hatching.

If this is the case and you are in the UK you can claim one of the discounted replacement sachets offered by following the link on the front page of this site.

Sea Monkeys® hatching and growth rates are affected by the water temperature.
If the water is too cold or too hot it will stop your eggs from hatching or cause sudden death of any hatched Sea Monkeys®.

If this is the case and you are in the UK you can claim one of the discounted replacement sachets offered by following the link on the front page of this site.

Don't be too impatient!

Sea-Monkey® eggs vary tremendously in the thickness of their shells. Some hatch immediately but others may take much longer to hatch, days even!

This variability in shell thickness is a natural phenomenon and is important to the survival of the Sea-Monkeys® wild cousins.

There are still many unhatched eggs in your tank. Keep the water temp in the tank at 75F +/- 3 degrees.

The best way to do this is keep a light shining on the tank, 24/7.

Keep them away from the window because the cold will negatively effect the tank environment.

Don't overfeed and you should see more Sea-Monkeys®.

The three you have could very well mate when they become adults.

Don't give up for at least a month.