Sea Monkey/shrimp question

[JenTN]

My son got Sea Monkeys for Christmas. They hatched and honestly, after waiting 5 days for them to hatch I think he was underwhelmed by the teeny dots. It said to feed on day 5 but then he lost the food..I think it got thrown away with the package. Then I got discus at that time and as you all know my schedule revolved around them. So I figured they died from starvation and was gonna toss them but they have grown. So my question is what do I feed? I crushed up a fish flake in there for now. Thanks!

[mdlman99]

i believe you can feed them spirulina

[Ike]

Yeah, and If you don't feed them the bigger ones will eat the smaller ones to survive, which sounds like what happened. They are closely related to brine shrimp.

[JenTN]

Okay thanx..thats in my flakes but will get some plain. I wonder how you change their water with them being saltwater? Hmmm

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[JenTN]

Lol guess I should not have posted this in FRESHWATER inverts..sorry blonde moment!

[Pardal]

My son got Sea Monkeys for Christmas. They hatched and honestly, after waiting 5 days for them to hatch I think he was underwhelmed by the teeny dots. It said to feed on day 5 but then he lost the food..I think it got thrown away with the package. Then I got discus at that time and as you all know my schedule revolved around them. So I figured they died from starvation and was gonna toss them but they have grown. So my question is what do I feed? I crushed up a fish flake in there for now. Thanks!
JenTN
The best food for artemia napuli is any green algae , many websites sale them in paste type try to use the one without glycerin so you can use some to start your own green water, the people that use brine shrimp as food (like me) always make their own algae, you can also use spirulina powder , you will need to shake this in a water bottle and pour just to give a light tint green color to your water,( avoid the foam) and do the same everyday or when the water has clear up. Brine shrimp (just another name) will molt 21 times in their life span like any crustacean to grow. so vacum the bottom every three days or so is recomended also every other week a water change will be good, Another thing do not use an air stone as the air bubbles will lodge in their body use coarse air bubles just the air tube without stone.
Many people keep their brine shrimp in their patio and at low salinity they are self sustain culture and the females will give babies instead of eggs.
Brine shrimp are excellent food and good forrage but they are only good as the last meal so make sure they are fed spirulina or HUFA just before to give it to your fish.
I hope this help . I just shooting from the heap here , but is base in mine experience. by the way sea monkeys was just their sale name on the 50's is seldom use these days.

Julian.

[JenTN]

Thank you so much for that, very informative! I was surprised, they still sell them as Sea Monkeys. Bit of a letdown for a 5 year old lol.

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[Northstr31]

dissolve a tiny grain of yeast in water. try not to overfeed it...just make the water barely hazy...not cloudy
Anthony

[ericatdallas]

Not sure if you're familiar, but you should check out freshwater shrimp for your son (Red Cherry Shrimp are cheap and easy to maintain).

Easier to maintain and larger. My daugher loves my shrimp, part of why she loves going to see the aquariums (hence the pink tank).

You could also feed you 'sea monkeys' to your discus. That's probably what I would do... although I did read somewhere people are afraid the salt mix that comes with sea monkeys might have a chemical that's not good for fish <shrug>. I don't know though... so maybe just let flush them :)

This isn't the best picture, but should give you an idea of what they look like. The one with stripes are crystal red shrimp. In this pic, the RCS aren't as red as they actually are. The color depends on their substrate and their 'mood'. Right now, my RCS are super red in one tank and very pale in another. They also have blue pearl shrimp and yellow shrimp too...

http://www.lamspot.com/aquarium/shrimptank/2011-12-30%2001.30.20.jpg

[JenTN]

He saw those at the lfs and wanted them, but I wasnt sure if I could put them in my community tank.

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[ericatdallas]

I don't think you could put them in a community tank, but lots of people put them in a 5G and I've read others that do it in a 2.5G.

[JenTN]

Cool. He wants frogs but maybe shrimp instead!

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