How Do Sea Monkeys Work? A Strange Illusion or Fascinating Life…

Supposedly you can create ‘instant life’ by adding them to saltwater. It’s a bit more complex than that though so let us completely explain how they work…

Sea Monkeys work by cryptobiosis which is defined as a physiological state in which metabolic activity is reduced to an undetectable level without disappearing altogether. It is known in certain plant and animal groups adapted to survive periods of extremely dry conditions(oxford languages). Because of cryptobiosis, when you put the Sea Monkeys dormant eggs into saltwater, they hatch and come to life almost instantly.

That is how Sea-Monkeys begin anyways but there is more detail to how the complete process works…

How Do Sea Monkey Kits Work?

This is how Sea Monkeys were originally intended to work but if you keep reading, you will be surprised

You’re Sea Monkeys come in a very nice container nowadays. Not like the package, you used to get back in the ’50s that you ordered from that famous ad on the back of comic books…

You can still order Sea Monkeys but they come in a container you can use to house them with easy-to-follow instructions.

Just follow the instructions:

1. Empty the container of everything that comes with it – you’ll be using this as your sea monkeys aquarium.
2. Rinse the container with water(don’t use soap).
3. Fill the container with 10 oz of water(preferably distilled or spring) – there is a fill line on the back of the container.
4. Take packet number one from the sea monkey kit contents – this is water purifier – and pour it in the water. Mix it for one minute.
5. Keep it out of cold or direct sunlight for 24-30 hours.
6. Take packet number two which is the sea monkey eggs and pour them into the container. Stir gently for one minute.
7. Wait five days.
8. Start feeding the food from packet number 5 with the feeding spoon – on level spoon full per week – do not stir.

Voila! There you have it, live Sea Monkeys. They are born as soon as they hit the water and you will be able to see them swimming around within the first 5 days.

They will grow noticeably bigger within a month.

How Sea Monkeys Really Work! Wow!

Okay, so everything I just told you above about Sea Monkey kits is what the original inventor Harold von Braunhut wanted you to think.

The truth is that the Sea Monkeys were instantly born when they hit the water but you couldn’t see them very well.

The eggs actually came in packet number one with the purifier.

Packet number 2? It contains a blue dye that people think is eggs. The blue dye spread over the eggs which are easier to see with the blue dye on them.

The inventor, Harold von Braunhut, knew that the baby Sea Monkeys wouldn’t be big enough to see for 24 hours and it would still be hard to see them without the dye which was water-soluble.

It’s not really a scam but a kind of misdirection to build up the anticipation during the first 24 hours, waiting for the chance to see the Sea Monkeys instantly come to life.

How Do Sea Monkey Aquariums Work

You will need a glass or plastic tank and simply fill it with saltwater.

Here are the proper conditions that must be met for your Sea Monkey aquarium to work properly if you build your own rather than buy a kit:

To prepare the saltwater for any size of aquarium for Sea Monkeys, it is easiest to just add 2 tablespoons of non-iodized salt for every quarter gallon of water – which would be 8 tablespoons for a gallon.

You need to change around 25 percent of the water every month.

You can feed your sea monkeys powdered algae, which is actually spirulina and yeast, every 5-7 days

It is important to note that you can get your Sea Monkey eggs at sea-monkeys.com or on Amazon. If you get live brine shrimp or normal brine shrimp eggs, they aren’t actually Sea-Monkeys, but just brine shrimp.

Remember, Sea Monkeys are a hybrid form of brine shrimp known as artemia nyos, while normal brine shrimp are known as artemia salina.

Normal brine shrimp only live an average of 3 months while Sea Monkeys can live up to 1 year. Sea Monkey eggs can also lie dormant longer, and Sea-Monkeys grow bigger than normal brine shrimp.

Conclusion

Such a weird creature with a fascinating history.

Sea monkeys can be fun to have in a tank, especially for kids even now.

There are several Sea Monkey kits for sale online right now.

Do they still have the blue dye? I don’t see why not…