When people think of sea monkey food, they probably think of the food packets that come with the Sea-Monkey kits that you can buy online.
However, there is only a small amount of food that comes with the Sea-Monkey kits, so what do you feed your sea monkeys after this food runs out?
Sea monkey food consists of algae and phytoplankton in the wild and is also what they eat in an aquarium. You can order the original sea monkey food online which contains powdered algae and yeast or you can order brine shrimp food online or buy it at your local pet store which also consists of powdered algae and yeast. You can also make your own food out of baker’s yeast or eggs.
I know it sounds simple, but let me explain it in more detail.
What Does a Sea Monkey Eat?
Sea monkeys are a hybrid type of brine shrimp, so when you are researching anything about sea monkeys, you will find information more readily available about their care if you research brine shrimp.
Anyways, in the wild, sea monkeys are what you call filter feeders and are found in saltwater lakes, like the great salt lake in Utah.
Bodies of water in the wild have organisms like sea monkeys that filter the water by actually eating stuff floating in the water which keeps the water clean.
They eat floating algae and phytoplankton floating in the water which helps keep the water clean. It’s a win-win for the lake and for the monkeys.
You can get the original Sea-Monkey food called ‘Growth Food’ here.
You can get powdered algae here at Amazon.
When sea monkeys are babies they feed on the egg that they hatched from. This only lasts for 5 days and then you can start feeding them the sea monkey food.
It is safer to stick to the sea monkey food made for them which is the powdered algae it may contain powdered algae, yeast, wheat flour, and egg yolks.
Brine shrimp food which is also for sea monkeys is readily available at your local pet store. Make sure you are buying food for brine shrimp and not freeze-dried brine shrimp because brine shrimp are used as fish food.
It can get a little confusing but if you look at the ingredients, it will usually say spirulina which is algae.
How Do You Make Sea Monkey Food?
I see a little bit of information online about how to make your own sea monkey food at home but it is really not recommended unless it is an emergency – maybe a snowstorm or you’re stranded and ran out of sea monkey food.
One way is to take some water from your sea monkey tank or else mix some salt water with the same salinity as your tank water with enough baker’s yeast to make the water cloudy and then put the mixture in your fridge until you are ready to use it.
If you don’t have baker’s yeast laying around but you have some eggs, you can boil an egg and mix some of the yolks with the tank water before feeding it to your sea monkeys. This is probably the only viable option that is cheaper than buying powdered algae.
The best thing to do is always have an extra container of sea monkey food in storage and rotate when you buy a new one.
Sea monkeys are not picky eaters so you don’t have to worry about having a variety in their diet.
How To Feed Sea Monkeys
If you buy a sea monkey kit, it comes with a feeding spoon. Simply add a level spoon full of food every five days.
If you don’t have a spoon, simply grab a pinch of the food and feed it to your sea monkeys.
The best way to give the food to your sea monkeys is to take a small amount of water out of the tank, mix the food with the water and then pour it back into the tank.
To keep from overfeeding your sea monkeys, make sure the tank water doesn’t stay cloudy for more than 15 minutes. If the water stays cloudy for longer, just feed a little bit less food each time until the cloudiness clears up before 15 minutes.
Conclusion
Sea monkey food is basically powdered algae, it’s cheap and easy to come by. It is readily available online or at your local pet store.
Sea monkeys are not picky eaters so they don’t need a variety in their diet.
They don’t have much of a mentality so you aren’t going to hurt them. They are just mundane living organism that filters water.
People just happen to be amused by their long monkey-like tails so don’t stress over your sea monkey food!
