Sunday, March 30, 2008

Q and A, Sea-Monkey Emergency

"hello-- i am a new sea monkey owner... and i am afraid that my sea monkeys will not be alive much longer. they are moving around slowly, and i see those 'white cottonball things' in the tank which is apparently a bacteria that sea medic can kill. i will be putting my envelope in the mail tomorrow, but i am afraid they will die before i receive sea medic. is there anything i can do to help them out? any home remedies?

how long does it usually take to receive an order from the Sea Monkey company? (Transcience)

Thanks!

Rosemary"

Rosemary,
My advice for a quick solution is to mix up a new batch of water with the water conditioner (packet 1) and then move your guys into the new container. Some of their old water will come with, and that is fine. Actually the more the better so it's a less extreme move. But it will still be a move, and a reduction in pollutants that they're swimming about in.
This has worked for me and I make these kind of water changes something I do once in a while when I think the water has gotten really bad.
Keep in mind packet 1 does have some eggs in it, so you'll also be adding some new monkeys to the picture.
Do still use the Sea-Medic when it arrives, and consider ordering some extra to have around for such emergencies.
Good luck to you.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

thanks very much for your quick response! i do not have any packet #1 on me right now! what should i do?

KLJ said...

I was assuming you'd be able to get packet 1 easily even if it meant buying a new kit from whatever store you got your original kit at, but maybe you bought the kit by mail?

At any rate, if this is not an option, I'd suggest using a sea-monkey aqua-leash (if you don't have one, a very clean eye dropper, or very clean and SMALL baster would work) to move your monkeys into a new container avoiding moving over any solid waste matter that has accumulated at the bottom of their tank and any of the white fuzzy bits you described (only organic matter grows white fuzz.)
So they're at least in water that isn't growing MORE polluted.
Aerate the water as much as you can as the pollution uses up oxygen. You can do this buy pouring the water back and fourth between two containers, or you can use an air stone and small air pump from the pet store (assuming you don't have the sea-monkey "million bubble" air pump.)
You can also take the water that's left after you move the monkeys, and strain it through a really fine net (available at most aquariums or pet stores.)
Good luck.
(PS: Check back. I sent your question to the two most knowledgeable sea-monkey aficionados I know and asked them to post their advice here.)

Anonymous said...

you are amazing! thanks for posting so quickly! i will definitely be checking back here....

i think i will try to strain the water this afternoon....

Anonymous said...

Hi Rosemary: Keith gave you perfect advice.
I have been the President of the Sea-Monkey(R) division at Educational Insights for ~14 years and made many of the sets now on the market. Since Feb 1, 2008,I am the partner of Yolanda von Braunhut, CEO of Transcience. That is the company that created & owns the Sea-Monkey brand. She has been with Transcience for over 40 years and she is the widow of the creator of Sea-Monkeys.
My job is Pres of Transcience and I concentrate on all aspects of the brand, sales, and licensing.
I want to help speed your Mail Order to Transcience in MD. I am in CA.
Did you fill-in and download the Mail Order (MO) form from our website?
You can buy the blister carded "Original Instant Life" from many stores or sites. Here is one I recommend: http://www.discoverthis.com/seamonorinli.html. This set has pouches #1, 2, and 3 plus a spoon and a terrific magnifier.
In addition to the aerating methods Keith described, you can also gently stir the water with a clean plastic fork. Immerse the tines or prongs to their halfway point and gently swish the fork through the water, being careful not to collide with a curious Sea-Monkey in the process.
My favorite thing to do with an old tank that is empty of swimming Sea-Monkeys is to remove the lid and let all of the water evaporate...this takes awhile. After a few weeks, you will be left with a tank that has beautiful salt crystals attched to the floor of the tank.
Wait a month and then pour in 10 oz of bottled drinking water, stir with the fork a few times a day, and the chances are very good that the eggs (tiny black specks) left behind in the salt crystals will hatch into babies...just as in Nature.

Hope this helps and remember to always be kind to your pets.

Adios, George

George C. Atamian
Transcience Corporation
Creators & Owners of Sea-Monkeys®
President Brand Management
& Business Development
grog5@verizon.net
www.sea-monkeys.com

Anonymous said...

thanks so much for your response George!

this is my first time raising sea monkeys...i'm not allowed to have pets, and due to my work schedule, it will not work out. so i was pretty excited about these sea monkeys! i see that one of the females is pregnant so i wanna keep the family going! ;)

i did print out the mail order form from sea-monkeys.com and i put it in the mail. if you could expidite this order, that would be fabulous! thanks so much!

this afternoon i was able to transfer the sea monkeys to a clean cup, and strained the rest of the water through empty tea bags used for loose tea. seemed to strain the gunk out pretty well.

there are some of those cotton ball things in the tank, but significantly less.

the sea monkeys are still alive right now, swimming about.... i just hope this keeps up until i get my sea medic!

thanks for everyone's help!!

issy said...

Hi - this sounds weird, but one of my sea monkeys seems to have random spasms. I've seen it happen at least once a day, and I just wanted to check it's not dying.

Anonymous said...

the spasms are probably the sea monkey having babies

Anonymous said...

Hello I just got some Sea Monkeys for my daughter for Christmas and after she overfed them (water was cloudy green) I went out and got another set because I was afraid they weren't gonna make it. However after the second tank was doing rather well I noticed one survivor from the first tank. I was surprised. The water in the first tank has finally started to clear up a bit and we can actually see through the tank again. A week later. Their are now new sea monkeys in the first tank! So now for my question. Would I be able to transfer the sea monkeys from both tanks to a bigger tank like a round fish bowl? Would I be able to use an air stone that you find in fish tanks or will it hurt them? What about a filter? Both tanks are getting dirty at the bottom, the first more than the second but I don't know how to go about cleaning the tank. Please help.

KLJ said...

The green that you're seeing is algae. Too much light is the main culprit, but excess food also contributes. Since the Sea Monkeys can eat the algae, I would recommend greatly reducing food until it lessens. And move your tank to a north facing window.
I do not recommend a bigger bowl. Filtering a Sea Monkey tank is tough because they get caught in the filter.
An air stone would be fine but don't leave it on, and be careful when its off that a siphon isn't formed by the air hose, which would cause water flow out of the tank through the air hose and into your air pump. I hope this helps.
Keith

Anonymous said...

What would be the best way to create air for the sea monkeys? The tanks I have don't sit near a window at all. I guess my daughter put more food in the tank than I thought. The second tank I bought it doing well still clear I waited the 5 days like she was supposed to with the first and have been feeding them with the small spoon every two days thereafter.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know when the Sea Monkey web site will be back up and going?

Thnx

Anonymous said...

Our Xmas 2012 kit had only one show up and it died three weeks later. A crock?

Unknown said...

george please call me brenda jones montgomery al 3343335939 please

PredictablyPoppins* said...

I keep my sea monkeys on the fridge. Its at least 27 degrees celcius. I keep getting the cotton ball virus. It has killed most of my adult sea monkeys now...i transfered the remaining ones withe aqua leash but died hours later due to shock. I tried a second tank making sure i sterilised everything. More than 15 hatched but now only three adults remain. Iam scared iam gunna loose them. Do nu think that the fridge has too much bacteria dust and hair? I aerate once a day, i feed them only once a week, but there seems to always be algae, doni even need to feed them? Even after 8 days they are still eating and pooping. I really need georges advice. Or sea monkey medic, which in my opinion, shoud already be included in the purifying packet, its just not enough to just condition the water. I have never had this much trouble getting my sea monkeys to stay alive. My female recently had babies, but her sack is now gonw, do they disperse the eggs or do the eggs hatch in her stomach?

PredictablyPoppins* said...

Thanks for the fast reponse....my sea monkeys have all died. Will the virus kill the eggs as well? Is there a way to revive the nest?

Unknown said...

After my SWA monkeys hatch, their shells are on the top of the tank, should I remove their original hatching shells?

Unknown said...

Do adult sea monkeys eat the babies? Also they have these small reddish-brown sacks near their tails, are these egg sacks? They have been there for over a week now and now I have noticed a few babies in the tanks and some of the sacks have started to get smaller and turning lighter in color.....

Unknown said...

Why is my water tan when I put the eggs in this never happened before

Unknown said...

Hi, I'm a new sea monkey owner. I was cleaning all the things like the eye dropper with alcohol. I thought I rinsed it out completely but when we went to oxygenate the water a small amount of alcohol got through. Will my sea monkeys die???? It was only a very very small amount but I'm very worried