Are Sea-Monkeys a good pet and food source?

Question

I was thinking about getting some. Then i realized they are actually a variation of brine shrimp. If so, then could my fish eat them and be fine?

Also I was wondering if it would be ok to stick them in a 2.5 gallon tank with gravel on the bottom and a plastic plant. Please don't call me a bad person for feeding them to fish, because I plan on keeping half in the normal container as pets and the others as a breeding population for fish to ingest.

Answer 1

Ok so the other guy is a tool! (Thumbs down dude)

Sheesh, Inhumane, they are friggin plankton, the life blood of most fresh water eco systems.

He is right about water quality though, live food increases the risk of disease but that is usualy if you do not tend to your tank and buy from out side sources. I would say go for it.

Remember as long as you do not name the sea monkeys they are not pets.

Also save a few bucks by buying actual brine shrimp eggs, not the sea monkey kit. They start out pretty small so

You have to let them grow, but your fish will love you.

Happy fish = humane owner.

Oh remember in this world there are predators and prey, which one are you?

Answer 2

It's not recommended to use live foods as there is a higher risk of infecting your fish with parasites internal and external, and there are a lot of different types, also fungus will grows on the caucus if it is not all eaten which could lead to fungal infections on your fish, such as Cotton-wool disease or mouth fungus. Your water quality may also fluctuate more.

It is also considered inhumane

Answer 3

It's not inhumane, the word inhumane means "not as per befits a human" and sea monkeys are not humans so it's irrelavent.

They don't really make decent pets any more than fruit flies would, they are kinda just tiny creatures and good for amusing kids but not much fun to observe at all.  If you want to feed something more interesting than flakes to your fish (depending entirely what your fish are of course) look at frozen blood worms (midge larvae).  Fish typically like them more, particularly bettas and the like.

Keeping a breeding population is only neccessary when you've got fish that insist on live food which is pretty rare, blood worms and frozen shrimp are very cheap from your local pet store and you are less likely to introduce some sort of problem into your fish tank if the brine shrimp get disease.