What are sea monkeys?

Question

I bought some sea monkeys a couple of months ago and they took ages to grow but seemed to do ok. Then a couple of weeks ago I noticed that they would walk along the surface of the water and jump (as if they were fleas). They were also walking out of the tank and along my kitchen cabinet. I had to tip them into a pond for hygene reasons. In the instruction booklet it said that they are a form of shrimp, but to my knowledge shrimp don't walk and infest my kitchen. What on earth happened? Anyone else had this experience? Thanks :)

Answer 1

I'm really interested to know the answer to your question. i have kept marine fish for years and feed them like brine shrimp but never heard of anything like this. its making my skin crawl!!

Answer 2

brine shrimp.  

Answer 3

monkeys that live in the sea.lol!!

Answer 4

Yes they are brine shrimp. So far i haven't had your experience. Here is some info about their life cycle which may prove useful.

The key ability of unhatched "Sea-Monkeys" to be packaged, shipped, and handled is that, in certain easily prepared environments, they enter cryptobiosis, a natural state of suspended animation. When released into the prepared aquarium they leave this state and emerge from their cysts. The genetic variant of brine shrimp, the Sea-Monkey, was given the term "instant life" to reflect the instant hatching seen when the cysts are added to the correctly balanced saltwater medium.

Sea-Monkeys can reproduce both sexually (requiring a male and a female) and asexually. When the eggs are produced, there are fewer males than females. Females stop reproducing when there are too few males.[citation needed] Sea-Monkeys have a biological life cycle of one year, but thanks to their ability to enter cryptobiosis, the product guarantees that the Sea-Monkeys live for up to 2 years. This should be understood as the colony being able to sustain itself for two years.

To start the process, the 'water purifier' package is added to water on day one. The user is typically unaware that this package already contains eggs in addition to the salt. At day two, one adds the 'instant life eggs' package, containing Epsom salts, borax and soda ash, in addition to eggs, yeast, and sometimes a blue or green dye. The dye is used to enhance the 'instant life' experience by making the freshly hatched animals more visible.

The Sea-Monkeys seen on the fifth day after adding the 'eggs package' are derived from the eggs added with the 'purifier' package. The food package is a mixture of Spirulina and dried yeast. The 'boost' packages mainly contains salts, which induce increased sexual activity in artemia.