Updated tanks, more sadness, and cool old ads.

The American tank is struggling. It is down to four sea monkeys. I don’t know how long it will last; it’s full of white fuzzy bacteria stuff. That stuff is just impossible to get rid of without Sea Medic, which still hasn’t come. I did, however, get some new gravel. It is extra fine hermit crab gravel. I mixed in some of the deadly blue gravel and it looks very pretty.

I also made back drops for each of my tanks. I am going to have  (assuming the American tank does not die off soon) three half gallon tanks and one quarter gallon tank. I will be getting the supplies for one of the half gallons and the quarter gallon this Saturday!

I also have some neat ads!

I got them from a vintage book and comic store. They are mostly from Richie Rich comics from the late 60s and 70s. They were super easy to find. They put them nearly every comic book.

This is a half-page ad from 1968. I really like the circus imagery: “In only five minutes you will actually hatch a whole tumbling, playful, happy troupe of Sea-Monkeys that are even more fun than a zoo full of chattering, howling, jungle monkeys! World’s most amazing new pet, children and adults alike with laugh and thrill with wonderful excitement. Watch the comic antics of these fantastic underwater buffoons that are really alive. Any minute of the day or night, you’ll see them chase one another in a playful game of tag. The loser gets caught by his tail and is spun in a dizzy circle. … Watch them swim singly or in ever-changing graceful formations, creating a live sea-circus.”

This ad from 1970 is an excellent exercise in capitalization. ” They LIVE up to 100 YEARS in incredible TIME-CAPSULE CRYSTALS, yet come ALIVE in only ONE SECOND while you and your friends watch in utter amazement! And, they give as much FUN as a cage of friendly JUNGLE MONKEYS!”

This is the earliest ad I have with a disclaimer. “Caricatures not intended to depict Artemia salina.”

Here’s an 1975 ad for SUPER Sea-Monkeys! This ad makes ample use of BOLD! Also, the price rose. “You’ll GASP WITH AMAZEMENT when you see THE ACTUAL BIRTH of DOZENS of ADORABLE NEW SUPER SEA-MONKEYS (Artemia)!” Also, there is a bit of text on the bottom that says “Unicorn House Dept 80A”. I have no idea what that means.

This isn’t for Sea-Monkeys, but this was sold by Transcience Corp. The ad is from 1977, and easy the most amusing of the lot. “A truly INTELLIGENT pet, give it a name such as L’il Caesar, Leapin’ Linda, Happy Henry, Sandy Claws, Tippytoes, Sexy Snooky, Merry Mimi, Tiny Tim, etc., and see how well it responds when you call it!” Not very well, I imagine. “Best of all, “Crazy Crabs” have a life-span of up to 70 YEARS! Give it water, any kind of food (even cookies), and with good care you can keep one alive for the rest of your life!” The ad also totes “Guaranteed LIVE Delivery!” I’ve seen a lot of old ads for live animals, and it horrifies me. Can you imagine getting a dead dog or monkey in the mail? I think that would traumatize someone for life.

This is an ad for 1980. It’s the vertical version of the picture in the 1971 ad. This one has a disclaimer that says “Caricatures shown not intended to depict hybridized brine shimp“. This ad also has an amusing offer: “NOTE: Sea-Monkeys are so EASY to keep alive, you even get a REAL Sea Monkey Life-Insurance Policy“. That is so exciting it warrants double emphasis!

I’m still on the look for different ads. I have looked through all the Harvey and Golden Key comics, but I have yet to look through super hero comics.

Revamp of the American Tank

Yesterday, I filtered the water in the American tank. It had to be done. The tank was full of black dots and white fuzz.

It’s easy to clean the water. You just put the water through a coffee filter. You obviously want to take the sea monkeys out first.

I don’t have an aqua leash, so I used an oral syringe to move my sea monkeys.

This syringe was originally intended for guinea pig medicine. It is tricky for moving sea monkeys though. You have to be careful to not squish them when you are squirting them out; also, I think some sea monkeys died from the trauma of being moved in it.

Anyways, there were 16 sea monkeys at the time of the move. I put them back into the gallon tank.

This morning I looked in the tank and two were dead. I panicked a little bit. My Sea Medic has yet to arrive. My friend Joe convinced me to go the fish pet store and ask if they knew about an fish equivalent of Sea Medic. He was even nice enough to ask the clerk for me so I didn’t have to be embarrassed.

The nice clerk at the pet store told us that the cottony white balls that grow at the bottom the tank are bacteria feeding on the food. It happens in the fish tanks all the time, usually because of over-feeding. It’s an indicator of poor water quality. Lesson learned: Feed sea monkeys less. He said that the white dots are harmless to fish and probably wouldn’t hurt the sea monkeys. Apparently there is stuff  you can put in the tank to kill those bacteria, but as they are also designed to kill invertebrates, they would kill my sea monkeys. So I could not buy any medicine. I was truly hoping there would be a substitute I could find in stores.

I did buy some gravel. I decided to move sea monkeys into a half gallon tank with gravel on the bottom. I was apprehensive about the gravel, because I read somewhere that sea monkeys get stuck in it and die. But I did it anyways and watched the tank very carefully. Surely enough, in the span of about an hour, two sea monkeys got stuck and died.

So now they are in a tank with no gravel. There are 10 remaining sea monkeys. We’ll see how many there are in the morning. I ordered some very very small gravel for hermit crabs. I want to have some sort of gravel on the bottom so all the gunk can be filtered underneath it. Some of the dead sea monkeys’ legs were covered in gunk.

Now for some happy exciting news. The check I sent in for my Sea Medic has been deposited! Every sea monkey owner should have Sea Medic. In fact, it should be included with each sea monkey kit. Sea Medic would have solved all my problems. All my future tanks will be regularly dosed with Sea Medic.

I also found another source of sea monkeys! Little Aussie Products sells brine shrimp under the name Sea Dragons. Not only that, they sell OTHER instant pets. They call it their “Instant Sea O Wonders.” They have a variety of animals as well as plants. They even sell another form of Sea Medic! They call it “Medicine for Fading Baby Disease.” They describe Fading Baby Disease “a harmful bacteria (but not harmful to humans) that strikes newly hatched Sea Dragons or Sea Monkeys sometime within the first few days to weeks after hatching.” Very accurate. I did not order any of this medicine, as it is far more expensive than Sea Medic, but I did order some Coco Snails, Sea Bubbles, and Sea Puggles. I did not order any Sea Dragons, as I already have the supplies for another three tanks on the way. I wonder if a company in Australia can ship me supplies faster than a company in Maryland?

Set Up of American Tank. Also, ILLNESS.

I thought I’d describe my current tank set up. This is for the American Sea Monkeys.

The live in only the classiest $9.98 1-gallon plastic aquarium. It has a lightbulb in the top. There is also a little hole for feeding at the top.

I put in four pouches of Water Purifier. Then, as per the directions, four pouches of Instant Live Eggs.

You’ll notice I have a bubbler in my tank.

This is the aerator I use. I have the tube clamped and some holes poked in the tube to get the bubbles low enough. The aerator’s even on its lowest setting!

And here is my current full table set up. Ignore the dead plants.

Now, for some sad news.

I have a sick Sea Monkey. He (he is definitely a he) has grown a black spot on his leg-things. That is how my last tank of sea monkey died. They all starting growing black stuff on their legs and their legs fell off and they died. Now, my tank looks fairly healthy. There are four dead sea monkeys now, but there are much more alive than dead and the the alive ones are quite energetic. Even the ominous black spot Sea Monkey seems lively. So, I feel I still do not have much to worry about. Of course, I am still eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Sea Medic; I also quarantined sick-black-spot-monkey-of-doom in his own cup.

Death.

As of today there are three dead sea monkeys at the the bottom of my tank. One I watched die. He was half heartedly wiggling at the bottom, and then he just stopped. The other two I found just dead at the bottom. They were fairly large, and my tank is nearly a month old, so it is possible they died of old age. I don’t actually know how long an individual sea monkey lives, but I would estimate that, for such a small creature, one month is about right.

There are two deceased sea monkeys in this picture. The first one is at the edge of the tank. The blackened one is the one I saw pass away. I’m not sure what the deal with the black stuff is. It might be decomposing sea monkey. It might be that this sea monkey’s shell just refused to molt, and that is why he died (you can read about that here). Or, it might have been bacteria. Back when I was a 16-year-old sea monkey novice, all my sea monkeys died of weird black stuff that grew on them. The difference is that in that case, all the sea monkeys got it. Except for the dead ones, all my sea monkeys are in perfect health.

I also fished this white fluffy stuff out of the bottom of my tank. I read that white cotton-ball-y stuff is deadly bacteria that needs to be removed immediately. It was only this little bit though. I don’t have any Sea Medic to put in my tank yet; I ordered it about a week ago. Anyways, I hope it is just fluff and not actually sea-monkey-killing death bacteria. Once again, my sea monkeys appear to be in perfect health. Also, I’m pretty sure my aerator is doing wonders for the welfare of my tank.