March 2006 - Posts

Ghostly Galleon: Day Six!

posted Wednesday, March 29, 2006 7:50 PM by SeaMonkeyMan
Here is a quick update. My Grow A Frogs came in today! There are pictures below.

Sea Monkeys
They are still thriving! Since it is day 6, I have fed them, but only a little bit since there is live algae growing.

Brine Shrimp
Completely dead. A lesson to be learned about over feeding. Next time. I will add a little food to the salt in the beginning, and I won't feed them again until a week passes. It might be a good idea to grow them in a Ghostly Galleon since it is better at growing algae.

Grow a Frog
They came today! I have three little tadpoles. I can see little legs starting to come out! They should be morphed into a frog in about a month. :) I'm pretty excited about this pet. Here are two small photos.
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Ghostly Galleon: Day Four!

posted Monday, March 27, 2006 11:22 PM by SeaMonkeyMan
Ok, so here's a small update on how things are going with the tank.

Sea Monkeys
They are thriving. It seems that every day so far that I look there are new babies. There are at least 15 in there now. They are also getting bigger, so hopefully next week or so they will be a size that is good for picture taking. Also, I'm noticing, that there is already algae growth on the ship!! This happened really quick, quicker than in any tank I have ever had! It doesn't look like I'll be feeding these too often. I have aerated the tank everyday, and the algae is thriving. By the way, I havent touched the Million Bubble Air Pump, I have just been using the regular Aqua Leash to move water. I believe this is going to be a great tank!

Brine Shrimp
The tables have turned. Recently the brine shrimp were doing better, now they are worse. I think it is because I have over fed them. Because the Sea-Monkeys come with food, you have to keep the brine shrimp fed. As I saw that there were tons of brine shrimp eggs hatching, I decided they needed more food. It was a little too much. They are still alive, but they are sluggish, so I have been aerating a lot. I won't be feeding them for a while. The brine shrimp are also a better color than the sea monkeys right now, but the sea monkeys are very active.

Ghostly Galleon: Day Two!

posted Friday, March 24, 2006 4:20 PM by SeaMonkeyMan
It's after 3, so time to add the eggs. (Yes!) So I have added eggs and the water is now nice and blue. I am a little concerned though, because I don't see any babies. That's okay, because this has happened before, so I will just have to wait it out. This has probably happened because not enough eggs from packet 1 were suspended into the water as most were floating on the surface. After adding the egg packet, there are several suspended eggs, so it should be better now. Hopefully by tonight I will see something, so I will edit this post then.

EDIT: THEY LIVE!! This morning I still saw nothing, but I aerated the tank to get make sure the eggs were being suspended. A few hours later, I see a little guy pushing against current! Yes! I also see that the 'yolks' are exposed on a lot of the other eggs in the tank, so I should have more babies soon! Since there was a delay in hatching, day two officially starts here (March 25, one day off schedule). This means I will be feeding them next Wednesday. :)

Brine Shrimp
I also started an Ocean Zoo with some regular brine shrimp eggs in it at the same time I created the Sea Monkey tank so that I can compare the two daily. The Brine Shrimp are actually doing better than the Sea Monkeys. I've been able to successfully count at least 5 brine shrimp, and they also hatched on time (yesterday). I am also noticing that they are bigger (and darker red) than the little guy that I saw in the Galleon today, as expected. I have feed them a scoop of the growth food as well today. [Keep in mind that the brine shrimp do not come with food as the sea monkey egg packets contain food.]

From here on out, I will be comparing the two tanks, and comparing their sizes. If you would like to know the brine shrimp formula I am using, feel free to comment on the blog and I will add the formula.
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Ghostly Galleon: Day One!

posted Thursday, March 23, 2006 11:39 PM by SeaMonkeyMan
So, I ordered the Ghostly Galleon with color-changing Sea Monkeys from DiscoverThis and it came in record time! I wasn't expecting it today, so of course in anticipation, I got started right away!

The Kit
Upon seeing it at first, I wasn't very interested in the look. Basically, it's the good 'ol Ocean Zoo, with a plastic glow in the dark ship thrown at the bottom. After touching the ship, it seemed pretty flimsy, so I was worried that over time, the ship may dislodge.

After adding the nice yellow top, I was reminded why I enjoy this kit: The Oceanic Search Light! It also came with all of the essentials (Aqua Leash, Million Bubble Air Pump, Plasma III). One thing that was missing from my kit was the Amber Projector Filter, but it's not a necessity, so I'm not worried about it. Also, I was hoping to have the Air Pump with a stone as the Ghostly Galleon is advertised, but I got the plastic one instead. Again though, that's not a very big deal.

Setup
Of course on the first day, there isn't much you can do yet. I've followed the routine procedure of washing the tank out with hot tap water. After rinsing it out, I shake the container vigorously to get as much tap water as possible out. Here, I quickly learned that the Galleon at the bottom of the tank wasn't bad at all! It survived my shaking very easily.

Next, I filled the tank up to the edge of the top-most magnifier with bottled drinking water prepared by reverse-osmosis. Ordinarily, I'd use distilled water, but the store was out. This water should be sufficient though. Then I added the Water Purifier. I then rinsed out the Aqua Leash with hot water, and used it as a stirring utensil. I find that the Aqua Leash helps to reach down into the tank to dissolve the salt easier. I have slid my Aqua Leash and Air Pump into a Zip-Lock baggie to keep them nice and clean.

So, now we're all stirred up and now the hard part, waiting. I started this procedure at 3PM, so of course no eggs untill tomorrow afternoon. I have sat the tank near a west window for sunlight. The nifty handbook, which was also included, suggests using a North window, but I do not have one, so this will do. I'll just have to control the blinds accordingly.

Tomorrow: The Eggs!