Sea-Monkeys Magiquarium

Shocking headline I know, but bear with me, it's important. So, our 15-year-old dog died. He was very loved, and I’m not ready for a new dog just yet. My kids (5 & 8) don’t really understand and have been asking for every pet under the sun. Finally, I remembered sea monkeys exist, and thought I’d give those a shot. The kids were psyched, they loved the process of setting up the tank, we followed the directions, and they hatched after a few days! They were very tiny, you really had to look closely, but the distraction worked and they quit asking about getting a dog! Then about a week later, I couldn’t find them anymore. I couldn’t bear to make them sad again, so I just told them they were too tiny to see and let them continue caring for the tank (adding new water, food, stirring the water, etc.)… they’ve been doing this for three weeks now (I’m terrible, I know), and this morning, I heard them laughing and talking as they looked at the tank. I walked over and was shocked to see that not only were they alive, they were huge (as in easily visible)!! My theory is that we started them during an unusually warm winter period, the water temp was where it was supposed to be without any sort of heating element, but then we dropped quickly back to cold winter temps which may have caused the water temp to drop and kill the hatched sea monkeys. But maybe not all the eggs hatched during the warm period and stayed in the tank until we got back into warm weather? I guess this is just a warning not to give up on them! Let the tank sit there for a little while even after you think they are dead! UPDATE: It has now been two months and they are STILL alive! We have about 10. Minimal care, maximum entertainment. We have them sitting on a windowsill that doesn’t get direct sunlight (under a porch). We keep a bottle of water next to the tank so it’s always the same temp as the tank and easy to refill to keep the water the right level. We check the level and feed about once a week. Still have plenty of food left. Definitely exceeded my expectations and allowed me some time to get used to the idea of having a dog again :)

We were extremely disapointed. nothing hatched. we set this up christmas day and it is January 25th and nothing is living. just a blank tank.

We bought this set after my three-year old granddaughter was gifted a similar set referred to as ‘sea mermaids’. The sea mermaid eggs were evidently too pooped to participate. Try as we might, we were never able to coax them to hatch and staring at the plain water day by day was no fun at all. That’s when I turned to Amazon and purchased the Sea Monkey Magiquarium and I am so glad I did! Delivery was prompt - which was a bonus as my granddaughter was quite disappointed after the aforementioned sea mermaid fiasco. We followed the directions very carefully and within a couple days were able to view tiny black specks in the water (using the magnification portholes of course)! In about a week you could view those critters with the naked eye. I was entranced by the sheer number of magnification portholes available for our voyeuristic enjoyment of our family’s new pets. While the magnification qualities of plastic vs. glass always makes plastic a second choice, we were all readily able to see just how rapidly our robust little sea creatures were growing! I suppose that it must have been disturbing to the tiny creatures below to see an enormous human eyeball gawking at them from above, but regardless I think the addition of the magnification porthole on the top lid of the tank was a stroke of genius! You get a whole new perspective of the living conditions of these miniscule creatures with their insatiable appetites, raw aquatic athleticism and relentless copulation. I must admit, there are often times when we have to shield the Magiquarium from my young granddaughter's eyes as these tiny creatures are astonishingly amorous! Someone compared them to love-struck langostinos which is pretty accurate. One mature female actually succumbed from being constantly romanced by multiple beaus - that was tragic. However, we did scoop her out and provide her with a respectful burial at sea via our indoor plumbing. It has also been so much fun to see them grow up and take on individual personalities of their own. Unlike the advertised royal sea monkey wearing a crown, our crop of sea monkeys seem to be wearing hand-me-down overalls and straw hats but is just as happy. We just cannot say enough how much we are enjoying our Magiquarium!

I bought my kids each one for Easter. We waited until the temperature outside was over 50°. We only are doing one aquarium at a time for now. We followed step by step what the instructions said. I was not expecting to get any good results. Within a few hours of pouring the eggs into the water we had some hatching. We had so many baby sea monkeys. Of course most have died which I think is expected. It’s been four months and we still have maybe 10. One mating pair for sure. I love watching them every day. It brings back memories of being a kid growing sea monkeys. My daughter checks on hers every day. They get fed once a week. I clean the tank once a month, but I’m not sure if I am taking eggs out now. It is definitely a fun thing for kids and adults. I do wish the tank was bigger and it came with a pipet to get air bubbles in the water. I just used a straw and blew bubbles into it.

It's pretty much like the other Sea Monkey tanks with the hole in the top for light and in the dark the bottom of the tank glows which is cool.

Keep away from younger kids. My son spilled his sisters and there was sadness. My daughter loved those and was good with feeding them and doing it on her own. Nice little pets that don't take up hardly any room on a shelf, desk, or table. My daughter loved to watch them grow. They lasted a while. I rebought some more to add to this aquarium. My son probably dumped those too... Toddlers.

Returned first package because the packets were soaking wet that contained the eggs, purifier, and food. Second package looked promising but the eggs were duds. Never hatched. Now I will need to purchase more eggs and purifier separately.

Disappointed of the quality. Bought it twice and neither is good. Shouldn’t waste the time

Glow in the dark was so pathetic unlike the advertised 6 hours, it barely glows after a minute lets not to say only part of it glow. Hatch rate was also poor, only saw 3-4 shrimps.. had better hatch rate than this before

egg was wet and turned blue. didnt hatch.