Educational

The Original Sea Monkeys Ocean Zoo Review

DISCLOSURE – THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.

Reviewed by H Chan

Sea Monkeys make the perfect first pets, they’re tiny little shrimp, who don’t take up a lot of space and can be looked after relatively easily once they hatch.

Many children love to feel responsible for something like a pet. Something interactive that they can love and feed and talk about. Especially my nine year old son, so I was really looking forward to the Sea Monkey Mini Zoo kit arriving.

The package was well wrapped and arrived quickly. Within the set, you receive a mini tank. The mini tank that we received had a pink base and lid, with see through plastic walls. You also get a feeding spoon, three packets to be added to water at different times, and instructions. The instructions claim it is easy, so I thought it would be a perfect little project for my nine year old son, who finds things like this fascinating.

Photo credit: H Chan

We followed the instructions carefully, rinsed out the tank, filled it with 16 ounces of water and added the first packet. The first packet purifies the water. After twenty four hours, we added the second packet, packet two – Instant live eggs. We kept the tank away from direct sunlight, in our normal home temperature (around twenty one degrees C) which according to the instructions, is a good temperature to begin with. It said they should be hatched in around 4-6 days at this temperature, and 2-3 days at a warmer temperature. The instructions said that they should be visible once hatched, and to move the tank to somewhere slightly warmer if needed.

Each day, we checked to see if we could see anything moving in the tank. Sea Monkeys are incredibly tiny when they hatch and so cannot be seen easily. The internet suggested that a torch might help us see them. After four days, we still couldn’t see a thing, but at this point, we knew it might take up to six days.

According to the instructions, you should be able to feed the Sea Monkeys from day five. On day five, we still couldn’t see anything, but thought perhaps it might just be that they were still too small. So we checked the website https://www.sea-monkeys.com/ which was very helpful, and fed as instructed using the feeding spoon.

The website told us that oxygen was important, and to aerate the tank once a day, for the first seven days. This was not on the original instructions and to do this easily, they recommend that you purchase a bubble pump. We did not have a bubble pump – as one does not come with the starter kit, which seems strange to me if it is needed. We used a straw. The instructions on the website are in a lot more detail than on the instructions in the packet, so if looking to keep these little guys as pets then I highly recommend that you read all of the instructions on the website before setting up. If they do not hatch for some reason, there are some helpful tips to try.

The packets are in US dollars, and give instructions to reorder the food from America, however it seems that the quickest and most cost effective way to get more food in the UK is to purchase another kit, but then that also means that you have surplus plastic and isn’t very environmentally friendly. You can however, upgrade your Sea Monkeys home to a castle or volcano, or simply a larger tank. If you did wish to purchase only the food, the packet says $5 per pack, but the website says $6.50 plus pp. So just something to think about, saying this though, the food will take weeks and weeks to run out.

So ten days after putting in the live egg packet, I finally had to submit my review. My son stopped checking if they’d hatched on day eight and unfortunately lost interest, so I think they’ll wait now on a shelf until something happens. I really hope it does as we did everything right, read all of the instructions and tips etc, but there really isn’t anything at all in the water except some bubbles and a few flecks of dust. It is a shame, as we were really looking forward to them hatching and I was really hoping that I’d have something to write about. I know that as soon as they do hatch, he will love them and look after them well, but we weren’t expecting them to take longer so it’s only natural that he’s not checking them constantly anymore.

We gave this kit 2 ½ out of 5 stars. The kit is great, it’s colourful and a wealth of information can be found online. It lost a star for the eggs not hatching in the time frame despite following the instructions, and it lost a star as it wasn’t actually easy to get more equipment in the UK without buying a complete new kit, which is more money and resources, but I can see that it just isn’t cost effective for the company to see the food etc on its own, especially if they don’t hatch. The final half was lost due to my son’s disappointment, which then lead to my own, as I’d told him how wonderful they’d be when they were swimming around. I feel like I’ve lied to him, so I guess I now have to purchase another set and try again.

Should you like to try this kit, you can find them here for only £10 for a starter kit. I do recommend purchasing a bubble wand from the official website if it’s possible in your area, or try a straw as also recommended on the internet.

Rating: 2.5/5

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