That is, if they’re moving around. Not all sea monkeys move around forever, though (actually, none of them do), and eventually you may notice their little carcasses littering the bottom of their plastic homes. It does happen eventually, so don’t feel too sad.

Sea monkeys can apparently live for as long as two years. That’s a pretty long time for such small animals. Bear in mind, though, that the chances of them ACTUALLY living that long are plenty slim - in fact they’re extremely slim. There are, however, a few things you can do to help your pint-zied friends to survive longer.

First, aerate. Keep the tank well oxygenated. If you don’t they’ll die quickly.

Second, keep the glass clean. As clean as you can. Move them into different containers if you must.

Third, try using Sea Medic, a kind of medicine for sea monkeys, when all they do is lie on the bottom of the tank.
Fourth, DON’T FORGET TO FEED THEM. Important.

And, fifth, give them sun when you can. Sea monkeys like the sun, for whatever reason, and will probably perk up when exposed. (Just don’t fry the little guys.)

You were wrong.

These days sea monkeys have a rival when it comes to delighting children: the triops, another form of ancient sea shrimp that’s cheaply bought, easily hatched and quickly cared for. Larger than their distance sea monkey cousins, triops are also a bit meaner, from the sounds of it: not long after hatching they’ll have no problem with eating each other, even if food is plentiful. They’re larger, three-eyed and not quite so cutesy as sea monkeys (which is reflected on the box, though they’re still kept relatively cute).

The existence of these two competing creatures has led to a rather humorous debate: which would win, sea monkeys or triops? Which team would win out in the end if the two species were mixed in the same tank and left to battle it out?

We personally think it would be the triops. They EAT each other, and probably just about anything they come across that’s smaller than themselves. In other words, sea monkeys. Not much contest there, is it?

Then give Virtual Sea Monkeys a go instead.

This Flash game will allow you to raise a tank of Sea Monkeys in a relatively short period of time without having to worry about any of the extra stuff. No need to buy the monkeys or even care for them much; just keep clicking away and see what happens.

And if they die, who cares? That’s just bytes dying off. Restart and try again.

They’re known more scientifically as brine shrimp. Members of the Arthropoda phylum, brine shrimp are typically found in salt lakes or evaporation flats (generally places with a higher-than-usual salt concentration). However the specific creatures found in the boxes are actually carefully bred hybrids, made to last longer than the average brine shrimp. They’re treated in a lab, not captured in the wild and shipped out.

The key to their marketability is their biological propensity towards entering suspended animation whenever they’ve been removed from their natural environment of salt. They’ll emerge from this state quite rapidly if placed back into the proper mixture of salt and water.

The packages generally assure buyers that their new sea monkeys can last up to a year. This is true, but only to a point; it means that the colony itself will probably last for two years before dying out. The separate monkeys have comparably shorter life spans.

But Sea Monkeys are ambitious little creatures. You can see the gleam of adventure in their eye, whether you’re looking at the picture on the box or the tiny eye of an honest-to-god Sea Monkey swimming in its tank. They can’t be held back. And so they’ve taken off – thanks to the Mini World set – for the planet Mars.

Contained in the usual setting your Monkeys will have fun swimming around an attending astronaut, his space ship and the craters of Mars. Your kids will have hours of fun watching them enjoy their extraterrestrial home, too.

The variety of Mini Worlds provided to the Monkeys is proof of this. Want to see your Monkeys swimming in an urban setting, swirling around cars and up the steps of buildings? Then try the Sea Monkeys Mini World In The City. Want to surf the day away at the beach? Go with the Sea Monkeys Mini World Hang 10! Like to see your Monkeys cavorting with aliens on the moon? Then try Sea Monkeys Mini World On The Moon.

If you can imagine it, they’ve probably made it. Give your Monkeys the great time they’ve been waiting for today.

That’s not to say, however, that they’re not fun to watch. And watch you can, in a variety of different habitats: and perhaps one of the best habitats available is the Sea Monkeys Magic Castle. Noted for its cheap price and high survival rate, the Sea Monkeys Magic Castle is perfect for any child in need of a pet that won’t require much maintenance yet will provide hours of entertainment.

Best of all, the castle’s container has a magnifying glass built into the top of it for closer viewing. Your children need not view specks from afar any longer, they can see their Sea Monkeys up close and personal!

Well, they’re still around, and though they’re not quite as cute to look at in real life as they are on the packaging. But they’re still the same fun to look at pets that you remember from your youth, and now they’re available for you as an adult: you just need to grab the Sea Monkey’s Executive Set.

Designed specifically for an office environment, the Sea Monkey’s Executive Set is a stylish contained in which you can easily maintain your little monkeys and show them off to your co-workers. Start a trend at your office today and buy an Executive Set to fancy up your office: your friends will follow in your footsteps soon, guaranteed.