Answering your Sea-Monkey Questions! | Q&A 1

[@nic_9284]

Man, please, don't abandon this channel... I really enjoy this beautiful way of life that are artemias. I'm from Brazil and we can't buy the Fish Monkeys or Sea Dragons because it takes a lot to arrive, but I got some artemia from the pet store and they are doing great! Lots of hugs from Brazil.

[@jnsmicael]

Hi, I’m from Brazil as well, however, I live in the U.S.

[@kristyw89]

The most shocking aspect of this video is finding out he might be taller than 2 inches.... Unless he has a tiny tiny little mouse house

[@pico-cosmos]

😂😂😂😂

[@TheSCP_Foundation]

Yeah he lives in a mouse house where a mini ice landscape in with mini penguins

[@Princess_Shanie]

Your life feels so exciting and fun :o! Your photography is beautiful!!! I love it! You’re very talented :)! I just found your channel and now I’m binging it, haha! I remember these little tanks! I used to think the little sea monkey art was slightly terrifying… I have 4 fish tanks! 2.6, 3, 5, and a 36. It’s really cool to learn about microscopic creatures :)! Thank you for putting so much time into your videos!!

[@pico-cosmos]

Thank you so much : ) lol yeah I think a lot of people find the Sea-Monkey character art a little creepy 😅 What kind of fish do you have?

[@Princess_Shanie]

@@pico-cosmos Tod’a updated version of the sea monkeys is a lot better lol! I have: Female Betta Male Betta 6 Glowlight Tetras 6 Serpae Tetras, 5 Neon Tetras, 2 Yo-Yo loaches (they’re best friends and adorable. I love them so much), Clown Pleco, and a Blue Eyes Lemon (Pleco) I love them so much! My 36 gallon is what I’m most proud of. Plecos are my dream fish and I have two! :) mostly because I got my clown Pleco first and he didn’t do anything to clean, so I got another. Both will stay small so I shouldn’t run into an overcrowded tank. They all have names, expect the tetras. They’re really hard to tell apart. Do you have any other pets? I have 3 cats and a dog. I just really love animals haha!

[@Gettingrareofficial]

With all your videos and tips for sea monkeys you have made me and my sea monkeys happy ❤

[@pico-cosmos]

🥰 I'm really glad to hear that. Which tank are you using for your Sea-Monkeys?

[@petimorgan-co]

What the heck, I just realised who you are and that I’ve been following your photography for years! 🤯

[@pico-cosmos]

:O I didn’t think anyone who followed my photography knew about this channel 😂

[@benjaminbesic1963]

I woke up this morning to see that you posted and my see monkeys started mating! It was a perfect morning I am so glad I got into sea monkeys

[@pico-cosmos]

💃 maybe my video was an aphrodisiac for them 😂 glad to hear your colony is doing well

[@VonTried]

Your channel is just very fun and easy to watch and get into. Thank you for that (:

[@pico-cosmos]

Thank you :) feel free to let me know if there's any particular content you're interested in seeing on my channel in the future

[@susanjames4235]

Man, I absolutely love your channel. I have always wanted a seamonkey colony and you have given me the confidence to go ahead ( even as an adult) . Have brought my tank etc and am excited to get in set up now. Many thanks x

[@pico-cosmos]

🙌 glad to hear it! Good luck with your new pets :)

[@amberback1]

I’m also an adult and feel a bit of embarrassment about my sea monkey/aqua dragon hobby and he makes me feel better about it! (And for reference, my 3rd tank is arriving on Monday, and I have a 1 gal tank with brine shrimp, copepods, tigger pods, and roti all living together. Once I get tank 3 set up and running, I’m going to move on to growing my own algae!

[@pico-cosmos]

@amberback1 don’t feel embarrassed, it’s not different to the rest of the aquarium hobby which is mostly adults :) where are you based? I have plenty of algae growing at the moment

[@amberback1]

@@pico-cosmos I’m in the US, but I did finally get some growing! I ended up setting up a 1 gallon tank with aquarium sand, a few moss pebbles, and added a bottle of copepods, tigger pods, and rotifer to it. They had phytoplankton in the bottle as well. So now my brine shrimp have a whole ecosystem! So far everyone is getting along well and they seem happy and healthy.

[@FaolanHart]

Just like to say thank you for this channel. Its been really helpful. I just woke up one day thinking it would be kinda neat to get these little guys again. Tried, failed, looked up some info & found your channel. I now have a set egg coming with a usb heater & air pump If it goes well I'm going to try getting Triops again. I always loved them as a kid & usually lasted a lot longer. But the Sea Monkey tanks just fit better next to my windowsill plants. Its also really cool to see you're a professional photographer. I trained in it & focused on wildlife & zoos. Never went beyond a hobby with me though.

[@strawderp]

Welcome back! Great to have you back ^.^

[@pico-cosmos]

Thanks! It feels great to be home again :D

[@SoraiaLMotta]

to keep several small containers warm use an aquarium with a large heater and something to circulate water as an air pump or any aquarium pump. It's how some betta fish breeders keep their males warm. you don't need to fill the water all way to the top of the containers. the holding tank works as a huge heating matte.

[@Aquarimax]

I have used that method for both bettas and triops. It works well!

[@SnackHeadCowboy]

Thank you for answering my question! Can’t wait for new videos.

[@feztheshep]

I wonder if you would be interested in species of a similar concept to the instant pets: opae ula shrimp, commonly sold inside those sealed "ecospheres." Ecospheres are pretty harsh for the shrimp and don't lead to great quality of life/lifespan, but the shrimp themselves are indeed incredibly hardy and don't need much care (no filter, no water changes, tank as small as 2 liters, and food maybe every month or less). They're about the same size as brine shrimp, but are actual shrimp and are red and pinkish in color. I obviously understand if you don't have interest in this, but I just always want to spread the word about opae ula 😄 Either way, I'm really enjoying your instant pet explorations! I've always been interested in little jar-contained pets, and had some sea monkeys of my own as a kid. I'm also really looking forward to seeing content on other species like triops. Anyways thanks for your content, your vids are super quality, well filmed, and I love the jokes you slip in!

[@pico-cosmos]

Ah yeah I have heard of them! They do look super interesting.. but unfortunately we're not allowed to import shrimp here in New Zealand. We have very strict biosecurity laws so a lot of species aren't allowed :/

[@feztheshep]

@@pico-cosmos Ahhh I see, understandable!

[@KingsOfCamel]

Love your channel. You got me obsessed with these creatures. You earned my sub for sure!

[@yeah.cheers]

Glad the channel is back!

[@pico-cosmos]

More videos on the way soon!

[@shelleoshelle7252]

Good to have you back. Thank you for another excellent Sea-Monkey video.

[@pico-cosmos]

🙏

[@PsychoPlantLady]

Thank you for the air stone tip.

[@aetolius]

I got the sea monkey Mars tank earlier this month, been following your tips and vids to a T. they're still alive and well today I'm so excited! thank you I couldn't ever have gotten this far without your videos, for real. 😅😅

[@pico-cosmos]

🙌 I’m glad my videos have been helping. Feel free to get in touch if you ever have any questions :)

[@yahsmouse]

I had Sea Monkey's when I was a Kid back in the '60's..lol sure would like to try again..thanks for all the tips

[@TheSCP_Foundation]

Thanks for the tips! They will definitely help me. A big big thanks for making me interested in sea monkeys. I'll keep watching you till you stop.

[@TheSCP_Foundation]

Also it would be a great idea to start a discord server so the community can help new people + if you can't identify something or don't know if it is a male or female you can just ask it. IF you are not familiar with discord i can make it for you but you got to make a account.

[@Cosper79]

Love your videos. Q1: Have you or will you try to make a aquascape for your sea monkeys? Something more aesthetically pleasing then the basic sea monkey tanks? Q2: What plants would work in a sea monkey tank? I started my first seamonkey tank November 25th and today is December 27th. I currently have five adult sea monkeys (3 female, 2 male) and two babies. I think initially I had more babies but they must have dies off and only the 5 remain. The two current babies Im not sure about, whether they were live birth or just hatched after the first gen. Anyway, I'm greatly looking forward to your uncoming videos. Keep up the great work!

[@pico-cosmos]

Hey :) thanks for supporting the channel! Aquascaping for brine shrimp is difficult as it’s hard to find plants that can tolerate their high salinity environment. Some seaweed species would work but I’ve never tried growing them. Generally speaking plastic ornaments seems to be the easiest way to go. I’d highly suggest using a heater & airline if you’re not already, they definitely help with keeping more of them alive :)

[@Cosper79]

Thanks for the response! Today I got home to find my tank is now full of live babies. Pretty excited that I'm at the second gen stage. I couldn't have done it without your videos. Ive got a large tank (for sea monkey scale anyway) that I recently tried some fairy shrimp in. No luck so far, and if nothing hatches I might think about moving my sea monkeys to the bigger tank and if I do that I will probably invest in a heater and air line.

[@robyn6521]

Glad you're back! Love your videos :)

[@pico-cosmos]

Thanks Robyn : )

[@katebjerre]

Just thought of this channel today! Glad to see you’re back!

[@pico-cosmos]

Thanks Kate : ) I’m excited to start making videos again

[@shellybollo4159]

Yeah! Glad you’re back for more entertainment!👍💕

[@pico-cosmos]

💙

[@ThRealBuddy]

Firstly I think youtube is much more reliable for returning and invested fans, so I'm really glad you plan on posting! Second, I may have missed this in the video but is there a way to accidentally overheat your SeaMonkeys? It gets really cold here during the night where I live, but the temperature will change so quickly I'm scared I'll heat up the seamonkeys tank while I sleep and then next thing I know the temperature of my room shoots up and suddenly I'm left with hot seamonkeys.

[@pico-cosmos]

That's definitely true, I was posting TikToks & IG reels for a while but I found that those platforms aren't very good for fostering a quality community. KZbin is definitely much better for that! Regarding your question about temperature - the upper limit for Sea-Monkeys is around 30ºC. Whenever I use an external heat source to heat the tank (eg. under tank heat mat or submersible USB aquarium heater) I always I make sure that it has a built in thermostat so that the heater will turn off when the tank water reaches 26ºC.

[@SundayBoy72]

Just found your channel and I love all the video. Love from Singapore 🇸🇬

[@jessicaisert869]

Wait until you go to your attorney to set up a living will for after your gone and one of his questions to you is, ‘Do you have any hobbies? Do you have any collections?’ Me: ummm…Sea-Monkeys.’ That totally happened to me this week. Lol 😂 With that said, love your videos! Thank you for your continued hard work 😊

[@pico-cosmos]

😂 That's amazing. Would've loved to see the look on their face lol. How long have you been collecting for?

[@jessicaisert869]

@@pico-cosmos off and on for about 20 years 🙂

[@pico-cosmos]

@@jessicaisert869 Oh wow you must have some great pieces in your collection!

[@jessicaisert869]

@@pico-cosmos I do 😄 but I still have a pretty big ‘Wish List’ haha 😆 that’s why I enjoy videos like yours. I get to experience the pieces that I may not have. The pieces that I do have…I still enjoy those videos as well because that just means I get to keep mine in the original packaging. Haha 😆

[@pitayafruit]

Love this video, and excited for more exploration of these micro lives (that the right word? I forgot my English) I was thinking of caring sea monkeys but realized that I don't have the right care for it. The SeaMonkey are expensive even the mystery type egg ones, and my place would always be cold, and such heaters are impossible to find in Asia. So it was interesting when you shared about freshwater fairy shrimp. I kept looking for more info on them but lacks alot and so few seems to care for them. Would love to know more about them.

[@pico-cosmos]

I'll be making for videos about the freshwater species (Fairy Shrimp) next year :) Caring for them is very similar to Sea-Monkeys, but the main difference is that Fairy Shrimp cannot live-birth their young, they're only capable of producing eggs that need to be dried out before they can hatch

[@PuppetMaster8707]

As crazy as it sounds I just recently bought myself one of these ocean volcano tanks that I am going to modify to my liking I can't wait

[@pico-cosmos]

🙌 nice! The ocean volcano is a great tank

[@FishnChipps]

Yay welcome back!!! (Got a new account

[@scottsignorelli6396]

Would be great if you could dedicate a video to your entire collection 😊

[@patriciobarreiro]

One Q&A for the next chapter: how do you clean the tank to use it again and again.? Do you use some kitchen/dish clean product?

[@benisoreilly869]

I keep fairy shrimp in what I call the Cambrian tank. They look enough like anomalocarids to pass as such in a tank. Your videos have been very helpful for me to not kill them

[@pico-cosmos]

Nice! What species of fairy shrimp are they?

[@benisoreilly869]

@@pico-cosmos Sirindhornae from off Amazon. They're meant to be fish food but I find that when they're allowed to grow to their full size they have a nice vibrant reddish pink color to them and they are about an inch and a half long, which is a perfect size for my 5 gallon tank

[@pico-cosmos]

@@benisoreilly869 That's really cool! I have some of their eggs lying around somewhere too, will try raising them next year. Do you have any tips?

[@benisoreilly869]

@@pico-cosmos I basically do everything I would normally do with sea monkeys. I live in Louisiana so it's pretty worm most of the time, but I still use a reptile basking lamp to heat the water. (Probably a very low budget solution) They seem to enjoy the same parameters as my triops, isopods, and ramshorns which is always convenient. My tank stays at around 68°-75° F, 20° - 25° C. I don't know if that's too much of a fluctuation for them to thrive in, but I haven't had too much of an issue so far with them. My premium bayou water flavored algae also works as a great food source for them. My first go at keeping them resulted in them sinking to the bottom of the tank and then dying there which I attribute to either ammonia toxicity or starvation, or both at the same time. I had no filter and I was relying on the algae present in the tank to feed them which I believe is definitely not the way to go. Basically care for them seems very similar to brine shrimp so you shouldn't have much issue, being Artemia Daddy and all

[@benisoreilly869]

@@pico-cosmos Two months later I have another pretty big tip. They apparently hate glass aquariums. That could just be a me thing, but in my experience if they're in glass, they die. I just put some in a small reptile carrying tote and they love it

[@kimsteider621]

Love your channel. Keep it up

[@Echohh]

babe wake up, artemia daddy just posted

[@airidas253]

Yes finally your back

[@pico-cosmos]

🙌 new videos coming soon :D

[@airidas253]

@@pico-cosmos yes I cant wait

[@TheSCP_Foundation]

8:45 another reason that a second generation dies quick is that they can't grab the food but the adults can so u should put them in a nursery tank

[@pico-cosmos]

Yup!

[@kristyw89]

I just bought 4 packs of eggs to use in a mango jar that I really like the shape of entirely inspired by your videos 😁

[@pico-cosmos]

🥳 that’s awesome to hear! DIY tanks are a lot of fun, good luck with your project!

[@emilyn3977]

First and keep up the good work ☺️

[@pico-cosmos]

Thanks for supporting the channel Emily :)

[@aqualabcreations]

Great video man!

[@pico-cosmos]

Thanks!

[@BranchiopodLab]

Great video! Look forward to more.

[@pico-cosmos]

likewise mate! Love your videos :D

[@luisterine]

Truly inspiring

[@sawyermclane6039]

First off, thank you so much for this channel! It's gotten me back into sea monkeys, which I haven't had since I was a little kid. I'm trying to get a microalgae grow tank setup. I have all necessary equipment, except I don't have any algae currently growing in my monkeys' tank. Where/how do I get a starter "culture" of algae? Thanks again!

[@pico-cosmos]

Algae will naturally find it's way into the tank as it's floating in the air all around us. I'd recommend opening some windows in your home to encourage air flow which will help the algae to start growing. Providing the tank with plenty of light will help a lot as well. It is possible to purchase algae starter cultures online, though that's usually for people who are looking to grow it in a separate tank

[@marobuggy]

Yay new video! I’ve been waiting!

[@pico-cosmos]

Sorry for the delay! Will be posting new videos regularly again from now on :)

[@marobuggy]

Ok!

[@marobuggy]

I love your unboxing videos btw so if you can get your hands on a rare thing you know what to do!

[@kiwii139]

Awesome video John!

[@pico-cosmos]

Thanks mate :)

[@dingdong61]

For the next phase… giant tanks full of sea monkeys and other species!

[@FRFPlays]

im in malaysia what a perfect country for correct temparature for sea monkeys and bro, dont quit youtube your videos are helping me with my sea monkeys rn

[@pico-cosmos]

Yeah you’re right! The climate in south east asia is definitely ideal 👌

[@FRFPlays]

:))

[@FRFPlays]

oh btw one question i dont know when to feed my brine shrimps after they hatch i searched on google they said 12 hours after then someone on youtube said 5-7 days then after that you showed on the 3rd day after they hatch but in another one of your videos you did it on the 4 day after they hatch so please tell me how many days after they hatch should i feed them im confused

[@FRFPlays]

@@pico-cosmos hope you reply

[@FRFPlays]

@@pico-cosmos oh and is culturing microalgae in malaysia easy? i tried culturing microalgae but all i got was dead insects in the water outside

[@SuskeOtto]

I have a a question for number 2 how long have you been growing sea monkeys and also what got you interested in them?

[@Stickmananimater12]

"Life is too short" -sea monkeys 2024

[@kenzienomc]

I would love to see a video on the different packets one can get for their sea monkeys - I get what 1, 2, and 3 are, but what about the plasma? How is the growth food different from packet 3? Does the cupid one really help them breed?

[@sophia-marieyoung6773]

Packet 3 is the growth food. The Plasma (#4) contains things to condition the water, similar to what's in #1, sans eggs.

[@doodleolympus]

Another question : When did you start in the sea monkey hobby?

[@pico-cosmos]

As a kid! I got back into it seriously around 2 years ago :)

[@PureCoKayne]

Hey man I got the volcano / pump / led on the 13th of Nov, started it straight away with room temp bottled water, added the eggs on the 14th, and am now waiting until tuesday / wednesday before (first time) feeding. Anyway - Last night, I noticed that the bottom 1-2 inches of the tank were a lot cloudier than the rest of the tank. My lazy guess is that the brine had possibly separated at the bottom, but I wouldn't even know if that's possible after only 1 or 2 days. Any ideas? Unfortunately I don't have pictures as once I noticed, I grabbed the pipette and circulated the water. On another note - Have you ever tried to modify the tanks, in regards to the air pump? I'm sure it's probably not worth the hassle, but I imagine having the volcano itself bubbling air would be pretty cool lol

[@CrxyLinda]

Thank you for making this video, I'm just starting out on my sea monkey aquarium again and know a lot more to keep them alive longer now... hopefully 😆 😆

[@pico-cosmos]

:D good luck! And let me know if you ever have any more questions :)

[@CrxyLinda]

@@pico-cosmos I was wondering, instead of ordering 100+ packets of their water purifier, what else can I use to achieve the desired salinity for the sea monkey? I'm trying to start a couple 10 g tanks :) just a starter for my toddler to enjoy for now :p

[@pico-cosmos]

@@CrxyLinda Instant Ocean salt also works. You mix up the water the same way I do in this video for the algae: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYW1nWuZqpydosU I should warn you though.. raising a large tank of brine shrimp to adulthood is not easy, and often takes quite a bit of practice to get right

[@CrxyLinda]

@ArtemiaDaddy I know, I have been doing extensive research on it. I do have a couple starter tank, which will be where I'll start and than scale up as the colony grows, Thank you so much, that was super helpful over everything I found online lol

[@pico-cosmos]

@@CrxyLinda Good luck :)

[@rileythehamsterlord3611]

i love your videos you inspired me to hatch my own sea monkey colony

[@pico-cosmos]

Nice! Which tank did you get?

[@rileythehamsterlord3611]

@@pico-cosmos sea monkeys on mars i really like the design of it

[@Minkfang]

I knew you were working in Antartica but I absolutely didn’t think you would be a polar photographer with Insta clout

[@pico-cosmos]

Lol I used to spend a lot of time on Instagram trying to grow my account there, I'm not a huge fan of that app anymore though tbh

[@OurzSauveli]

Would you ever do a comprehensive history of Sea Monkeys? Like a full look into Sea Monkey history?

[@pico-cosmos]

That would be cool! There’s already a few videos like that on KZbin though and I’m not sure I could do it any better 😅 maybe I could do it with a bigger focus on the Sea-Monkeys themselves

[@OurzSauveli]

@@pico-cosmos True or could focus on the history of the Instant Pets like Annual killifish, Triops, sea monkeys ect.

[@OurzSauveli]

I still think you doing a video on either one would be an amazing watch!

[@pico-cosmos]

@@OurzSauveli oo I like that idea!

[@tollett5351]

hi I just bought an oxygen pump from your Amazon link and I was wondering if I keep it on all the time or only for a few hours a day

[@pico-cosmos]

I think 24/7 is ideal

[@waeom]

Thanks for the videos - my daughter received sea monkeys for Christmas and we have just hatched them...and now I'm hoping to keep them alive in time for a USB temp controller & air pump to arrive! Thanks for the tips

[@pico-cosmos]

Good luck!!

[@anie6142]

My question made it to the video! I suspected it would be the Mars tank or the one with the diver xD.

[@pico-cosmos]

Haha thanks for your contribution!

[@PreciousGem12]

What are the important facts that you need to know for beginners?

[@EvelineUK]

Thank you so much for your channel and all the helpful tips you share. I spotted my first babies in my seamonkeys (well, 'aqua dragons') tank after seeing a lot of adult... behaviour.... lately. So exciting! Are you still feeding them Astaxanthin as I started doing that after watching your video on it. I am hoping the babies will thrive on it, as it's my first time having been able to get to this stage with my seamonkeys. Fingers crossed!

[@pico-cosmos]

I'm glad my videos have been helping :) - I don't usually feed them Astaxanthin anymore, no. Astaxanthin is a great *dried* food source, but the best food for them will always be live microalgae. It's just a shame that culturing the live algae takes so much more work 😅

[@scrunglenut6222]

I want to see triops so bad! I think theyre really cute.

[@pico-cosmos]

I just got a kit recently :D

[@thegreatpapyrus]

@@pico-cosmos where did you get them from? From what I’ve read Triops are illegal to be imported here in nz. Cheers

[@MaxwellFJr]

Hi, Picocosmos! I got a question for you, can I use purified water when setting up tank?

[@mitsuri3096]

Welcome back

[@pico-cosmos]

Thank you!

[@mitsuri3096]

@@pico-cosmos I kept watching all your videos 5x over and man your content is so satisfying after a hard day of work haha

[@pico-cosmos]

@@mitsuri3096 I'm glad to hear that :D I really haven't had much time to create videos this year but I plan to start focusing on the channel a lot more in 2023, so I'll have plenty more videos on the way soon :)

[@BuggJuiceOwO]

Yay the sea monkey Lord returned :O

[@TheWeirdChannel69]

My sea monkeys just come🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@scottsignorelli6396]

It's all about nostalgia and staying close to our childhoods.What about ant farms ?

[@Wobbles789]

The Nasa tank looks amazing imagine a mix between the Mars and Nasa one

[@pico-cosmos]

That would be amazing! The space themed tanks are definitely my favourite. Hopefully some new tanks come out next year 🤞

[@VampireBitezMain]

Do you have any tips for someone doing a DIY sea monkey tank? I’d get a normal tank but I want to be able to decorate it myself to match my dorm room lol

[@anuviitala3463]

More questions for you. I got aqua dragons, because sea monkeys were not available in my country, but they are pretty much the same thing right? Well, my dragons are now 2 month old, but they are still very very tiny, and I havent seen any mating happening, nor do they have eggsags. Did I do something wrong? Also, at the surface of the water there is some white stuff, even if I try to remove it, it comes back in couple days. What is it?

[@pico-cosmos]

Yeah Sea-Monkeys and Aqua Dragons are a very similar product. If their growth/development has been very slow it's most likely due to the tank water being too cold. Are you using a heat source of some kind? Regarding the while stuff on the water's surface, I'm not sure what it is. I have seen it on top of some of my tanks in the past - I assume it's some sort of bacteria or something. Just try to remove it as best you can. In my experience it's not harmful

[@getgle]

Hi you should make a video on how the Seamonkey characters on the branding came to be the strange humanoid creatures

[@Doorya]

What's your recommendation on how to set up a new tank with more water volume than standard sea monkey kits allow for? I understand correct salinity is somewhat important.

[@pico-cosmos]

It’s a little complicated tbh, and surprisingly salinity isn’t all that important. I’ll make a video tutorial one day showing how to do it properly 👍

[@Doorya]

@@pico-cosmos sounds good👍🏼

[@Crabbycrustycrustacean]

I'm a guy who's hyperfixated on crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters, isopods, barnacles, etc. I recently picked up a sea monkey tank and I bought a heating pad and was wondering if the thermostat with the probe/timer was necessary or if I could just leave the heat pad running 24/7

[@pico-cosmos]

It kinda depends. If you live somewhere where it’s already quite warm (more than 20°C) then using the thermostat would be helpful, but if the ambient air temperature is below 20°C then you can just leave the heat pad on 24/7

[@Crabbycrustycrustacean]

@@pico-cosmos right now it is pretty cold in texas and the heat mat I have has the water at 81 degrees fahrenheit. I think I'll order a mat with a thermometer and probe just in case

[@pico-cosmos]

@@Crabbycrustycrustacean Yeah that sounds like a good idea 👍

[@Crabbycrustycrustacean]

@@pico-cosmos final question. What's the absolute highest temperature brine shrimp can survive in. I'm not sure if 81 is okay or not for them

[@pico-cosmos]

@@Crabbycrustycrustacean To be honest I'm not 100% sure. I've never let my tanks go above 30ºC (86ºF). 81 is definitely fine though

[@court4066]

To have room for the heater/water bubbler, would you suggest transferring the sea monkeys into a small fish tank, larger than the tanks they come with?

[@pico-cosmos]

It’s not necessary because they can still fit in a regular Sea-Monkey tank, but they do kinda ruin the viewing experience so it’s up to you 👌

[@josephKEOarthur]

Have you ever raised tardigrades ?? What is the largest tardigrade species you have seen?

[@pico-cosmos]

Never seen a tardigrade in my life! will definitely try and find some one day tho

[@TheIvy945]

How were your sea monkeys after you arrived home from your trip to Antarctica? Did they survive? If they did, what did you do to prepare/increase their chances of survival?

[@millsy3371]

Help I put my sea monkeys in 4 days ago and I’m not even seeing eggs ?

[@pico-cosmos]

The eggs are very small so sometimes they're very difficult to see. What temperature is your tank? You should usually see the first babies in a day or two if it's warm enough

[@millsy3371]

@@pico-cosmos hello and thank you my sea monkeys have hatched and they are looking great

[@unicorndonut466]

Who takes care of the sea monkeys when you used to be away during your long trips?

[@FoxyTattyDrew]

Some things I've wondered about. Could you move sea monkeys into a slightly bigger tank? (such as a beta fish tank or even a small fish tank) Or would that cause problems/stress for them? If so can you mix colonies or would they fight for territory?

[@pico-cosmos]

You can yeah! I have a few larger tanks that are doing really well. They don’t fight for territory though, they’re very simple and concepts like that are beyond them

[@beastamer1990s]

I only saw two hatch and then never saw them again, did I just get a bad bag of sea monkeys? My fish tank right next to my brine shrimp tank sits around 24-26 C° just fyi

[@theadvanceddude247]

what should you do if your going to leave for a few months? would it be better to take the brine shrimp with you, or is there special feeders you could buy?

[@pico-cosmos]

If you were going for a few months I'd suggest taking them with you. That's a long time for them to go without being fed

[@theadvanceddude247]

@@pico-cosmos Thanks for the reply! I’m thinking about getting them but I generally travel a bit in the summer

[@sh1nryel754]

Hiiii! I’ve never been one of the first to comment on a video

[@pico-cosmos]

Thanks for supporting the channel :D

[@thombaz]

My friends think I am strange, as I have many unusual hobby. I never had the idea of not doing something because of what would my frinds think, I always had problem with space and money limitations :D The easiest method if you fear your friends opinion is not to tell them, I would never think that someone will ask me, hey, do you keep sea-monkeys as a hobby?

[@pico-cosmos]

Hahaha this is very good advice! And it's true, I don't usually tell people about my Sea-Monkeys unless they ask about my hobbies

[@polontang7909]

Does the sea monkey tank require changing water? How to remove the poop or is the removal required? Thanks.

[@loveurself764]

Going to get sea monkeys soon! I want to move them out of their tank and move them into a jar. I heard I can’t have a jar bigger than their tank because you need the same amount of food and stuff. Would it be ok if I moved them into a jar bigger than their tank and had extra salt water in the jar and algae?

[@pico-cosmos]

It is possible yes :) Each Sea-Monkey starter kit (packets #1 & #2) provide enough salt for around 330ml of water - so if you want to make a larger tank you'll have to use more of the pouches to get the salinity level right

[@wyattacup3329]

I finally got 2 magiquariums and a Sea monkeys on Mars kit

[@pico-cosmos]

Nice! I don't have a magiquarium yet but I'll definitely do a tank review on it next year :) Do you prefer it to the Mars tank?

[@wyattacup3329]

Mars tank is way better in my opinion

[@wyattacup3329]

Glad your back btw

[@apt-rex7539]

Are there different "breeds" of Sea Monkeys? I've seen relatives called Red tailed Fairy shrimp and was wondering if there are any other types of sea monkeys/sea monkey adjacent animals like triops?

[@pico-cosmos]

Yup! Fairy Shrimp are their freshwater cousins, but there are other species of Brine Shrimp that they’re more closely related to. Do a KZbin search for “Parartemia” if you want to see an Australian species :)

[@BizarreBudgie_Real]

Will you ever review aqua dragons? Since you reviewed other “sea monkey” like companies.

[@Mamta12333]

I’ve got a question that I’ve been wondering for quite a while. Do individual sea monkeys actually live for 2 years?

[@pico-cosmos]

Oo I like this one! I'll make sure to answer it in the next Q&A video I make. In my experience most brine shrimp live for around 4 months - I don't think it's possible for them to live anywhere near 2 years

[@Mamta12333]

oh that’s good for the longest time I thought I was just being a bad sea monkey keeper because all my see monkeys kept dying after a couple of months. The top google results said that they can live for two years so thanks for the insight!

[@pico-cosmos]

@@Mamta12333 I think the "2 years" thing came from Sea-Monkey marketing material which was about your entire colony lasting for 2 years. It definitely seemed to get a lot of people confused 😅

[@ryrypie2574]

I currently have a few sea monkeys that are 7 months old

[@pico-cosmos]

@@ryrypie2574 Is the colony 7 months old or do you have individual Sea-Monkeys that are 7 months old?

[@kayleighbaker9980]

Would be cool to set up like a 1 gallon tank and build a colony in that? Or is that going over board?

[@thoridein6743]

G'day maaaate, (Kapiti Coast here) I noticed you said you're going to do doing triop videos too! Do you have any tanks that you'll be showing off? I wanted to import some a few years back but alas can't get them here unless they're the native ones (Hey, I ain't snitching either way) Also, have you considered/do you currently own other fish? I have a couple of tropical tanks as well as a freshwater native.

[@pico-cosmos]

Hey mate : ) I haven’t really looked into Triops properly yet, I’ll see if I can get the eggs for the Australian/NZ species so everything’s above board 😬🤞 I don’t have any fish, though I plan to hatch & grow Killifish at some point. I’m basically just a brine shrimp guy rn 😂

[@erikrex0074]

Nice Video

[@flash_royale24]

I thought he was joking about coming back from Antarctica

[@pico-cosmos]

Lol nooo I’ve been working down there for years! It’s such an incredible place to visit

[@flash_royale24]

@@pico-cosmos do you know of any species similar to sea monkeys that thrive in places like Antarctica instead of the usual hot areas

[@pico-cosmos]

Winter Fairy Shrimp: www.arizonafairyshrimp.com/eggs_e.html

[@flash_royale24]

@@pico-cosmos one last question. What was the species of shrimp that you were holding in your hand in the red bull video?

[@pico-cosmos]

@@flash_royale24 Branchinecta Gigas

[@acr0nymn]

My housemate fed half the bag to my sea monkeys when I wasn't in :( I have 2 pregnant females and a male left, I'm not sure whether I should change the water with a refill pack?

[@pico-cosmos]

I’m really sorry to hear that :/ it’s unlikely they’ll survive if they were fed half the bag. I’d start a new tank and then transfer then adults into it

[@Formerpresidentbarackobama696]

What would be the best tank to grow algae in?

[@polontang7909]

You mentioned the Ocean Volcanio capacity is about 400 ml. How much capacites are the On-Mars and Magic Castle please?

[@THEprincessFirefly]

Do you think a spong filter could be used to help clean the water or fo you think it'll kill them?

[@PsychoPlantLady]

What’s the difference between SeaMonkeys and AquaDragons?

[@vicvic_yeah]

What do you think about having a normal size aquarium for your sea monkeys and then have many of them in there?

[@OatmealGrillBlazer]

omori

[@pico-cosmos]

I love that idea! My largest tank right now is about 2 litres so I’d love to do a proper sized aquarium one day

[@vicvic_yeah]

@@OatmealGrillBlazer hehe

[@vicvic_yeah]

@@pico-cosmos I'm glad you liked that. I think this would be very interesting

[@thoridein6743]

@@pico-cosmos The betta tanks at animates and similar stores are a great choice, I've raised brine shrimp in them a couple of times, not quite "proper aquarium" size (even for a betta imo) but it's a lot easier to implement a heater and even a very very low rate filter if you desire.

[@derivious2012]

How big if a tank can you use, and is the sachet no1 always needed could you use something else for a bigger tank?

[@pico-cosmos]

There's no maximum size tank you can use, any size will work :) It is possible to make a DIY tank using your own salt but the whole process is more complicated. I use "Instant Ocean" salt for my DIY tanks, it works really well 👍