Sea Monkeys vs. Triops

I discovered sea monkeys when I was about 9 years old. Sea monkeys, as you may know, are a species of brine shrimp which “instantaneously” come to life when you drop them into water. Sea monkey kits basically contain dried sea monkey larvae that hatch in water. Sea monkeys are very tiny, and it is difficult to make out their features. I would estimate their length as adults to be between 2 and 3 centimeters.

Sea monkeys are relatively easy to care for. The only problem I encountered with them was cleaning their tank after several weeks of accumulating nastiness had built up in there. It was hard to drain just the dirty bathwater without throwing out some babies. Few survived the ordeal.

At one time, I saw an ad in a magazine for crystals that the sea monkeys would throw around and play with. I bought the crystals, but much to my chagrin, they turned out to be several times larger and heavier than the sea monkeys. Maybe the sea monkeys in the magazine had taken steroids. One never knows these days.

Anyway, I hadn’t thought about sea monkeys in many years. Then, the other day a friend of mine gave me Triops. Triops are similar to sea monkeys insofar as they are an ancient form of dried up larval life that instantaneously hatch when dropped into water. At first I was excited at the prospect of taking care of a new pet. We all know by now that I don’t have a hamster anymore after the last one met an unfortunate demise at the hands of its grandmother. So, needless to say, I was anxious to get the hatching underway.

I soon realized, however, that Triops are no sea monkeys. To begin with, Triops are about an inch in length, and unfortunately, you actually can make out some of their bodily features. Yuck! But, more importantly, they are very difficult to take care of. Apparently, if you feed them too much, they explode (like fish). But, if you don’t feed them enough, they eat each other. What is a girl to do?

So, I feel like I am just postponing the inevitable. They will die sooner or later — either by explosion or at the hands of their nasty-ass-looking brothers and sisters. I long for my sea monkeys. They were so docile, so uncomplicated, so beautiful. Well, again, I never did see their appearance, so maybe beautiful is the wrong word.

But anyway, I think that after the Triops die, I will go out and get some sea monkeys — for old times sake if nothing else.