The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Out of the Woods?
10:47 Nov 29 2008
Times Read: 609


More Terrible Photos



I'd like to think that the sea monkeys are out of the woods but I doubt that will ever truly be the case. I don't think I lost any more today so that's encouraging but you never know what the next day may bring.





A more recent hatchling next to a 4-day old sea monkey



Now that they have a source of aeration and they've been fed, perhaps things will go more smoothly.





Bubbles emerging from the aeration tube



It's clear that some have hatched out in the past day or two. It's amazing how robust their eggs remain. They can be dried, rehydrated, shipped across the country and hatch after a period of 50-years.





A newer hatchling



The largest are on the order of 1½-millimeters in length. They're constantly moving, swimming loops, zig-zags and random patterns. There's never an opportunity to focus a lens on them.





This one is among the largest



I hope the one who seemed to be having trouble ridding himself of a molted skin will be okay. I got a few really bad photographs of him since he was moving more slowly than the rest.





You can see part of the old skin as a light thread-like line at the top of the photo



It can be rather difficult to figure out exactly what you're looking at, even through a good macro lens.





Between the sea monkey and the remnants of his old skin it looks like he's doing a bad scorpion impersonation

Good news, Bad news...
08:07 Nov 29 2008
Times Read: 622

The bad news is that Wal-Mart was completely out of aeration stones and somebody forgot to buy purified water while there.



The good news is that Wal-Mart did have some aquarium pumps. I bought the smallest they had for about $8.00 (US) and some tubing for another $2.00 - $3.00.



I brought it home, boiled the tubing, heated one end and pinched it closed with pliers. Then I drilled a few dozen very small holes in the closed end with a dremel tool and let the pump run the whole time to purge any build-up of fumes or chemicals inside the pump diaphragm. Once the tubing was ready I connected it all up and sent the poor little sea monkeys on a ride.



The pump is made for 10 to 20 gallon tanks. They're in a jar with 32 ounces of water (about 1/40th of the water the pump is built to aerate. So I moved the tube so that it just blows bubbles at the very top of the water along the edge of the jar. It still keeps the water stirred up and gives them some current to fight but I learned years ago when I had aquariums that one of the key factors in aerating a tank is to keep the water moving. The air exchange takes place mostly at the surface of the water where it's in contact the air. Bubbles help but just keeping the water moving so that the water at the surface is constantly cycling, shifting and rotating from the top to the bottom of the tank is the key.



I was able to confirm at least 5 live sea monkeys which should be enough to carry on the colony if I can get at least 3 or 4 of them to live to adulthood. I'm still trying to find out how long that takes. At one time I thought I saw six but couldn't confirm this.



I also noticed one that seemed to swim, then stop, then swim again. And his swimming didn't look right. It looked like a struggle. So I grabbed the magnifying glass and took a closer look. Something was hanging from him. My best guess is that he was molting a shell. I watched him as he stopped swimming and drifted all the way to the bottom. That worried me a bit.



So what have I learned about sea monkeys today? First of all, they're classified as branchiopods. They don't actually have a brain but instead have two distinct bundles of nerves called "ganglia" much as with ants. One nerve bundle is below the gut and the other is in the head. The one in the head is near the sea monkey's kidneys which also reside in the head. Baby sea monkeys have three eyes and lose one as they transform into adults. They have a heart located dorsally in the torso and hemoglobin in their blood to transport oxygen. Sometimes blue-green algae which they eat, will metabolize and cause them to take on a reddish color. But if the sea monkey turns beige or tan, it may be an indication that they have too little oxygen in the water.

Learning the hard way.
23:21 Nov 28 2008
Times Read: 638

The sea monkey saga isn't going well. One day I had dozens and the next I counted, one... two, three...



:-(



So I did some more digging around on Google and it seems that even though mine have more surface area (oxygen/water exchange room), than the standard tank, baby sea monkeys need far more oxygen than they do in the adult stage. That would have been nice to know but it isn't mentioned in any of the standard instructions I've seen.



They also suggest feeding them on the fifth day (today), and after a close friend had a bad experience, we reasoned that a group of pin-point size baby sea monkeys probably require far less food than a group of ½ to 3/4-inch adults. So I gave them only a tiny bit of the green powder from the tip of a knife blade and again aerated the tank (pickle jar).



A second careful count revealed at least 4 sea monkeys still swimming around. There may have been a fifth but the contour of the glass can easily hide such a tiny creature and they're constantly moving around so it's not possible to know for sure unless you can get them all into a single line of sight at one time. One didn't seem to be swimming very well so it may not live much longer.



I'm hoping I'm onto the "secret" of keeping them alive with the aeration two or three times every day but only time will tell. I'm going to try buying an aquarium pump and aeration stone to keep these few alive.







NOTES ON REPRODUCTION

Sea monkeys have a rather remarkable reproduction system. They can reproduce through sexual union or the females can just produce fertilized eggs on their own. So sex seems to be completely optional for them. If there are no good men around, she can do it all herself. The female can give birth to live babies but if the conditions aren't just right with plenty of light each day, the right temperature of water, sufficient oxygen and plenty of food, she'll lay eggs instead.



The eggs won't hatch until conditions are right and will remain cryptobiotically sealed, waiting as much as 50-years if necessary. If their aquatic environment dries up, the eggs remain viable. The next rain or flood can fill the depression with water and if conditions are then right for the eggs, they'll hatch in just a few days.



For something that perhaps seems like little more than a "bug", sea monkeys do have a rather fascinating life cycle. And they've been at this for a bit longer than humans. We've been stumbling around on the planet for .5 to 1.3 million years (depending on the source). Sea monkeys have been around for 100 million years. Another species of "easily" raised aquatic pet are Triops which are larger than sea monkeys and resemble a small horseshoe crab. They've been at this whole life thing for about 250 million years.







We're new-comers to this ecosystem and as the new students to the class, we've excelled at damaging the environment. Hopefully, once we pass Ecosystems 101, we'll get on to learning how to let the ecosystem thrive. Perhaps watching and raising sea monkeys is a step in that direction.

Welcome to Day-3 of Sea Monkey Life
09:07 Nov 27 2008
Times Read: 644

Well, with some luck this will give an idea of what is going on inside my old pickle jar. This was taken with a cheap digital camera through a magnifying glass and the results are purely consistent with the methods employed -- bad.



Sea Monkeys in Action

24-hours Old
12:06 Nov 26 2008
Times Read: 670

The sea monkeys seem to be doing well so far. I'm not supposed to feed them for another 4-days. At this point they're 24-hours old (though some are younger because there are at least 2-dozen now).



Four close together. They never stop moving.





Some are noticeably elongated as compared to yesterday.





The one by the bubble is older.

Sea Monkeys (Artemia salina)
10:55 Nov 25 2008
Times Read: 692


Life in a Pickle Jar



In reality these are a form of brine shrimp, packaged in a dry pouch along with food, eggs and a number of other ingredients. Fill the container with purified water, add the "Water Purifier", wait 24-hours and then add the "Instant Eggs".



Hatching is said to be instant but they're so tiny that it took me at least 20-minutes to find just one. Eventually I looked to the tiny lip of water at the edge of the jar (the one created by the surface tension), and counted about 7 of them swimming around in that tiny peak of water.



This is for scale. There are two of them inside the red circle.





This is the same photo full-size as taken with a Nikon 60mm macro lens.





They're amazingly tiny. Five or six would easily fit on the head of a pin.





A microscope would have been better. These were taken with a Sigma 150mm macro and a 1.4x teleconverter.





These hatched out of suspended animation from inside a cyst. They're about 3-hours old. I'll have to see how long they live. If they die, there are supposed to be some eggs which hatch in 3-6 days.



A colony is supposed to survive for a minimum of 2-years. By the time they're adults they'll look nothing like this.

Fitting
08:49 Nov 12 2008
Times Read: 737

I've now completed 0% of this level. That's somehow so fitting that I'm tempted never to update.

Then and Than
08:47 Nov 12 2008
Times Read: 739


Then, adv.



1. At that time: I was still in school then. Come at noon; I'll be ready then.



2. Next in time, space, or order; immediately afterward: watched the late movie and then went to bed.



3. In addition; moreover; besides: It costs $20, and then there's the sales tax to pay.



4. Used after but to qualify or balance a preceding statement: The star was nervous, but then who isn't on the first night of a new play.



5. In that case; accordingly: If traffic is heavy, then allow extra time.



6. As a consequence; therefore: The case, then, is closed.



n.



1. That time or moment: The bus leaves at four; until then let's walk.



adj.



1. Being so at that time: the then chairman of the board.





Than, conj.



1. Used after a comparative adjective or adverb to introduce the second element or clause of an unequal comparison: She is a better athlete than I.



2. Used to introduce the second element after certain words indicating difference: He draws quite differently than she does.



3. When. Used especially after hardly and scarcely: I had scarcely walked in the door than the commotion started.



---



Okay, I've done it now and turn-about is most certainly fair play. I see the two interchanged so often that I just felt the need to offer the proper usage.



(from www.answers.com)

Misjudged, misunderstood
21:34 Nov 09 2008
Times Read: 768

Odd how rabbits are cute, cuddly and soft and rats are thought of only as the plague-bearing sewer scum of years past. I'm tempted to suggest that a rat is just a rabbit, streamlined to hide in pipes instead of bushes. But here are other differences. The built-in cooling system of the rabbit is in the front (ears), while the cooling system of the rat is in the back (tail). The most notable difference seems to be in the desire to give and receive affection. Rabbits tend not to be terribly affectionate. Rats, on the other hand, can be very affectionate and once the time is taken to build their trust, they practically demand attention and affection.







They're not the dirty animals of stereotypical perception. Take a good look. This is a wild rat with that characteristic curve above the nose. Take a look at the ears of your domestic cat. Now look to the ears of this wild creature. Which one shows the better hygiene habits?

The things sitting on my camera
03:43 Nov 09 2008
Times Read: 806

I've been a bit neglectful of recent. I've taken a few shots over the recent weeks but, in knowing that nothing was really special, I've neglected to even copy them to my hard drive and give them a look. So let's take a look at what has been sitting there on the memory card.





Yes, walking sticks do have a face.





I'm always tempted to wonder if it's one of mine. I've raised five of these over the years. Each season sees a few babies separated from their mother. They get the run of my home which makes it a bit easier to turn them loose when the time comes. "Easier", not easy.



The odd thing here is that funny dark blur behind the rabbit. I didn't have nearly as much light as I needed but the rabbit was holding still and I was crumpled into a ball on the ground attempting to brace the camera. That dark blur is a quail running by in the background which shows the true speed of the shot.





Why is he here? Because he's an outdoor cat. He lives in nature and bears the scars across his nose, ears and face. He'd have it no other way.





The noble desert quail in all his color and glory. A quick peek up from his windfall of seed allowed one opportunity to capture an image and analyze the fine detail of his majestic markings.





Just a drain pipe. But a drain pipe with a purpose if you're living in the wild and counting on your cunning, your instincts and your endurance of unpleasant environments in order to survive.

Wait for it...





Better not to trust that large creature with the flashing device. The water is rising but I'm not coming out with him there. Best duck back into the pipe.





Still there, eh?



I watched the little pool of water at the entrance to the pipe. Ripples across the water betrayed his appearance before he poked his nose out. There is no time for such a creature to be annoyed by the water or even by the fly frolicking on his head. This is a game of stealth, of judgment and of life and death itself. It's a game we've forgotten how to play. Instead, we now think we've engaged nature and emerged a winner after spending our nights in a camper and our days sitting quietly with a rifle and binoculars waiting for any of these creatures -- creatures which fight their entire lives for the privilege of the next breath -- to step into our sights at which point we twitch a finger and bring all of their hard-won battles to a sudden and disrespectful end.

Palpation
10:09 Nov 06 2008
Times Read: 823

When the reality finally penetrates and you accept that you'll never again know the caring touch of another human being, something about life changes.



It is, in some ways, perhaps a form of clarity. But it carries with it a sense of cold isolation, rather like sitting on the moon and watching distant lives play out on a monitor. Emotion becomes both a fading memory and a continual torment.



Very odd, this.