Triops Vs Sea Monkeys

Which is the best “Instant Pet” ?

A Triop

Sea Monkeys

Through the century’s mankind has searched for that ever elusive holy grail of pets which is a cool pet that requires minimal maintenance and wont attack you when you sleep if you inadvertently forget to pay it some attention.

My fellow lazy arse’s let me introduce you to Instant Pets, These do exactly as they say on the tin, you add water and SHAZAM! you have a pet, cool or what!

For those that have never heard of Triops or their counterparts Sea Monkeys, I will give you a full rundown of each from birth to death (from natural cause’s, accidents, cannibalism, experiments, old age, acts of god, acts of me, war) as I engage on this journey of pet discovery and by the end of this blog I will crown one “The Supreme Instant Pet”.

To aid me in my quest I will require some ingredients/kits I will list these shortly but first I will give you some background information on the reasons behind this exercise.

Why?

This is an easy question to answer:

1) I am a bored 32yr old male.

2) I am not allowed (after many arguments!) have an Ostrich (even though it would be more economical and better for the environment than driving in and out of work each day)

3) I like strange pets (I’ve had snakes, lizards, turtles, dogs, dragons, praying mantis and currently have 2 chickens and 2 ferrets)

and the most important reason:

4) I am a Man and like most men I want to be a God! This is the perfect way to quench my desire for divine power and to give and take life as I see fit, without resorting to cloning or mass murder.

The Experiment:

1) To raise both Triops and Sea Monkeys and decide which of these instant pets is worthy of my time.

2) To decide once and for all which is the coolest “lazy man’s pet”

3) To prove to my girlfriend I am a God.:-)

Ingredients:

1) 1 x Triops World (£7.95 + £1.95 delivered from Ebay or Argos for slightly more).

2) 1 x Sea Monkeys on Mars aquarium (Roughly the same as above).

3) Bottled spring water. (Sainsburys)

Everything you need including the tank (except water) will come with each of the kits but just to be the perfect Deity I have also purchased

1) Sea Monkeys “Million Bubble Air Pump” for oxygenating the water (£3.20)

2) Sea Monkeys “Tiny Tank Tool” for cleaning the Algae off the tank (£2.49)

So now we are stocked up Lets Play God!

The Contenders

Triops:

Triops are tiny crustaceans (Lobsters, Crabs) that live for 20 – 90 days, They have 3 eyes (hence the name Triops) and quickly grow from 1-3 inches long. They breath through their feet and eat almost anything including each other (cool!). They date back to the time of dinosaurs and for this reason are also known as Dinosaur Shrimp.

Sea Monkeys:

Sea Monkeys are a form of brine shrimp that can live to upto 2yrs, They grow from 1/2 – 3/4 inch long, as with the Triops the eggs are in a type of suspended animation untill they are added to water and hatch, Sea Monkeys are the better known of the instant pets as they have been on sale since the 1960s (they have even been to space with NASA) and they also have the most addon’s and extra’s (kits, tools, toys). They live happily together in groups and unfortunately will not resort to cannibalism. In short the Sea Monkeys are the wuss’s of the Instant Pet world.

Who will be the winner? Only time will tell, Stay tuned for updates.

Day 1 12/10/2008

I have followed the instructions (added water, conditioner, eggs, etc) on both the SeaMonkeys and Triops kits now it is a waiting game to see who pops up first.

NB:

In my search for the above kits I stumbled across yet another instant pet called Magic Fish that is generally the same setup as the others only this one hatches  Killi fish (real Fish!) so I will be testing these alongside the other 2 contenders.

Day 2 13/10/2008

Success!!!! I was so surprised when I came home from work this evening to find a few individuals floating around in the Triops tank, now I know that you get a lot of other lifeforms packed along with your Triops but even though they were minuscule I could clearly make out the form of baby Triops, I can see sweet F A in the Sea Monkeys or Magic Fish tanks (maybe im just not looking close enough) but none the less whatever they are I am chuffed with myself! I Have Created Life! 🙂

Day 15 26/10/2008

Sorry about the delay on this but if anyone is reading my Pioneer Nevada blog they will understand why.

The Sea Monkeys still have not surfaced (proably my fault) but I am now the proud owner of 4 baby Triops.

I am sorry for the lack of information but this project has being put on hold for the immediate future (due to the Pioneer Nevada blog which is taking priority and most of my time and energy)and hopefully will be revisited soon. (But the Triops are cool)