WATER TEMPERATURE: The most rapid hatching of the baby Sea-Monkeys® is when the water is at 78°F or 26°C. Cooler temperatures may result in longer hatching times — sometimes up to 7 days!

HATCHING TIME: Sea-Monkeys® eggs vary in shell thickness. Those with thinner eggshells hatch faster. Those with thicker shells take longer to hatch — days even!

OXYGEN: Gently stir the water in your tank for the  rst 4 days after you add pouch #1. Use a clean plastic spoon to stir the water, which will help to add needed oxygen for the baby Sea-Monkeys® to breathe.

HEALTHY LIGHT: North of the equator, place your tank in a north-facing window so that it gets light...but not direct sunlight, which will help algae — the favorite food for your pets — to grow and multiply.

FEEDING: Feed the babies on Day 5 after pouring in pouch #2. Use the small spoon to add food to the water. Feed the Sea-Monkeys® only when the water is clear. Too much food will cause them to suffocate.

EVAPORATION: Evaporation in the tank is natural and it causes the water in the tank to get lower and lower. Re ll with bottled drinking water, which is at the same temperature as the tank water.

Congratulations on becoming the owner of the most fantastic pets ever! This kit will enable you to bring The Original Sea-Monkeys® to life, watch them grow, breed, and form families. Because they are so incredible, we know you’ll have more fun with them than any aquatic creature you’ve ever owned. If you take good care of them, they will reward you with endless hours of pleasure and enjoyment. Unlike make-believe toys, pet Sea-Monkeys® are truly alive and always eager to put on a show!

THE ORIGIN OF SEA-MONKEYS®

Sea-Monkeys® are a true miracle of nature. They exist in suspended animation inside their tiny eggs for many years. The Instant Life® Crystals, in which the eggs are enclosed, preserve their viability and help extend their unhatched lifespan even further! Sea-Monkeys® are real-time travelers, asleep in biological time capsules for their strange journey into the future. Scientists call this amazing, rare process "cryptobiosis," which means "hidden life."Among the types of life on Earth that are cryptobiotic in early stages of development are the seeds of higher plants (wheat grains from the tombs of ancient Egyptian kings have sprouted after being sealed in urns for more than 2,000 years), the larvae of certain insects, and the thick-shelled eggs of some crustaceans such as Daphnia, seed shrimp (Ostracods), and brine shrimp (Artemia salina). Sea-Monkeys® belong to this category too, as they are a variety of Artemia. A relative of lobsters, crabs, fairy shrimp, and other crustaceans, Artemia are found in salt lakes and salt evaporation flats instead of the ocean. The waters of these areas are often so salty that Artemia may be the only non-microscopic animal inhabiting them.