My son has really gotten into taking care of his 2 new bettas and I was thinking about getting him one of those “themed” brine shrimp kits. He really wants his own pets “to be in his room” but he is too rough for a furry (besides we already have 8). How easy are brine shrimp tanks to take care of? How long do they live (e.g. will I have to pick out dead ones often)? I figure they might make good snacks for the bettas occasionally as well.
Also, has anyone had success with one of these “themed” kits (this is just one example of many different “themes http://www.officeplayground.com/seamonkeys.html ) or should I go for the more “scientific” kit ( http://search.discover-this.com/?query=sea+monkeys&catalog=discoverthis&imageField.x=10&imageField.y=6 ) ?
Thanks!
Deborah
P.S. He’s 5 1/2 years old.
Oh yeah, I forgot to ask this too — do ones that hatch from the kit eggs reproduce well or am I going to have to restock all the time?
Let me rephrase – he is not so rough with the cats that he hurts them — he’s just so rough that they are wary of snuggling and playing with him. Sometimes they let him pet them, but other times not.
Alternatively, how about a Triops kit http://www.spacetoys.com/proddetail.php?prod=TSK36 or a frog kit http://www.butterfly-gifts.com/grow-a-frog-kit.html#Large?
All of your answers were great and they’ve given me a lot of food for thought. Here is what I’ve decided to do after talking to my son and considering your answers.
1) As soon as our new fish tanks come in (today, I hope. . .) we’re going to use the old tank to hatch brine shrimp, primarily as food for the bettas. This won’t replace their regular food or anything. Milo says it will “teach the fish to fetch” (LOL). I think it will be good for the fish to have a workout chasing their food, anyway. That much will be fun to watch. Each week, we’ll put in a few new eggs at feeding time. They sell the eggs by and prep solutions at the pet store, so it should be cheap and easy. If we lose interest, so be it — we just won’t add anymore eggs.
2) After summer starts, we’re going to get a triops kit for him. We’ll keep it going through summer. If he has fun with it, we’ll buy some more eggs after it dies. If not, we won’t. Anybody know if they make good tank-mates for bettas?
I ran out space. I’ll continue.
3) We’ll try the frog kit next summer, or if he’s ready by then, I’ll do it with his class this fall. I’m afraid he won’t handle a frog right so my big concern is leaving it in his room with him when I’m not looking. I just don’t know if he’s gentle enough. That defeats the point of this exercise right now.
Thanks again for all your help.