When I was a kid, I loved Sea Monkeys. I always begged to buy them when we saw a package for sale at a novelty shop. I knew they were just brine shrimp, but I thoroughly enjoyed the notion of the little buggers making a happy, vibrant community in the tank, as pictured by the smiling creatures on the packaging. I think I only ever had them on two or three occasions, and I'm quite certain I was disappointed by their microscopic size, but for some reason I always wanted more.
A couple years ago I bought a pack of Sea Monkeys for the twins. I don't remember what happened, but they didn't grow. Maybe we didn't use enough of the supplied "magic crystals", or maybe the water was soiled in some way. All I know is that after two weeks we couldn't see anything moving in the tank, even with magnification.
While wasting time at Meijer, waiting for passport photos to develop, I discovered a discounted box labeled Prehistoric Sea Monsters. A quick look and I was sold: they grow larger than Sea Monkeys (up to two inches!) and grow considerably faster. I presented the box to Tyler, who was immediately intrigued, and the deal was done. We just now prepared the aquarium, and poured in the first batch of eggs. We should see life within two days, after which we begin feeding them every other day.
Reading more about triops, I'm extremely eager to see what happens! They look neat, grow fast, eat almost anything, and thanks to parthenogenesis their eggs hatch without need for fertilization. That means that we can have a fairly continual herd of triops without much effort from us. It sounds almost like the perfect pet! Stay tuned for updates, and to find out if the hype matches the reality.
We have a family of sea monkeys going right now and they hatched nicely. They've been living for about two months. Did you use bottled spring water? You can't use tap water: the chemicals kill them.
I read somewhere on slashdot about a year ago that the triops turn into a disgusting stinking horror. I wish I could find that reference. Maybe when they get big you can put in a water filter?
However, this guy,
http://marshallbrain.blogspot.com/2004_05_01_archive.html
says, "After four to six weeks they have passed away and you are done with them."
BTW we were very careful never to refer to the sea monkeys as "pets", since we don't want the boy to be upset when they inevitably perish. We refer to them as "experiment".