Back in the 70’s when I was a young Gadgeteer in training, I remember seeing ads for Sea-Monkeys in the back of comic books that I used to read. I was fascinated by the pictures which showed them as a human-like underwater family that would live and play in a fishbowl. I saved my allowance and ordered my own Sea-Monkey kit and waited for what seemed like years for it to arrive.
I was so excited when I received it, but my hopes were dashed when days later, the human-like family that I expected turned out to be more like tiny furry tadpoles. That was my first lesson in false advertising and I don’t think I ever truly recovered from the disappointment. 😉
Maybe a BioPop can cure that age old scar… What’s a BioPop? It’s a small aquarium with bioluminescent marine algae called dinoflagellates (dinos for short) that glow when they are shaken gently.
The algae are grown in California and live on 8-14 hours of sunlight a day, water, and nutrients from the enriched seawater inside the small aquarium. You also have to feed them once a week with a special food to increase their lifespan.
During the day the algae look clear, but at night when the aquarium is agitated, they will glow to create a mesmerizing light.
BioPops are available in a plastic dinosaur shaped aquarium or in glass spheres. They are priced at $59.95. You can read more about them at BioPop.com and you can order from The Grommet and Amazon.
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Sounds like a nice gift. Wish the food was cheaper. Seems you only get 4 feedings per little bottle.
I’m also wondering how long they can live even with feeding them regularly. But it’s definitely a cool idea.
You can stretch the food out over time. The food is more like plant food than actual food. The algae get most of their energy from light (ie photosynthesis) .