Aqua Dragons Deluxe Deep Sea Habitat – LED Version
This version of the Aqua Dragons which I reviewed is the ‘top-end’ model. It’s exactly the same as the ‘Aqua Dragons Underwater World’ version but features built-in LEDs and a separate magnifier.
I decided to review the deluxe model as it gave me the opportunity to see the ‘extras’ and report on those, as well as everything else which was common to both Aqua Dragon packs.
Aqua Dragons Features
The Aqua Dragons kit is an award-winning item suitable for children from 6 years all the way up to adult. You get eggs which you ‘hatch’ in water and then look after the ‘dragons’ anytime up to 6 months. Reported to hatch in 2 – 3 days and to take minimal care.
The instruction booklet includes a life-cycle chart and also uniquely, a ‘Responsibility Certificate’, which gets children to sign up to promise to feed, oxygenate, maintain and treat the live beings with respect.
You can see the contents of the Aqua Dragon Deluxe in this video:
Simply add boiled (and cooled!) or bottled water to the tank, add the eggs packet and stir thoroughly. Keep in a warm bright place (but not sunlight) and you’ll get Aqua Dragons hatch and swim about. You feed occasionally as described in the booklet with the food provided and you simply watch these unusual creatures grow, sometimes up to 3/4″ (2cm).
The Deluxe version has 4 blue LEDS built into the base of the tank which can be switched on at night to illuminate the water. This is a really neat feature as I found that it showed up the Aqua Dragons really well as they swam about the tank.
Dimensions
6″W x 1.5″D x 6″H (15.2W x 3.8D x 15.2H cm)
10.6oz (299g)
Accessories
- Aqua Dragon eggs
- Food
- Pipette
- Feeding spoon
- Magnifier (DeLuxe version only)
- Built-in LEDs (DeLuxe version only)
- Batteries included (DeLuxe version only)
Pros
I like the simplicity of the Aqua Dragons Deluxe kit – a ‘just add water and enjoy’ package which is fairly unique
when compared to others such as butterfly kits or worm farms. You can also get results pretty quickly, typically 2 to 3 days.
Everything you need is included in the kit and this can be undertaken at home or at school. Whilst the ‘dragons’ name is a bit tongue-in-cheek, they are nevertheless real creatures that are quite fascinating and that children and animal lovers can enjoy participating in.
The ‘Responsibility Certificate’ is a nice touch, encouraging children to take care of their new dragons.
Cons
The Aqua Dragons are really hard to see. Mine did indeed hatch after 48 hours, but I had to strain to see them. The magnifier supplied certainly helped, but they really are very tiny.
Even after a week, these creatures were really small. At this point (as an adult) I was intrigued to be able to see their tiny fins, again with the magnifier, but will young children have lost interest by this time with something so small? Something you should consider.
You need to keep on top of oxygenation and feeding.
Eggs sometimes appear not to hatch for some people.
Ratings
This is one of those products that gets the two extreme ends of the rating scale! It’s clear that people have problems with the Aqua Dragons Deluxe Deep Sea Habitat and equally the Aqua Dragons Underwater World kit.
Some people got nothing, some people got something and then suddenly had nothing, and some people got great results and even a second brood!
It’s very difficult to assess these reports remotely. Did they really undertake everything as instructed? I think some of the instructions are critical to getting the conditions exactly right. See my tips below.
Summary
I’ll be honest – I was fascinated by these unusual creatures and so I was interested to see progress. If you are a like-minded adult then you will probably enjoy this too.
However, will your child be patient for a few days before seeing anything? Will they be interested to see something so tiny and for (them) a reasonably long time? Will they be able to stick to a regime of feeding and oxygenation if the creatures can’t be seen that easily? Bear that in mind.
If you do decide to try this kit out, here are my tips to get the best out of it:
Aqua Dragon Tips
- Used bottled water preferably.
- If you have to use boiled water, wait at least 24 hours to allow any chlorine to dissipate before putting it in the tank.
- Keep the tank in a warm, bright place, but not in direct sunlight.
- When you add the eggs to the water, stir for at least a minute – the pack also contains ingredients to create the correct salinity for that size of tank.
- For similar reasons, it seems inappropriate to only use half a packet and save half the eggs for later as I presume the salinity (saltiness) of the water that the Aqua Dragons need would not be right.
- Don’t feed the Aqua Dragons for the first 4 to 5 days.
- Feed every 4 to 5 days after that, the amount depends on how many Dragons you have. See booklet.
- Aerate or oxygenate the tank every day, especially for the first month. I think the instructions are a bit vague on this point. I fully insert the pipette before squeezing the bulb so that the air bubbles spend the longest time in the water to dissolve the most oxygen. Personally, I did this 50 times (it’s only a minute of your life!) to ensure I maximised the oxygen injected. I repeated this every day and had a couple of dozen creatures survive.
- Don’t be tempted to put anything else in the tank. I was thinking about putting in the sand at the bottom of the tank to add a bit of interest and also to aid stability but quickly realised that unless the sand was sterilised I’d be putting the creatures at risk of contamination. Maybe I’ll try that experiment in another session and report back, but don’t be tempted yourself in the meantime in case it creates a problem.
I hope those tips help your experience with the Aqua Dragon (Deluxe or otherwise) should you decide to buy this kit. Perhaps you’d be kind enough to feedback on your results. You can leave
comments at the bottom of the page.
In the meantime, if you want my recommendation I always buy my kits from Amazon whenever I can. I’ve never been let down – the service is quick, products always arrive in one piece and the price is always very difficult to match elsewhere. So these are my recommendation. See below for country-specific products:
| Aqua Dragons Deluxe Deep Sea Habitat | |
|---|---|
| For the UK: | For the US: |
| No longer available but see the Sea Monkey page for something similar | |
| Aqua Dragons Underwater World | |
| For the UK: | For the US: |
| No longer available but see the Sea Monkey page for something similar | |
My Results With The Aqua Dragons Deluxe
Firstly, I made sure I complied with all the instructions to the letter. If I am going to be reporting on results, it’s obviously important I carried out all the appropriate stuff. This applies whether you have the Aqua Dragons Deluxe, reviewed here, or the Aqua Dragons Underwater World version.
Within a few days, I could see that I had a few dozen shrimps. I have to say though – they are really small! In fact, they are so small at that early stage that I would be completely unsurprised that some people reported that no eggs hatched, simply because they can so easily be missed. If it wasn’t for the fact that I really wanted to report some success that I spent so much time looking for evidence!
No wonder the magnifying glass is included LOL.
I don’t state that as a major negative, I’m just trying to impress upon you that in the early stages, you may not see much if anything at all. So stay patient.
Here are my results after just 3 days. I filmed a close-up to see the shrimp. The picture of the dragons head in the video is 12mm (1/2″) wide to give you a sense of scale:
Yep. I said the shrimps were small, didn’t I? Still, it clearly shows several dozen creatures moving about which was pretty good going after just a short space of time. I kept oxygenating with the pipette and only feeding the minimum amount needed.
After 2 more days, you can begin to see the shapes of the ‘dragons’.
And finally, after 10 more days, I was able to get close-ups which nicely show the shape and even the side fins of these interesting creatures:
I always buy my kits from Amazon whenever I can. I’ve never been let down – the service is quick, products always arrive in one piece and the price is always very difficult to match elsewhere. So these are my recommendation. See below for country-specific products:
| Aqua Dragons Deluxe Deep Sea Habitat | |
|---|---|
| For the UK: | For the US: |
| No longer available but see the Sea Monkey page for something similar | |
| Aqua Dragons Underwater World | |
| For the UK: | For the US: |
| No longer available but see the Sea Monkey page for something similar | |
My results were based on using the Aqua Dragons Deluxe which is also featured in the above table.
References:
http://www.world-alive.net/pages/faq-aqua-dragons-3
http://aquadragons.net/pages/instructions
