A Piece of Maraqua in Your Dry Neohome

Maraquan Petpets come in all shapes ‘n sizes. Some are graceful and affectionate, others will eat you if you’re not careful, and of course there’s the one that’ll leave you lots o’ slime to clean up. Whatever ya pick, in the end they can all be immensely rewarding if cared for right. But they need a lot more than just water and food. You have to supply everything for aquatic Petpets, including water that is the proper temperature and salinity and a large enough tank. Beyond that every species has its own special needs. It takes a little more effort to keep a Maraquan Petpet, but if you listen and don’t talk back you’ll know what you need to know in no time.

    Now, the first mistake new Maraquan Petpet owners make is buying a little fishbowl. The ocean’s big for a reason; Maraquans like room to swim around! To provide a proper aquarium, measure your longest Petpet. The tank should be at least three times as wide as that Petpet, three times as high, and five times as long. Even bigger is better! You can keep one Petpet in an aquarium, or you can house several. Some Petpets don’t do well being housed together, and I’ll tell you about that later. Just be sure that all of your Petpets have plenty of room to swim.

Next put a water heater in the tank, (I give ‘em away free to my customers,) and set it to 60-69° F. If you live near the ocean, you can collect water there. If you live in the city, you’ll have to buy salt and mix it into your tap water, about two cups per gallon. Replace half of the water in your aquarium every week with new water. If you live here in Maraqua, no need to worry since your Petpets can either live in your Neohome or backyard.

Maraquans like to play and hide in rocks and plants. You might also want your aquarium to look like more than a glass box. This is where your decorations come in. You can put almost any non-wood or plushie toy in your aquarium, and there are plenty of water-friendly plants out there. If you go to the underwater fishin’ cave every day, you’ll have lots of kelp and mossy rocks in no time. Assemble it all into a habitat your Petpets will enjoy exploring. Some Petpets have décor preferences, and I’ll tell you ‘bout that in a minute.

Now for the fun part! Maraquan Petpets all come from Maraqua, but each has special needs and preferences you should consider. Now I’ll give you an overview of all the Maraquan Petpets. You can look over my Petpet collection as we go. Oh, by the way, swimming Robotic Petpets from that Space Station can be kept with Maraquans, but you have to regularly clean any salt residue off ‘em.

Noaks are one of the most popular Maraquans. But you wouldn’t believe how much they can eat, so be sure to give ‘em plenty of food. They also have a bad habit of eating anything they can fit into those big chompers of theirs, so don’t put anything mouth-sized in their aquarium.

Surzards are one of only two Maraquans that need access to dry land. When you set up the aquarium, fill half of it with sand above water level so your Surzard has a place to rest. They’re active little buggers, so Surzards require big tanks at least seven or eight times longer than they are.

Since they were originally bred to be castle guards, Arkmites are both aggressive and loyal. Like Surzards they need large tanks and do best as guard fish for an underwater Neohome. If you have to have one and live on land, you’ll need a very large tank for at least two Arkmites, and they don’t mix well with most other Petpets.

The Yoakie is by far the hardiest of all Maraquans. It doesn’t move around much and it loves tight spaces. It does fine in small tanks with lots of rocks as hiding caves. They’re real sweet critters and like going for rides in pockets, purses or even in your hands. Because their bodies soak up so much water, they can even be kept out of water for short periods.

Whatever you get, the Neuky should not be kept by beginners! It is extremely delicate and responds to the slightest change in its water by stinging whoever touches it. (I’ve suffered that a couple times and believe you me, it hurts!) Neukies need to be kept in very calm aquariums with minimal décor and very regular water changes.

Other easy-to-keep Maraquans are Bubblebees; they blow bubbles when they’re happy, which is most of the time. They make great Petpets since they respond to Neopets no matter where they are in the room. But they tend to disturb the water with their bubbles, so they shouldn’t be kept with calmer Petpets like Neukies or Splimes.

An intelligent form of coral, Kora move hardly at all; they don’t need much and they do best in groups of three or more. Because they’re so quiet, they’re excellent tankmates for delicate Maraquans like Neukies.

Lurmans adore Neopets, but unfortunately they make bucket loads of slime when they’re happy. So, even though they are fun and easy-to-keep, they aren’t very popular. A Lurman’s aquarium will need to be cleaned of slime almost daily.

Now, Mundos are used to royal treatment at the Maraquan Palace. They demand lots of space and like a toy castle in their tank. It’s really funny to see ‘em drift around a plastic pink castle like the King or Queen of Maraqua. If their needs are met, they’re pleasant and quiet Petpets who don’t need a lot of attention.

Despite the name, Splimes don’t make slime, taste like lime, or even look like a lime. These neat Petpets require little space and like calm water. They don’t mind being kept alone, but needs rocks and kelp to live in, so they do great with Kora.

There’s quite the debate among scientists as to whether the Sandpoint is an animal or plant. Either way, this bizarre Petpet feels very slimy and is not for the squeamish Neopet. They like a soft bed of sand in their tank, and must be exposed to bright sunlight twelve hours a day. Don’t forget that! If this is done, Sandpoints thrive and turn a really beautiful shade of emerald green.

The Nupie is easily the creepiest Petpet in all of Maraqua. You might not think so at first, but as you look day after day after day into its vacant and never-changing expression, you’ll find out real quick why it’s driven many a Maraquan mad. Consider yourself warned. Other than that, Nupies are easy to take care of.

Darpinches skitter along the ocean floor, so if your tank only houses Darpinches it doesn’t need to be very tall, but instead very long and wide. They are active, playful and, like the Surzard, enjoy time on dry land. But they will do their best to cause trouble by tearing up decorations, re-arranging sand, breaking your heater, and getting into all kinds of mischief. If you keep a tight lid on the tank and don’t mind rearranging your decor every week, they are hilarious to watch and great fun to play with.

Marafins are far and away the most expensive of all Maraquan Petpets. I myself have only seen a few in my lifetime. They’re fragile and have to be kept in very clean, calm water. Because of their friendly nature, they need near-constant companionship. If you don’t live in a Maraquan Neohome where it can follow you around all day, I highly recommend keeping your Marafin with other friendly yet calm fish such as Mundos and other Marafins.

New Maraquan Petpets are being discovered, if slowly. As they are, it’s up to Petpet keepers to learn their characteristics and needs. Beyond the new species, new colors of painted Maraquan Petpets are quickly becomin’ available. For the most part, the color of your Petpet won’t affect it much. But there are exceptions. Right now there’s only one painted Maraquan available, the Snow Arkmite. Because being made of snow obviously changes an Arkmite’s body beyond just color, its needs are different from that of other Arkmites. Its water has to be kept at a frigid 36-44°F so your Petpet won’t melt. As I’m sure you’ve figured out, Snow Arkmites can’t be kept with other Maraquans and will not survive in your Maraquan Neohome’s garden. The only place it can be kept without a water cooler is in a pond on Terror Mountain. But who’d want to live there, anyway?

I haven’t kept any Maraquan painted Petpets such as the Maraquan Warf, myself. If you want to keep a Maraquan painted Petpet with your Maraquan-native Petpets, you’re welcome to give it a try. Just learn about the personalities of the Petpets as shown in their basic descriptions first.

Yes, I know this has been a lot of information. Your little land brain is probably wondering, “Okay, can I keep a Noak with a Lurman? What about Sandpoints and Bubblebees? What kind of decorations should I put in the tank?” To help with your dilemmas, I have listed below some setups. You can try substituting Petpets, just do your research first!

The first setup I call “Nice and Easy.” It’s a medium-sized tank that houses a couple Yoakies and a Mundo. They’re all easy-going and friendly, so you beginners should have no trouble. The Yoakies’ll enjoy a pile o’ rocks and some kelp. As I pointed out before, your Mundo will demand a toy castle to live in. Your land Neopets will doubtless have hours of fun taking the Yoakies out for a few minutes at a time to play with in your dry air.

Next is the “Island Paradise,” a large and long aquarium. About a third of the tank will be filled with sand above water level. Both the water and the sand should have some toys and plants for your evil little Darpinch to play with. A couple Surzards will make use of all the space and perform lots of underwater acrobatics for your enjoyment.

“Slime, Slime, Gulp” is for the Neopet with an appreciation for gross things. You’ll need a largish tank that can either be totally bare or have any decoration that strikes your fancy. The inhabitants are three slimy Sandpoints and one ultra-slime-making Lurman. You’ll have to clean this tank almost every day; however, if you put a Noak in you can do so weekly. Since the Noak will eat anything, I hope you aren’t grossed out when it starts eating the slime.

The “Serenity” tank doesn’t need to be super large, but it must be kept calm, clean and uncrowded. It’s not for beginners since it includes a Neuky who, again, gets sick pleasure from stinging its owner. Your Neuky will float serenely on the surface while three to five Kora will rest on the bottom. Since the Neuky is on top and the Kora are on the bottom, if your Neuky does get in a bad mood, it will not harm its tankmates. You could put in a Splime or two if you feel like it.

This last setup’s not hard to care for, but one of the inhabitants is very expensive: the Marafin. That’s why I call it the “Rich Man’s Tank.” Your prized Petpet can be kept with another Marafin if you’re especially rich, but it will do fine with a Mundo. Since you are rich, I’ll assume it’ll be decorated with gold, pearls, Maractite and other fabulously expensive things.

Well, I hope this little chat has taught you a thing or two about Maraquan Petpets. Now you better go back up to the surface before your oxygen runs out. If you have any more questions, don’t bother me. Neomail Tashni instead, she knows some things. Knowing her, she’d probably get all excited if you neomailed her and let her know if you enjoyed our little chat. I have to get back to work.