It should go without saying that the hermatypic, stony, reef-building corals will dominate most reef aquaria. Thankfully, so long as (1) key water parameters are monitored, (2) the appropriate light conditions are provided and (3) nutritious planktonic foods are present, these beautiful plant-animal symbiotic combos easily flourish even in the care of novice hobbyists. Especially …
Phytoplankton
Keeping corals and other planktivorous invertebrates in the home aquarium is easier–and one’s chances of long-term success are better–than ever before. Indeed, aquarists are now breeding species thought to be nearly impossible to keep just a decade ago. So, what’s changed? It’s certainly not as though the animals have changed. What has changed is way we care for them. Among the biggest improvements we’ve made is the greater quality and availability of specialized feeds (such as live, planktonic microalgae) for these species. Maybe the best example of this is coraliculture. Coral foods in the early days of reef aquarium keeping were quite unimpressive. As in, made out of stuff like chicken eggs. The results were generally disappointing. We pretty threw the towel at coral foods altogether until fairly recently. And corals did alright without–certainly better than in the 1990s! But corals were still rather… blah. At least compared to what we see today. Of course, to a huge extent, the mindboggling variety and dazzling colors that aquarists now take for granted have come from decades of selective cultivation by extremely dedicated farmers. That said, much of this happy development owes to our better understanding of coral nutrition. Central to this are live phytoplankton products. There are now a handful of “phyto” aquarium foods on the market nowadays. These vary from one another in several key aspects. Cost, convenience and performance are major considerations by users; arguably, it is the last of these that is most important—at least to your aquarium inhabitants! In terms of quality, the best phyto products are live (rather than dead and preserved), mixed-species products. Moreover, they are completely nutritionally balanced. Products containing intact, living cells are much cleaner than those made of dead stuff. Live products also produce less pollution. Live (and multiplying) phyto actually removes waste products from the aquarium water! Clearly, there is a lot about phytoplankton for the discerning reef aquarist to know! In this section you will learn what role phytoplankton play in reef environments, why they are so nutritious and how use phyto products most effectively to reduce nutrient levels and feed pods, corals, clams and other animals in the reef aquarium.
Eliminating Detritus in the Refugium
Ever feel like no matter how much time you spend cleaning your tank, it can never really ever get clean? Detritus build-ups can be especially frustrating as they seem to come from nowhere and seriously compromise the healthy and natural appearance of an otherwise beautiful exhibit. One solution is to construct the system in such …
Phytoplankton
The first link in a food chain is always a primary producer (i.e. algae, plants, various types of bacteria). This is because all other living things—consumers—are incapable of synthesizing organic substances from inorganic ones. Primary producers rely on inorganic sources of energy (sometimes chemical, but usually from light). Using this energy, they take substances such …
Phytoplankton, Macroalgae, or BOTH?
As marine aquarists, we might think of algae as being divided into three (maybe four) distinct categories: the benthic (i.e. bottom-dwelling) microalgae, the open-water microalgae and the macroalgae. The first group consists of the film/turf-formers, the second group consists of the phytoplankton and the third group consists of the larger, plant-like seaweeds. The first group …
Kickstarting Your New Refugium
Whether it’s just been installed as part of a bone-dry, newly set up aquarium system or as an add-on to a well-established, heavily stocked reef tank, you’ll probably want your new refugium to be operating at its peak performance from the onset. Seeding the right beneficial organisms in the right amount at the right time …
A Copepod Cornucopia: How to Maintain a Continuous Live Food Source in Your Reef Aquarium
Some of us aquarists are satisfied just to find a pod or two in our systems—just to know that they’re still there! Then again, some of us are always reaching for that endless bumper crop. Those who push for ever higher copepod yields might indeed be on to something really big. Let Them Eat Pods …
Using Phytoplankton to Control Bad Algae
Despite their lush appearance, natural coral reefs are extremely nutrient-poor environments. Corals everywhere should be just fine with that, since it means less pressure to compete for space with benthic (that is, growing on the sea floor) microalgae. Planktonic microalgae, on the other hand, are predictably delivered to the reef from adjacent, comparatively fertile open …
Boosting Reef Aquarium Diversity With Live Phytoplankton
Saltwater aquarium keeping certainly come a long way in a relatively short period of time. Heck, we only started widely using live rock about a quarter century ago. Nowadays, almost any coral reef species (provided that it is not protected) can be obtained in the aquarium livestock trade. Sadly, however, not all of these can …
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Stocking a Refugium
Marine aquaria have a peculiar way of growing (in terms of both size and complexity) over time. These “add-ons,” be they filtration units, reactors, or whatever, grow from the so-called main tank in an almost organic manner. But, no matter how elaborate an aquarium set-up becomes, the sum of all the parts can always be …
Pods In Your Reef: Seeding a Marine Aquarium with Copepods
Benefits of Pods In Your Reef: Microcrustaceans (or “pods”) in general, and copepods in particular, are an integral component of aquatic food webs. This is so in virtually every marine environment including coral reef habitats. Therefore, pods in your reef are a healthful addition to any reef aquarium. Lucky, a handful of useful copepod species …
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Mandarin Goby Fish Care | Using Copepods to keep a Mandarin Dragonet
Mandarin Goby Fish Care 101: Foods and feeding are the foremost concern for any aquarist wishing to keep a marine mandarin fish (Synchiropus splendidus). Most critical in the diet of a mandarin is (1) constant availability of feeding opportunities and (2) food sources that are varied but primarily consist of enriched pods. If you get …
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Thalassiosira: Big, Brown and Beneficial
There are a multitude of uses for live phytoplankton in aquaculture and marine aquarium keeping. These uses can be nearly as varied as the types of animals it is used for. Luckily, there are many different types of phytoplankton available to suite these many uses. Aside from factors like nutritional content, one of the key …
Isochrysis: The Microalgal Reef Aquarium Superfood
A golden marine phytoflagellate, Isochrysis (sometimes referred to by aquarists simply as “Iso”) is classified as: Prymnesiophyta (Phylum); Prymnesiophyceae (Class); Isochrysidales (Order); Isochrysidaceae (Family); Isochrysis (Genus). The genus is comprised of marine, free-living, unicellular flagellate haptophytes.
Tetraselmis: The Big and Fatty Alga
There is probably no single type of microalgae that is ideal as feed for a varied community of captive animals (such as a reef tank). Thus, the best phytoplankton-based aquarium foods are really blends, carefully formulated to meet the dietary needs of diverse creatures ranging from copepod nauplii to suspension-feeding tube worms. Sometimes candidates for …
Getting Your Greens: The Benefits of Feeding Live Nannochloropsis
Most of us want—and should want—our aquarium systems to more or less function ecologically in a way that resembles natural marine environments. Probably the most critical aspect of this is establishing a naturalistic food web. Unicellular, free-living, perpetually suspended algae (i.e. phytoplankton) account for a great deal of primary productivity in areas over or close …
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Feeding Your Hungry Pods
Marine aquarists are really attempting to accomplish several goals when introducing copepods to their systems. These undoubtedly include elimination of detritus, controlling nuisance algae and providing excellent nutrition for countless reef fish and invertebrate species. But the general aim, of course, is to create a more dynamic and balanced captive ecosystem. After all, copepods are …
Fats, Phytoplankton and Aquarium Animal Health
We are often (and should be) concerned about how much food some of our more finicky or delicate aquarium animals are eating—or if they are eating at all. Too often, however, inadequate attention is paid to food quality. Without doubt, diet has an enormous impact on the health, appearance and even behavior of our marine …
Mixed Microalgal Feeds for a Balanced Nutrition
Primary producers—those organisms (e.g. plants such as algae) that build new biomass from inorganic sources of energy—form the very base of all food chains. They are of most obvious importance to herbivores. But, of course, without producing the material upon which herbivores feed, nothing else down the chain could exist. And the dependence of carnivores …
Keeping and Feeding the Sun Corals
Reef aquarium keepers are always looking for that one oddball “piece” of coral that will really make their aquarium display shine. Sometimes this is just something a little different in terms of ecology or behavior. Other times it is something that is atypical in terms of shape or placement. Quite often it is something that …
Carnation Corals in the Home Aquarium: A New Hope of Success?
Advancements in the reef aquarium hobby have been developing at a dizzying pace. As our understanding of coral reef biota (and how to care for them in captivity) grows, many more tools are becoming available to those who wish to keep increasingly specialized aquarium systems. As of late, there has been a particularly strong interest …
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