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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 phytoplankton 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.

54 Posts

Corals in a Box of Water: Creating a Natural Reef Tank

We’ve come a long, long way in advancing natural marine aquarium keeping. Those of us who started out in the 80’s with barren
Read More about Corals in a Box of Water: Creating a Natural Reef Tank

Copepods under high magnification

Gutloading Live Microcrustaceans

In the sense that very, very few animals specialize to eat only one thing, all animals are omnivores, and prefer live foods. For
Read More about Gutloading Live Microcrustaceans

A Closer Look at Carotenoid Pigments

Meeting the dietary requirements of a reef aquarium--a delicate microcosm filled with diverse organisms with varied nutritional
Read More about A Closer Look at Carotenoid Pigments

The Whole Package: Integrating AlgaeBarn’s Kits & Combos

AlgaeBarn is hardly the only aquarium hobby-centered business to produce phytoplankton and macroalgae. But we like to think that we’re
Read More about The Whole Package: Integrating AlgaeBarn’s Kits & Combos

A vial of phytoplankton

Phytoplankton Species and their individual Strengths

When purchasing live foods for your tank, many people simply take the shop employee’s advice when handed a jar of unidentified copepods
Read More about Phytoplankton Species and their individual Strengths

Gorgonians in the Marine Aquarium

It should go without saying that the hermatypic, stony, reef-building corals will dominate most reef aquaria. Thankfully, so long as
Read More about Gorgonians in the Marine 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
Read More about Eliminating Detritus in the Refugium

A Falkland Island Phytoplankton Bloom

Phytoplankton

The first link in a food chain is always a primary producer, like phytoplankton (i.e. algae, plants, various types of bacteria). This
Read More about Phytoplankton

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.
Read More about Phytoplankton, Macroalgae, or BOTH?

A micro-brittle star in a refugium

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
Read More about Kickstarting Your New Refugium

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
Read More about A Copepod Cornucopia: How to Maintain a Continuous Live Food Source in Your Reef Aquarium

Beautiful Zoanthid Polyps Growing side by side with algae

Using Phytoplankton to Control Bad Algae

Despite their lush appearance, natural coral reefs are extremely nutrient-poor environments. Not likely to be able to grow too much bad
Read More about Using Phytoplankton to Control Bad Algae

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
Read More about Boosting Reef Aquarium Diversity With Live Phytoplankton

Clean Sea Lettuce direct from our Algae Farm, perfect for your refugium!

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
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pods in your reef, here is a tigriopus copepod

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
Read More about Pods In Your Reef: Seeding a Marine Aquarium with Copepods

A green mandarin on the substrate hunting for algaebarn copepods that make mandarin goby fish care easy

Mandarin Goby Fish Care | Using Copepods to keep a Mandarin Dragonet

Mandarin Fish Care 101: Foods and feeding are the foremost concern for any aquarist wishing to keep a Green Mandarin Dragonet
Read More about Mandarin Goby Fish Care | Using Copepods to keep a Mandarin Dragonet

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
Read More about Thalassiosira: Big, Brown and Beneficial

Isochrysis The Microalgal Reef Aquarium Superfood

Isochrysis: The Microalgal Reef Aquarium Superfood

When imagining scenes from a warm, sunny, tropical coral reef habitat, it is easy to fill the visage with images of those
Read More about Isochrysis: The Microalgal Reef Aquarium Superfood

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).
Read More about Tetraselmis: The Big and Fatty Alga

nannochloropsis

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
Read More about Getting Your Greens: The Benefits of Feeding Live Nannochloropsis

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