Mangrove & More's Live Marine Phytoplankton – Naturally provides needed nutrition for your reef inhabitants, through both directly feeding some reef inhabitants and indirectly feeding others by increasing their food supply.

Nannochloropsis Phytoplankton absorbs undesirable chemicals present in many reef aquariums, such as ammonia, nitrite, nitrates, phosphates, silicates, etc.

Nannochloropsis is extremely nutritious. Most notably, it is very rich in eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). This is a pretty big deal since EPA is one of the most important polyunsaturated fatty acids in the diets of all animals. Animals are incapable of synthesizing many of the fatty acids (including EPA) that are required for normal bodily function and so must obtain them through their diets. Most of the EPA in the natural marine environment is, in fact, ultimately derived from phytoplankton and passed along through zooplankton such as copepods. This is so whether the animal obtains them directly by consuming the algae or indirectly by consuming herbivores (e.g. copepods). Thus, supplementing this important lipid can positively influence the general health of all aquarium animals. It can even help to enhance the coloration of numerous aquarium species, as it is rich in color-enhancing dietary pigments such as astaxanthin, canthaxanthin, and zeaxanthin.

DOSAGE: 1 CAP FULL/10ML TREATS 60 - 70 GALLONS

THIS ITEM WILL BE SENT IN A POUCH TO AVOID BEING DAMAGED IN TRANSIT

Animals that directly feed on phytoplankton include; clams, feather duster worms, tunicates, sponges, soft corals and zooplankton (Copepods and invertebrate larvae) that are prey for stony corals.

Our Live Marine Phytoplankton is a unique concentrated and cleaned live culture with no additives or preservatives.

The combined effects of our live Marine Phytoplankton have not been duplicated with preserved phytoplankton or any other product.

Feeding our Live Marine Phytoplankton to your reef aquarium will greatly increase the population and nutritional quality of copepods and other zooplankton that will be available as food for stony corals.

Phytoplankton often causes coral polyps to extend, but it does not directly feed most stony corals. The benefit provided to stony corals by phytoplankton is to increase the amount of zooplankton available for the corals to feed on. Although copepods do not need to feed on live phytoplankton, the fats that they store are determined by the fats that they consume (in other words, they are what they eat). Therefore; higher quality phytoplankton will produce more nutritious copepods.

Feeding live phytoplankton will also cause the mysid population to bloom by increasing the population of copepods that they feed on.

There is evidence that soft corals, along with Goniopora and gorgonians may also benefit from the direct consumption of phytoplankton.