Review on 🌊 Boost Coral Health with Reef Phytoplankton - 250 mL / 8.5 fl. oz. by Eduardo Reyes

Seachem invests resources in rigorous research and development. Their products are some of the best in the business and most are reasonably priced. This product is designed to add marine phytoplankton to your aquarium. Many invertebrates are filter feeders. I keep six freshwater mussels (Corbicula species) in my tank. These are filters. They feed by filtering algae and microorganisms from the water. So no, you can't throw flakes into the water. The problem is that every invertebrate food on the market is designed for use in the marine environment. salty water. They are designed to feed on coral, mollusks and marine invertebrates. Therefore, it took some time to find a product that would also work in freshwater environments. Many invertebrate products on the market are living organisms suspended in water. They don't work for freshwater shellfish. Why? Because these marine organisms die in fresh water. Seachem is a concentrated product made from preserved organisms. Phytoplankton or seaweed if you like. In my very limited experience, this works better as a live food for freshwater environments. The phytoplankton in Seachem are dead but retain their nutritional value. Okay, listen, if you're a shellfish, you might prefer something lively and flavorful. But sometimes even privileged molluscs living in First World countries have to make do. Feeding options for freshwater mussels just aren't that many. How to better adjust freshwater mussels to your relationship with food. Feeding at the recommended rates will not work for freshwater mussels. You see, the feeding rates have been calibrated to feed sea shells. Marine molluscs obtain most of their food through photosynthesis. So these liquid products are optional. This does not apply to freshwater shellfish. They should get all of their nutrition from what they can filter from the water. And in a freshwater aquarium, there won't be much edible stuff. Most fresh water tanks are over-filtered and there are not enough green algae in the water. You must feed daily. Do this carefully on a full cycle mature tank and you won't have an ammonia spike. Most freshwater mussels begin to filter when the light is turned on. Give them some time to wake up and start filtering. Don't rely on the lining. Do not dose product near shellfish. This product has a very high salinity to preserve algae and because it is designed for use in the marine environment. Pour your dose far enough away from the mussels that they don't get a dose of sodium chloride. Salt can easily kill your freshwater clams. Turn off the filter while feeding. Your shellfish can't compete with your filter. You don't want the filter to remove phytoplankton before the mussels have a chance to feed. There just isn't much information out there about freshwater mussels. I want to share my experience. Feel free to skip if you get bored. I have six freshwater clams in a 20 gallon tank. Six tetras and four Amano shrimp also share this glass apartment. This is a moderately planted aquarium. I am very careful not to put any copper in this tank. Most plant fertilizers contain copper. Many fish products contain copper. So let me warn you Before adding shrimp and shellfish, make sure the tank is fully developed and mature (at least a year old). Also, make sure all your fish are very healthy. Because? Because you cannot heal this aquarium after adding shellfish. Shellfish are very, very sensitive to whatever you add to the water. Even their copper-free preparations can kill them. If you get an I Attack in a clam tank, you may have to make a choice. Save the fish and kill the shellfish or sacrifice the fish. Keep in mind. This isn't my first clam rodeo, folks. I've learned a lot in the last five years and experienced a lot of defeats. Shellfish do not tolerate medication. Do not use Fluorish Excel Liquid Charcoal in aquaria with shellfish. Fluorish Excel is a very good source of CO2 for plants and also has the added benefit of killing algae in the aquarium. Which is good in most aquariums with plants. But it's deadly to shellfish. The chemical itself is dangerous to shellfish. And the fact that it kills floating algae is bad, because clams feed on algae. The only plant fertilizer I use in this aquarium is a product from Aguarium Co-op. This is a shrimp safe liquid fertilizer called "Easy Green". Dose half of the recommended amount. I removed the foam sponge from the Seachem Tidal 35 power filter. I only use bagged matrix stones in this filter. However, I set the filter to the lowest level during feeding. After adding phytoplankton to Seachem I leave it on the lowest setting for about 4 hours to allow the clams to feed. I give a cap over water. I let the product dissolve. Do not worry. This product is concentrated. No need to muddy the water. After two hours I check whether the mussels are eating. If so I will add another cap. Wait a few more hours and then turn the filter back on to the maximum flow rate. I've had these clams for 2 months now. I bought six and have six left. Another product that works is Microvert by Kent Marine. Use Kent as a side, but use Seachem as a main. I tried Two Little Fishies' Phytoplan. Phytoplan is a powder that you mix with water. It's not very suitable for my purposes. The powder floats on the water surface. It is difficult to satiate him. Keeping freshwater mollusks in an aquarium has its own problems. You can make this easier by keeping an invertebrate-only aquarium. In other words, no fish. The problem is that the fish get sick and then you have to treat them. Shellfish do not tolerate medication. Google Freshwater mussel die-off. These creatures are so delicate that most biologists don't even know what kills them in our rivers. Keep chemicals out of your aquarium if you have shellfish. I want to say that this product is highly recommended. This is not an ideal solution for freshwater shellfish. But it works. The best way is to grow your own algae. But that's not easy. And who needs an aquarium with muddy green water. It's difficult to cultivate. You don't want to contaminate the water in the tank. Because, you guessed it, shellfish are delicate. They are much more delicate than the cherry shrimp that most people keep. Use this Seachem because it is the best alternative. This is a very good product.