Reef Phytoplankton, 250 mL / 8.5 fl. oz.

Seachem is a company that invests resources in thorough scientific research. Their products are some of the best in the industry and most are reasonably priced. This product was designed to add marine phytoplankton to your tank. Many invertebrates are filter feeders.I keep six freshwater clams (a Corbicula species) in my fish tank. These are filter feeders. They feed by filtering algae and microorganisms from the water. So no, dumping flakes in the water is not going to work. The problem is, every invertebrate food on the market was designed for marine use. Salt water. They are designed to feed corals, clams, and marine invertebrates. So it took a while to find a product that also works in the freshwater environment.A lot of the invertebrate foods on the market are live organisms suspended in water. They will not work for freshwater clams. Why? Because these marine organisms will die in freshwater. The Seachem is a concentrated product of preserved organisms. Phytoplankton, or algae if you prefer. In my very humble experience, this works better than the live products for a freshwater environment. The phytoplankton in the Seachem are dead but still hold their nutritional value. Okay look, if you're a clam you might prefer something alive and flavorful. But sometimes, even privileged clams living in the First World have to make do. There is just not a lot of option for feeding freshwater clams. So you freshwater clams out there better adjust your attitudes when it comes to food.Feeding at the recommended rates are not going to work for freshwater clams. You see, the feeding rates were calibrated for feeding marine clams. Marine clams get most of their nutrition from photosynthesis. So these liquid foods are supplemental. That is not the case with freshwater clams. They must get all of their nutrition from what they can filter from the water. And there is not going to be a lot of edible yummies in a freshwater tank. Most freshwater tanks are over-filtered and the water does not have enough green algae. You will have to feed daily. Do this carefully on a mature, fully-cycled fish tank, and you will not have an ammonia spike. Most freshwater clams start filtering when the lights come on. Give them some time to wake up and start filtering. Do not target feed. Do not dose the product close to the clams. This product has a very high salt content to preserve the algae and because it was designed for marine use. Pour your dose far enough away from the clams so that they do not get dosed with sodium chloride. Salt can easily kill your freshwater clams. Turn off your filter during feeding time. Your clams cannot compete with your filter. You do not want the filter to remove the phytoplankton before the clams can feed.There is just not a lot of information out there for freshwater clams. I want to share my experience. Feel free to skip if it gets boring. I have six freshwater clams in a 20 gallon tank. Six tetras and four Amano shrimp also share this glass condo. It is a moderately planted tank. I am very careful to avoid putting any kind of copper in this tank. Most plant fertilizers contain copper. A lot of fish foods contain copper. So let me warn you. Make sure the tank is fully-cycled and mature (at least a year old) before adding shrimp and clams. Also, make sure your fish are all very healthy. Reason? Because you will not be able to medicate this tank after you add the clams. The clams are very, very sensitive to anything you add to the water. Even ich medications that do not contain copper can kill them. If you get an ich attack in a tank with clams, you may have to make a choice. Save the fish and kill the clams or sacrifice the fish. Be warned. This ain't my first rodeo with clams, folks. I learned a lot and through many loses over the past five years. Clams will not tolerate medication.Do not use Fluorish Excel liquid carbon in any tank that has clams. Fluorish Excel is a very good source of C02 for plants and it also has the added benefit of killing algae in a fish tank. Which is fine in most planted tanks. But deadly for the clams. The chemical itself is dangerous to the clams. And the fact that it kills floating algae is bad because the clams feed on algae. The only plant fertilizer that I use in this tank is a product made by a company called Aguarium Co-op. It is their shrimp safe liquid fertilizer called "Easy Green". Dose at half the recommended rates.I removed the foam sponge from the Seachem Tidal 35 power filter. I am only using the bagged Matrix rocks in this filter. Even so, I turn the filter to its lowest setting during feeding time. I leave it in this lowest settig for about 4 hours after adding the Seachem Phytoplankton to allow the clams to feed. I dose one capful on top of the water. I let the product disperse. Do not worry. This product is concentrated. You do not need to make the water cloudy. I check to see if the clams are still feeding after two hours. If they are, I will add another capful. Wait a few more hours and then you can turn the filter back to its highest flow rate. I have had these clams for 2 months. I bought six and I still have six.Another food that works is Kent Marine's Microvert. Use the Kent as a supplement, but use the Seachem as the main entree. I have tried Two Little Fishies' Phytoplan. Phytoplan is a powder that you mix in water. It does not work as well for my purposes. The powder floats on top of the water. It is hard to saturate.Keeping freshwater clams in a fish tank has its challenges. You can make it easier by keeping an invertebrate only tank. In other words, no fish. The problem is, fish get sick and then you have to medicate. Clams will not tolerate medication. Do a google search on freshwater mussel die offs. These creatures are so sensitive that most biologists are not even sure what is killing them in our rivers. Keep chemicals out of your fish tank when you have clams.I want to say this product is highly recommended. It's not a perfect solution for freshwater clams. But it does work. The best method is to culture your own algae. But that is not easy to do. And who wants a fish tank with cloudy green water. Culturing is tricky. You do not want to foul the water in the tank. Because, you guessed it, clams are sensitive. They are a lot more sensitive than the cherry shrimps that most people keep. Use this Seachem because it is the best alternative out there. It is a very good product.

I use this for my salt water tank. I buy the larger size and then refill my smaller bottle for easy use. Both my freshwater and salt water tank creatures enjoy this product

Buen precio

This stuff works pretty good. I have a brine shrimp hatchery so I can feed my smaller fish live food everyday. Alone, brine shrimp are not that nutritious. Without adding phytoplankton, it's like feeding my child ice cream for dinner. But if I add phytoplankton, it's like feeding my son ice cream with spinach on top. They love it and it is nutritious. I highly recommend a brine shrimp hatchery for your smaller fish because as I have mentioned in my review for the latest one I have purchased, you have never seen a true feeding frenzy until you pour a batch of freshly hatched brine shrimp into your aquarium. They go crackers over it. I get my hatchery set up with my newest batch and about 5-10 hours before hatching I will pour in a capful or two. That way the shrimp have a chance to eat and absorb it and be a healthier treat to my fish! I know there are benefits to coral from using this product as well but I don't know much about that. I have a freshwater tank.After using phytoplankton for a week or so, I noticed my fish have become a lot more energetic. My corys are always bouncing off the walls and my danios are always chasing each other. It's so much fun to watch. I can see a noticeable difference in their energy level. I love my fish, they are my pride and joy. I would never give them anything I did not think was benefiting them. I recommend getting this stuff for your brine shrimp hatchery, or coral if that is your thing. I have heard good things about using this stuff on coral, but again I don't know much about it.For the price, you get a nice 8.5 oz bottle that will last me quite a while. All-in-all, this was a great buy!

My only problem with this product is the way it pours out of the container. I tried pouring it directly out but it dribbles down the container making a mess. I've tried pouring it into the cap first, within you waste what you have to rinse out of the cap. I feel I'm wasting too much of this product because the neck of the container and the cap or a poor design.

Serves its purpose, keeps electric flame scallops happy. Will not buy again though, because it's expensive and nonliving. Did NOT cause a crazy algae bloom or chemistry spikes when used as directed, which is great. When it's gone, I'll replace it with living phyto from Mercer, so I can culture it on my own.

Figured I would try this brand since it was a little bit cheaper than the normal phytoplankton I buy. Boy was that a mistake! I follow the recommended dosage for both my copepod culture and my tank. Tank became cloudy the next morning and damaged some of the colors I spot fed. It also kill my entire copepod culture the next day as well. Only change I made to the tank was changing up the phytoplankton. Would give 0 stars if I could.

Good item to start feeding and treating cycle for mandarins and other small eaters