Easy & Effective - Nutramar Live Algae
Nutramar has been making the highest quality aquarium food for a long time. They offer two different formulas for their pellet and shots, (Complete & Algae and Color Boost) in both freshwater and marine formulas. Easily fed, high protein and a broad nutrient mineral spectrum are the hallmarks of everything they make. This same quality extends to their live foods, including their live algae products which we utilize here in house and have a place in every marine aquarium, and further should be considered a requisite for healthy reef tank systems.
All these Live Algae products contain either a single strain, or a blend of different algae strains. They can be target fed or added directly into aquariums or refugiums and dosed into established tanks or during cycling. They help control dissolved nutrients, enhance stability and supply a nutritious food source for micro inverts like copepods (Nutramar Tigrio) as well as macro inverts like your corals and clams.
The most popular of all these products is Phyto CRIT, which is the most diverse blend and as such, has the widest spectrum of uses. If you're going to pick just one of the Nutramar Live Algae products, this is a great choice. It contains Chaetoceros, Rhodomonas, Isochysis and Tetraselmis. It's a perfect blend for seeding new systems and is an excellent food for copepods and amphipods as well as clams, sponges, feather dusters, gorgonians, NPS and SPS corals.
The two other blended algae products available from Nutramar are Phyto TC and Phyto IC. The Phyto TC contains Tetraselmis and Chaetoceros. Together these two strains provide ideal proteins, fatty acids and phytonutrients that support healthy micro inverts like copepods and will also be utilized by your other filter feeders. Phyto IC contains Isochysis and Chaetoceros, these are chosen specifically for the different Omega-3 fatty acids present in each strain. It is an ideal food for polyps, corals and other filter feeders.
Dosing your Live Algae is really easy. Start by adding between 15 and 30 milliliters for every 50 gallons of system volume, once per day. New tanks should start at the 15ml level and very densely stocked, established tanks could be dosed as high as 50ml/50gal/per day. If your system is capable of this kind of dosage, we suggest splitting the dose into at least two additions.
Simply add your measured amount to your tank, preferably into the flow from a powerhead, a refugium, or the return from your sump. Always turn off your protein skimmer before adding Nutramar Live Algae and leave it off for about 30 minutes afterward. The influx of fats and nutrients will make your skimmer hyper-effective, and it could produce a very watery skimmate. You can dose the Algae at the same time you feed and to that end, the blends and monocultures can also be (gently) target fed to things like corals, clams, feather dusters etc with a baster or pipette. Turn the system’s flow off when this is happening so your inverts get as much of the Live Algae as possible. When target feeding, don't exceed the maximum daily dose for the system.
If you're interested in feeding the different alga individually, Nutramar also offers some unblended cultures like ISO which is 100% Isochysis. This is a golden alga with a long history in aquaculture because of its excellent nutritional value and heavy dose of omega-3. It's frequently used to feed rotifers and baby brine to increase their nutritional value (gut loading). On its own, ISO is also an excellent food for bivalves.
Rhodo is another pure culture, made up of 100% Rhodomonas, a red alga that is heavy on phycoerythrin. Phycoerythrin is a light harvesting protein; using Rhodo so seed tanks can help prevent and combat undesirable algae breakouts. It will get consumed by micro-inverts as well as your corals and sponges, which will both benefit from the high levels of Omega-3.
Nanno is another unblended alga. We use it in house for feeding the rotifers that are food for our larval fish program. It's a great, stable food source for all micro-inverts like copepods and amphipods. It's a solid nutritional base for any filter feeder because it is small enough for anything to eat it. It can be target fed but is also a perfect food to dose in general.
When used / dosed correctly, there is literally no downside for using live Algae in any of your marine tanks. It makes every aquarium a healthier place, and in reef aquariums can be the difference between your corals thriving or merely living. There are many components to keeping a brilliant and colorful reef aquarium, and food should be considered just as important, if not more important than light. If you can choose to feed a live, nutritious food to your filter feeders, why wouldn't you? Well, that time has come, just head to your Local Fish Store and get some Nutramar Live Algae today!