microorganisms to colonize aquariums and rocks

If we want to colonize or make our aquarium grow, we start with adding bacteria, then we introduce new sources of food for our bacteria, and finally we can add microfauna and meiofauna.

This article is also available in: italiano

We all know about live rocks and their content of bacteria and microfauna. But the aquaristic world is changing. The live rocks are becoming harder to find and their costs have increased, and many people, me included, have switched to synthetic rocks in order to avoid any unwanted organisms, while others have to use synthetic rocks for lack of alternatives.

In addition, the microfauna may have been decimated by many other issues, like an infestation of dinoflagellates, the use of medicines, cyanobacteria, and other things. This leads to a great problem: the lack of microfauna in aquarium.

Aquarists used to solve this problem with a small piece of live rock, or colonized sand from a friend’s tank, and a lot of patience.

Now you can use Daphbio microfauna and meiofauna eggs

This is a product which contains, according to the technical sheet, the following organisms: microfauna, microrganisms, meiofauna and bacterioplankton. The microfauna is amphipods and copepods, and the meiofuna are even smaller animals, which are fundamental in every marine aquarium. And the bacterioplankton is actually the bacterial part of the plankton that live in the water column.

Here is our video with the presentation of the products. The video is in Italian language, but you can add English subtitles to it.

Daphbio has been developing this product for about 30 years, and over time they improved it by experimenting with the composition of the organisms. The product is made by Daphbio, who assures us that it is 100% biological, and certifies the absence of polluting elements, pesticides, and contaminants in general. The product has to be kept in the fridge.

How to use Daphbio microfauna and meiofauna eggs

Daphbio microfauna and meiofauna eggs can be used to colonize synthetic rocks, by making the perfect starter kit with Daphbio Microfauna Booster and BactoReef (we’ll talk about these products in greater detail at a later date), or it can be used as top quality food for gorgonians, non-photosynthetic animals, and fish with problems like Synchiropus, for example. The dosage is different, depending on what you’re using it for.

You have to dose it with the lights off, and also turn off the skimmer at least one hour before dosing. You can turn it back on the morning after.

Starting a new aquarium: if you want to start a new aquarium with synthetic rocks you need to pour the entire contents of the package in the aquarium, and be sure to follow the rules shown above.

Maintaining the aquarium or recovering after cyanobacteria or other issues: You have to split the content of the package in two, and you have to pour in the second half after a few days, and be sure to follow the rules above.

Obviously, if you only want to feed the fish you can dose it day by day.

The product is so pollutant free that you can’t overdose it. But given the cost we all are going to stick with the recommended doses. In any case, Daphbio recommends using a liter of microfauna and meiofauna eggs for aquariums of 60 to 4000 liters. The cost is 82,50 euro per liter.

How will we use it?

As you know, we’re still cycling our aquarium, which is turning out to take much longer than we thought, so we’re curious to use this product combined with BactoReef and Microfauna Booster, products that we’re going to talk about in the next weeks.

For further information you can consult Daphbio‘s website by clicking here.