Zooplankton Live Food Mix: Copepods, Rotifers & Phytoplankton
Your tank is maintained, not alive. The water is clean, the equipment is dialled in, but something fundamental is absent. Corals sit half-extended. Fish pick at food without enthusiasm. The microfauna that should be moving through every layer of the water column simply are not there.
A reef is not fed from the top down. It is fed from the bottom up. Without phytoplankton feeding the base of the food chain, rotifers feeding filter feeders and larval fish, and copepods sustaining the hunters, the ecosystem stalls at every level. Feeding fish alone while the rest of the food web goes without is why so many carefully maintained tanks never fully come alive.
The Zooplankton Live Food Mix brings all three together in a single order: one Reef Shot pouch of live Tigriopus californicus copepods, one of live Brachionus plicatilis rotifers, and one of live Nannochloropsis phytoplankton. Particle sizes span 1 to 400 microns, covering every feeder in the tank from coral polyps and filter feeders up through microfauna and fish.
Dose it once and you will see the tank respond. Corals extend. Filter feeders become visible and active. The water develops the kind of biological energy that cannot be replicated with dry or frozen food alone.
Reefphyto has been culturing these three species from our specialist facility in Wales since 2008. Everything in this mix is produced fresh and dispatched live. Darren is available personally if you have questions about dosing or want to build this into a regular feeding routine.
If you want a single, broad-spectrum live food addition that covers both copepods and rotifers in one culture, the Zooplankton Live Food Mix is the right decision.
Zooplankton Live Food Mix UK: Feed Your Entire Reef Food Web in One Dose
Most reef keepers feed their fish. Far fewer feed their reef. The Reefphyto Zooplankton Live Food Mix is designed to close that gap in a single addition, delivering live Tigriopus californicus copepods, live Brachionus plicatilis rotifers, and live Nannochloropsis phytoplankton together in one order, covering particle sizes from 1 to 400 microns and feeding every level of your reef simultaneously. For keepers who want to understand what live food can do before committing to larger culture volumes, or who want a simple, regular whole-reef dose without managing multiple separate orders, this is where to start.
Why the Whole Food Web Matters, Not Just the Fish
The most common misconception in reef keeping is that feeding the fish is the same as feeding the reef. It is not. A functioning marine ecosystem depends on nutrition being present and moving through every trophic level, from the microscopic phytoplankton that forms the base of the food chain, through the rotifers and copepod nauplii that feed filter feeders and larval fish, up to the adult copepods that sustain hunters like mandarin dragonets, wrasses, and seahorses.
When only the fish are fed, the lower levels of the food web are starved. Filter feeders struggle to capture enough nutrition. Coral polyps extend only partially, deprived of the planktonic particles they evolved to intercept. Microfauna communities remain sparse, and the biological depth that characterises a truly healthy reef never develops. The tank functions, but it does not thrive.
Feeding live phytoplankton, rotifers, and copepods together changes this. Each organism feeds a different set of animals and fills a different nutritional role. Together, they create the kind of planktonic richness that wild reefs maintain continuously and that captive systems are almost universally deficient in.
What Is in the Zooplankton Live Food Mix
Live Tigriopus californicus Copepods
Tigriopus californicus is a harpacticoid copepod measuring 1 to 3mm at adulthood, making it the largest organism in the mix and the most nutritionally dense. Rich in EPA and DHA essential fatty acids and the carotenoid astaxanthin, copepods are the prey that reef fish evolved to hunt. In the mix they serve as the top of the zooplankton range, feeding carnivorous fish, triggering natural hunting behaviour, and contributing the carotenoid pigmentation that brings out the full colour of reef fish over time.
Live Brachionus plicatilis Rotifers
Brachionus plicatilis L-strain rotifers measure 90 to 360 microns, sitting in the middle of the particle size range and bridging the gap between phytoplankton and copepods. They are consumed by filter-feeding invertebrates, tube worms, feather duster worms, and the smaller mouthed fish that cannot take full-sized copepods. In fish breeding programmes they are indispensable as a first-feed for larvae, but in a mixed reef they play a quieter and equally important role in sustaining the filter feeding community and contributing to microfauna diversity.
Live Nannochloropsis Phytoplankton
Nannochloropsis is a single-celled microalgae measuring 2 to 10 microns, which makes it the smallest component in the mix and the most fundamental. It is the dietary base for rotifers, copepod nauplii, and the entire filter feeding and coral community. Corals, sponges, bivalves, and many invertebrates consume phytoplankton directly. Feeding live phytoplankton also sustains any copepod population present in your refugium, which in turn sustains the hunters that depend on them. Without phytoplankton, the base of the food chain in a captive system is permanently absent.
Who the Zooplankton Live Food Mix Is For
Reef keepers trying live food for the first time
The mix is the lowest-commitment way to understand what live food does. Rather than committing to a full culture volume of a single product, the mix delivers a working dose of all three organisms in one order. The difference in coral extension, filter feeder activity, and general tank behaviour following a first live food dose is often visible within 24 to 48 hours. For keepers who have been sceptical about whether live food makes a measurable difference, this is the most straightforward way to find out.
Keepers who want a simple, regular whole-reef feeding routine
Not every reef keeper wants to manage multiple separate culture bottles on a regular schedule. The Zooplankton Live Food Mix allows a single regular addition to cover the whole food web without tracking three separate products, three separate stock levels, and three separate order timings. Dosed once or twice a week alongside regular fish feeding, it provides a consistent planktonic input across all size ranges.
Mixed reef systems with diverse feeding requirements
A mixed reef containing SPS and LPS corals, soft corals, filter feeders, and a variety of fish species has feeding requirements across a very wide particle size range. A single dose of the mix addresses that range in one addition rather than requiring separate products for each feeding niche. The 1 to 400 micron range covers virtually every organism in a diverse mixed system.
Supplementing an existing live food routine
For keepers who already run live copepods regularly but want to add the phytoplankton and rotifer layers without committing to additional full culture volumes, the mix provides both in a convenient combined format. It works as a supplement to an established copepod programme or as a standalone feeding addition during periods when full culture reorders are not yet due.
How to Dose the Zooplankton Live Food Mix
Each component of the mix is supplied as a Reef Shot pouch: ready to use, with no preparation required. Turn off your skimmer and powerheads before dosing to prevent the live organisms being immediately removed from the water column before they can be consumed. Dose the phytoplankton first, the rotifers second, and the copepods last, allowing a few minutes between each addition.
For best results, dose into an area of gentle flow rather than directly into a powerhead outlet. Corals and filter feeders will typically respond within minutes of phytoplankton and rotifers entering the water column. Copepods will distribute naturally through the tank and refugium over several hours, with any that reach the refugium potentially establishing and beginning to reproduce if conditions support it.
For a mixed reef of 100 to 300 litres, weekly dosing of the full mix provides a meaningful planktonic input. Larger systems may benefit from more frequent additions or supplementing the mix with larger culture volume orders of individual products as required.
How the Zooplankton Live Food Mix Compares to Other Reefphyto Products
Understanding where the mix sits in the Reefphyto range helps clarify which product is right for your specific situation.
The Live Zooplankton full culture is a larger volume copepod and rotifer blend suited to regular feeding of well-established reef systems, refugium stocking, and keepers who dose live food frequently and need a larger volume per order. The Zoo-Shot is a single 50ml pouch of live copepods and rotifers designed specifically as a convenient coral-feeding addition with no phytoplankton component. The Zooplankton Multipack is the full food web system: full culture volumes of copepods, rotifers, and phytoplankton together for keepers who want to feed at scale.
The Zooplankton Live Food Mix sits alongside Zoo-Shot in the Reef Shot range as a convenient, entry-level format but uniquely includes all three components, making it the only single product in the range that covers the entire food web from phytoplankton to copepod in one dose. It is the broadest possible live food addition in the smallest, simplest format.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Zooplankton Live Food Mix
Can I use the mix if I already dose live copepods separately?
Yes. The mix complements an existing copepod programme by adding phytoplankton and rotifers to the feeding routine without requiring additional full culture orders. The phytoplankton component will also benefit any copepod population already established in your refugium by sustaining their food source.
How often should I dose the mix?
For most reef systems, weekly dosing provides a consistent and meaningful planktonic input. Heavily stocked tanks with high filter feeder density or a large coral population may benefit from twice-weekly dosing. Darren is happy to advise on dosing frequency for specific tank setups. Contact the team directly if you want a recommendation for your system.
Will the copepods in the mix establish in my refugium?
Any copepods that reach your refugium and survive are capable of establishing and reproducing if the refugium supports a suitable habitat with available food. A single Reef Shot dose is not designed as a refugium stocking product. The Live Copepods full culture or the Copepod Culture Kit is a better choice for that purpose, but incidental establishment can occur and is a benefit of using live rather than frozen or dried zooplankton.
Is this suitable for a new tank setup?
The mix is suitable for any established reef system. For a new tank in the early cycling stages, wait until the system has completed its cycle and parameters are stable before introducing live food. The live organisms in the mix are sensitive to ammonia and nitrite, and will not survive in an uncycled system.
How does this differ from the Zoo-Shot?
The Zoo-Shot contains live copepods and rotifers only, in a 50ml pouch, with a focus on coral and filter feeder feeding. The Zooplankton Live Food Mix adds live phytoplankton as a third component, making it the more complete whole-reef feeding addition. It is the better choice when you want to feed across all trophic levels including the phytoplankton base, rather than targeting corals and filter feeders specifically.
Build Your Complete Live Food Routine
The Zooplankton Live Food Mix works best as part of a consistent live food feeding routine. Keepers who want to scale up from Reef Shot portions to full culture volumes can explore the Live Copepods, Live Rotifers, and Live Phytoplankton pages for larger quantity options. For the full food web in a single multipack order, the Zooplankton Multipack provides all three at full culture volumes with a saving over buying separately. To establish a self-sustaining copepod population in your refugium, the Live Copepods full culture or the Copepod Culture Kit is the natural next step from the mix.
Cultured in Wales, shipped live.