Live Reef Starter Pack

Reef Starter Pack – Live Copepods + Phytoplankton

Seed your reef tank with live nutrition and a thriving micro-ecosystem.

Our Reef Starter Pack provides everything needed to establish a healthy population of beneficial microfauna in your reef aquarium. Perfect for new tanks, refugiums, or replenishing pod populations for pod-eating fish.

What’s Included

16 oz Live Phytoplankton Culture Blend

• Freshly harvested
• Reef-safe and nutrient rich
• Feeds copepods, corals, and filter feeders

16 oz Live Copepod Culture Blend

• Thousands of live pods
• Excellent natural food source for reef fish
• Helps seed refugiums and rockwork

Species included: 

• Tisbe Biminiensis

• Tigriopus californicus

Why Add Pods & Phyto to Your Tank?

Adding live phytoplankton and copepods helps:

✔ Establish a natural food chain

✔ Feed corals and filter feeders

✔ Support pod-eating fish like the Mandarin Dragonet

✔ Improve biodiversity in reef aquariums 

How to Use

1. Turn off pumps and skimmer.
2. Add copepods to your tank or refugium.
3. Wait 10–15 minutes.
4. Dose phytoplankton near the return flow.
5. Best added after lights out.

Shipping

• Ships Monday–Wednesday to prevent delays
• Packed in insulated packaging
• Live arrival guaranteed

Perfect For

• New reef aquariums
• Refugiums
• Coral feeding
• Pod-eating fish
• Maintaining biodiversity

Bundle & Save

Upgrade to our Reef Pro Pack and receive:

• 32 oz Phytoplankton

• 32oz Copepods

• Extra pod density

📦 Why We Can Safely Ship Phytoplankton & Copepods with Ground Advantage

Unlike many live aquarium animals, phytoplankton and copepods are much more tolerant of short transit times and can safely travel using USPS Ground Advantage in most weather conditions. This allows us to offer a more affordable shipping option while still maintaining healthy, viable cultures upon arrival.

🦠 Phytoplankton is Extremely Resilient
Live phytoplankton cultures can remain stable for several days in transit when properly packaged. They do not require oxygen injection like fish or shrimp and are much less sensitive to temporary darkness during shipping.

🦐 Copepods Travel Well in Dense Cultures
Copepods are hardy microcrustaceans that naturally experience changing conditions in the wild. When packed correctly with adequate water volume and oxygen exchange, they typically ship very well through Ground Advantage.

🌡️ Careful Packaging Matters
We package all live cultures carefully to help maintain stable temperatures and reduce stress during transit. Orders are packed with the health of the culture in mind to maximize live arrival success.

💲 Lower Shipping Costs for Customers
Using Ground Advantage allows us to keep shipping costs reasonable while still delivering healthy live cultures to your door.

While Ground Advantage is generally safe for phytoplankton and copepods, we may delay shipping during extreme weather conditions to protect the quality of your order.