Pack size
100 mL
Water type
Marine
F2 Starter 100ml 1ml per 1L of Saltwater
Grow your own phytoplankton at home, dosed to the millilitre. Reefalicious F2 Starter 100 mL is a concentrated nutrient medium for culturing live marine phytoplankton, sold by the Australian live-foods brand Reefalicious. It's added to a saltwater culture vessel – not directly to the display tank – to keep phytoplankton dividing and ready to feed to copepods, rotifers, clams and other filter feeders.
Key features
- Concentrated nutrient medium – one 100 mL bottle doses up to 100 litres of saltwater culture, at 1 mL per litre.
- Works out to $0.50 per litre of saltwater treated – each bottle doses 100 litres at the standard 1 mL per litre rate.
- Feeds a standing phyto culture – keep a jar going under light indoors, rather than buying bottled phytoplankton on a schedule.
- Simple, repeatable dosing – measured by the millilitre, so top-ups are consistent once you've set a rhythm.
- Pairs with a starter culture – this product is the fertiliser, not the algae itself; you'll need a live phytoplankton culture to inoculate the vessel (see Reefalicious Live Phytoplankton, sold separately).
Specifications
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| SKU | BA8669 |
| Brand | Reefalicious |
| Product type | Phytoplankton culture medium (nutrient fertiliser) |
| Bottle size | 100 mL |
| Dosing rate | 1 mL per litre of saltwater |
| Water type | Marine / saltwater |
Dosage and directions
How to dose it
Add 1 mL of F2 Starter per litre of saltwater in your phytoplankton culture vessel – for a 2 litre jar, that's 2 mL. Dose each time you top the culture up with fresh saltwater, or on the schedule recommended for your phytoplankton strain. Keep the culture under light with gentle aeration; a healthy culture typically turns a deeper green over 3–5 days.
Suitable for, and not suitable for
Suitable for: hobbyists culturing their own live phytoplankton at home to feed copepods, rotifers, clams, feather dusters and other filter feeders.
Not suitable for: dosing directly into a display tank or sump – this is a fertiliser for a separate culture vessel, not a tank additive. It isn't a substitute for a bottled, ready-to-dose phytoplankton product such as Reefalicious Live Phytoplankton.
Storage
Store in a cool, dark place out of direct sunlight and keep the cap tightened between uses. Reefalicious doesn't publish a shelf life for this product; if the medium changes colour, smells off, or a culture stops responding to it, treat it as spent.
Goes well with
- Reefalicious Live Phytoplankton – the fastest way to start, or restart, a culture, since F2 Starter is the fertiliser, not the algae.
- Reefalicious Live Copepods and Reefalicious Live Rotifers – feed your home-grown phytoplankton straight to a pod or rotifer culture.
Warranty and delivery
Covered by the consumer guarantees under Australian Consumer Law, in addition to any manufacturer terms. As a liquid product, freight options may be limited on some delivery methods – check available options for your postcode at checkout.
Common questions
Is this the algae itself, or the food for the algae?
It's the food. F2 Starter is a nutrient medium that fertilises a live phytoplankton culture – you'll still need a starter culture of live phytoplankton to inoculate it.
Can I dose it straight into my display tank?
No. It's designed for a separate culture vessel. Dosing a concentrated nutrient medium into a display tank or sump risks a nutrient spike and an algae bloom you didn't intend.
How long will one 100 mL bottle last?
At the standard 1 mL per litre rate, 100 mL doses 100 litres of culture in total – how long that lasts in practice depends on how often you top up or start a fresh batch.
What strain of phytoplankton does this feed?
Reefalicious doesn't publish strain-specific dosing advice, so treat 1 mL per litre as the standard starting rate for a general-purpose marine phytoplankton culture, and adjust based on how your culture responds.
