With over 2000 Bag of Bugs sold we feel it's time for an upgrade! Bag of Bugs now comes with more leaf litter and the added benefit of containing leaves from several different species of tree. This diversity in botanicals is highly beneficial to the microscopic life living out of sight. Through the decomposition of leaves and seed pods, micronutrients become available to fill nutritional gaps in the environment.
 
What exactly does the New Bag of Bugs microfauna culture come with?
 
This is a natural product and some variation is expected but we put a tremendous amount of effort into creating a consistent creature culture. This is not your average microorganism culture, but rather a complete sample of our system. You will get a plethora of micro and macro-organisms along with some of the natural materials that make up their habitat. This natural material includes a portion of fast growing plants (typically hornwort or guppy grass), a mix of leaf litter (may include live oak, willow oak, red oak, sweet gum, various maples, cottonwood and more) and two seed pods. The creatures you will likely see with your naked eye are snails, scuds, seed shrimp, copepods and more. If you have access to a microscope you will be able to see much more! The microscopic world is where all the real magic happens. There you can find beneficial bacteria, heliozoa, vorticella, rotifers, stentor, paramecium, gastrotrich, microscopic worms, and many many more! These out of sight organisms are the foundation of all ecosystems. 
 
Each Bag of Bugs comes with two bags. One for the portion of plant and the other contains the mix of leaves, seed pods and creatures. The only difference between Bag of Bugs and Leafy Bugs cultures is, Bag of Bugs comes with the portion of plant (typically hornwort or guppy grass). The mix of creatures is the same for Bag of Bugs, Leafy Bugs and Bag of Leaves. If you don’t care for the portion of plant then a Leafy Bugs culture is the better option for price.
 
Why is it so vital that your aquarium has lots of biodiversity in its microfauna population?
 
First, biodiversity means variety of life in a habitat or ecosystem. Microfauna means microscopic animals. Microfauna in your aquarium are all the tiny creatures that make their home in the tank’s substrate, plants and décor. Most of these creatures are too small to see with your naked eye but they play a vital role in the long-term stability of the freshwater environment. These aquariums we keep can be much more than a glass box with water and a fish. In fact, your fish will do infinitely better living in an environment that mimics Mother Nature. This will always include a large and diverse population of microorganisms. To put it simply, this diverse group of organisms, along with a natural habitat, make up a food web that feeds itself and in turn creates a buffet of live food for your fish. Fish always are healthier when their diet is a variety of live natural foods. By using natural materials Like dirt, sand, coarse gravel, plants, wood, leaf litter, seed pods and other natural objects you can create a habitat that will support a large healthy population of microorganisms which in turn will support healthy fish.
 
This culture contains scuds. As mentioned before scuds are detritivores and they’re not too picky on the food they eat. They love decaying plant material, many types of algae, leaf litter, over ripe fruits/veggies, fish food and much more. They typically don’t bother your aquarium plants but if their population grows too large and they run out of food they may start nibbling on tender plants and mosses. This is typically only a problem in tanks without fish. If there are fish that can eat them in the system, it is extremely unlikely for the scud population to get out of control and become a problem. On the contrary, the scud population will help feed the fish population as they find a balance with each other.