Photomicrographs of Plankton Products
DT's Phytoplankton - 400X
DT's appears to contain a single type of cell about 3um in size. These are most likely Nannochloropsis sp. The formulation of this product changes frequently - since this photo was taken some other species of phytoplankton have been added (see below).
This more recent photo depicts the current formulation of DT's Phytoplankton: a mix of Nannochloropsis oculata, Nannochloropsis salina, and Chlorella sp.
Kent Marine Phytoplex - 400X
Phytoplex is advertised as a Tahitian blend, i.e. three different plankton species, and this does appear to be the case. The smallest cells in the Phytoplex appear to be the same size and species as the cells in the DT's; the largest cells in the Phytoplex are about 7-9um in size.
Also of note, the cells all appear to be intact in the Phytoplex, in contrast to popular arguments that it only contains shredded cell parts.
Two Little Fishies Marine Snow - 400X
On the Marine Snow we had to look around a bit to find anything. Marine Snow is advertised as containing amino acids and fatty acids, so it's not just a phytoplankton mix like the previous two. These other ingredients bind the plankton cells into large colloidal "clumps." And, in fact, you can see some Nannochloropsis cells clinging to the large clump captured below.
Kent Marine Zooplex - 400X and 100X
At first we only saw a few strange looking animals in Zooplex at 400X magnification.
Zooming out to 100X, it becomes obvious that these are only detached parts of much larger critters. The ingredients list for Zooplex only lists "Aquacultured marine zooplankton" so we're not sure what exact animals these are.
Kent Marine Chromoplex - 400X
There is a real load of stuff in Chromoplex. This was the same size drop as the other planktons, but there is more in here than any of the others we've looked at so far. There seems to be at least 3 distinct cell types, with the smallest ones almost always clumped together in large masses.
Two Little Fishies PhytoPlan - 400X
Phytoplan also shows at least three different cell types. The largest red ones are the same as in Chromoplex, we believe this is Haematococcus pluvialis. The elongate cells in Phytoplan also look like some of the cells in Chromoplex, but they're red in Chromoplex and green in Phytoplan.
AquaMedic Plankto - 400X
Plankto is more of a blended product, containing ground plankton, algae, yeast and proteins. It does have some of the largest particles by far, all the way up to 200 microns (0.2 mm).
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