Protocol-ready benthic sampling gear, built by field scientists — at a fraction of legacy-supplier prices.
The same equipment your OBBN and CABIN surveys demand, with practical upgrades like our built-in petri-dish lid. For conservation authorities, consultancies, labs, and independent scientists alike — buy a single unit or order in bulk.
Benthic and aquatic monitoring instruments designed and priced for the field — the Bug Box for the sorting bench, the D-Net for the kick sample, the Riffle Stick for the stream, and the Digital Microscope for specimen work. Sold to institutions, labs, consultancies, and individual scientists alike: buy a single unit or order in bulk. Free shipping on every order over $349.99.
A Marchant-style subsampling tray for benthic macroinvertebrate analysis. A 10×10 grid removes selection bias when subsampling under OBBN and CABIN protocols. Our watertight lid doubles as a built-in petri dish for sorting and picking — a practitioner upgrade the legacy box doesn't have. Spec-identical to the legacy Marchant box, at half the price.
A 500 micron D-frame kick net for benthic macroinvertebrate collection. An aluminum net frame on a wooden handle, built for travelling-kick and riffle sampling under OBBN and CABIN protocols. The net that fills the Bug Box.
A handheld 7-in-1 water quality meter for in-stream field measurement. Designed for the same workflows the Bug Box supports: kick-net sampling days, watershed surveys, classroom field labs. Calibrate once, drop it in the riffle, read the chemistry. Half the cost of comparable lab-supplier pen meters.
A desktop LCD digital microscope for the sorting bench. View specimens at 50× to 1000× on a built-in 4.3-inch screen instead of hunching over an eyepiece, and capture 1080p photos and video straight to a TF card for records, reports, and QA. A natural companion to the Bug Box on subsampling days.
The Busy Biome product roadmap extends beyond benthic sampling and water chemistry. Drop us a line to be first to know when each one moves into pre-order.
The legacy Canadian Marchant Box meets the protocol — and for years it has been the only option, which kept prices high. The Bug Box is spec-identical where it counts, so your data stays directly comparable, and it's designed by people who actually run these surveys. That's why it adds a built-in petri-dish lid for sorting and picking that the legacy box doesn't have — and still costs half as much.
Specs match the published Marchant 1989 design as adopted under OBBN and CABIN. Legacy pricing reflects publicly known Canadian market rates as of 2026.
Environmental monitoring depends on equipment that is often unnecessarily expensive. A Marchant Box, a multi-parameter meter, a properly built sieve set. These are simple, durable pieces of equipment, and the prices have not reflected that. Busy Biome is rebuilding the economics so that conservation authorities, university labs, and community programs can afford the tools they need.
Conservation authorities. University labs. Indigenous Guardian programs. Watershed councils. Students. The people doing the work because they care what the data says, not because anyone is paying premium for it.
Affordability is a tool to expand who can participate in environmental monitoring. Students, small organizations, community monitors, under-funded teams. The price is the point.
Built by people who use this gear in muddy boots beside a stream. Every product decision is made with the actual work in view, not a marketing render of it.
Function before polish. The product exists to produce reliable data. We don't dress it up to justify a markup. We strip it down so the price reflects the value.
No payment, no commitment. Select the products you're interested in — a single unit or a bulk wholesale order — and we'll reply with a formal quote that works with your procurement process.