Instantiate GameObject like particle

Hi , I have a gameobject with a loop animation. I wanted to do a particle effect with it but it seems I can't do this in unity. my only option seems to be transforming the gameobject into a prefab and then instantiate this prefab over and over again to have a particle like effect.
My idea is to generate a particle then access every emitted particle and then instantiate and relate my prefab to that. but how do I access every emitted part? I'll appreciate if you help me with this.
thanks