[mr.maroonsalty]

Im making this up; throwing it the wall and seeing if it may stick. H2O and CO2 are our most critical molecules; O2 is a critical byproduct provided of the aurotrophs. Basic respiration, right? CO2+H2O+energy>C6H12O6+6O2. Corals are nice in that the ones we keep are heterotrophs hosting autotrophs, but everything else most of us want are simply consumers. The more consumers we have the more CO2 is put back in the system. C6H12O6 +H2O+catalyst>ATP+CO2.

Big stretch here because, there is so much going on with gas exchange between the tank and atmosphere, but all the other benifits aside would not making autotrophs a much more important part of our sytems than a simply light small fuge becomes a huge benefit to a stable system?

We see pH drop in winter in our closed up houses, but is this a result of houses being shut more tightly or is it an environmental response do to winter. I believe it the later. This thread floats back to the top as I am again redeveloping what i hope will be tank worthy of consideration.

None of this is any help to having a load of guests, or cooking a giant meal with hours of gas burner time.

The past weeks I have been weighing the values of devoting one of my two best lit display areas with alga, perhaps my sectional sand bed with grasses. Not the place to go into this. Tom is as up on the science of the tank as anyone is especially when you consider his ability to see the whole picture. This is just my two cents I thought interesting to share as it comes up as I weigh things for the future of my tank.