I like natures way, better. Nutrient export is not my game. I am all about nutrient recycling.
Carbon dosing is reef aquarium technology that uses foam fractionators to remove organic nutrients like free swimming bacteria. When I look into my tank at night I see many photosynthetic corals with feeding feathers out. What are they feeding on? I say bacteria are a large percentage of what filter feeding inverts consume. Considering that the raw water for our protein skimmers will be rich in free swimming bacteria that are removed by adhesion due to surface tension of air bubbles; I say protein skimmers remove food for corals in my tank.
Nature takes inorganic carbon dioxide, users photosynthesis to make organic nutrients for the rest of the food chain.
http://www.fondriest.com/environment...phyll/#algae13
Carbon Fixation and the Climate
In addition to providing food and oxygen for nearly all life on Earth, phytoplankton help to regulate inorganic carbon (carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere 17. During photosynthesis, carbon dioxide and water molecules are used to make sugar for energy. The process of incorporating inorganic carbon into organic carbon (glucose and other biologically useful compounds) is called carbon fixation, and is part of the biological carbon pump 11.
As carbon fixation and oxygen production are part of the same process, the extent of phytoplankton’s participation is on the same scale. Phytoplankton consume a similar amount of carbon dioxide as all land plants combined 11. While phytoplankton can pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or the ocean, it will have a similar effect. CO2 that is taken from the water is replaced by CO2 from the atmosphere, thanks to Henry’s law (the dissolved gas content of water is proportional to the percentage of gas in the air above it 32. This consumption helps keep carbon dioxide levels in check, reducing its presence as a greenhouse gas 28.
Algae and cyanobacteria help to regulate the climate by fixing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This carbon is then consumed or decomposed by other organisms.
Algae and cyanobacteria help to regulate the climate by fixing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This carbon is then consumed or decomposed by other organisms, making its way through the cycle until it is released as dissolved carbon dioxide in water or deposited in sediment.
When carbon dioxide is consumed, the carbon molecules become incorporated into the phytoplankton’s structure, allowing the organism to function and grow 11. If the phytoplankton is not eaten by another organism (passing on the carbon up the food chain), then it will sink into the ocean when it dies. As with other detritus (non-living organic material), the phytoplankton will be decomposed by bacteria, and the carbon is either released back into the ocean as dissolved carbon dioxide or eventually deposited into the seafloor sediment 33. Thanks to phytoplankton, this biological carbon pump removes approximately 10 trillion kilograms (10 gigatonnes) of carbon from the atmosphere every year, transferring it to the ocean depths 11.
In climate terms, this process helps to maintain global surface temperatures 11. Without this cycle, atmospheric CO2 would rise approximately 200 ppm (current levels are around 400 ppm) 33,34. Even small changes in phytoplankton populations could have an effect on the atmosphere and world climate 11.