Cory Im not sure if the generalization would apply to other systems its just my bowl. I found in time the alk component was dropping when correlating to whitened coralline. the assumption is that increased acidic yields in the bowl are binding up free alkalinity, and its being registered in that manner. We've got a massive concentration of bacteria in the water and on every surface in the gallon environment, packed in detritus stores that the blast cleanings don't remove, fueling more bacteria as substrate, then there are the higher macro animals that take in oxygen and expel co2 and those are the best sources I can think of for alk command not even counting systemic calcification of corals and every shelled/tube animal on the live rock which number in the thousands. it seems half a cap has met the total system demand for the last several years so it hasnt been changed. I can only imagine how it would work without the air as the primary degassing source, guess we'll see in time as cichlidmania's systems age. Bacteria inside the bowl are the largest producer of co2/carbonic acid in the system Im pretty sure.

thanks for stopping by!
B