DyMiCo is short for Dynamic Mineral Control, a filtration technology that responds dynamically to your aquarium, maintaining all seawater minerals in balance. DyMiCo filtration is based on natural principles, where bacteria, plankton and reef animals all work together to create a food web, just like on a real coral reef. In contrast to conventional technologies such as protein skimmers, DyMiCo does not filter the water heavily, allowing for a natural plankton population to grow. This plankton includes bacteria, algae (phytoplankton) and crustaceans (zooplankton), and lies at the basis of a healthy coral reef. DyMiCo actively breaks down nutrients, which can become toxic to aquarium life and act as fertilizer for algae. These nutrients are ammonium, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate. In the top layer of the DyMiCo reactor, or sand bed, ammonium (NH +) is first oxidized to nitrite (NO2), and subsequently to nitrate (NO3). In the lower layer of the sand bed, nitrate is reduced to dinitrogen gas (N2), which is then slowly released into the aquarium water. Eventually, aeration of the seawater causes dinitrogen gas to be released into the atmosphere, just like in nature. In addition, DyMiCo actively releases alkaline earth metals into your aquarium, known as calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg2+), in addition to carbonates (HCO3 , CO3) which provide buffer capacity.