" To clean the 240,000-liter saltwater tank where reef sharks circle what is to become Germany's biggest living coral reef, a filter apparatus runs on the lower level, breaking down nitrates with an anaerobic medium. The bacteria living in this medium extract oxygen from the nitrates that result from excreted waste, and they feed on carbon obtained from alcohol. This is provided to them in the form of vodka, purchased wholesale in ten-liter containers. Pure alcohol is not necessary; the carbon content in vodka (roughly forty percent) is sufficient. "
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