will this raise nitrates?

[acemow]

I have an acrylic wet/dry two chamber sump. Divider in center ends 3 inches from bottom, there is a 2 inch thick black sponge set in that opening at bottom. Could that raise nitrates? I do clean the sponge and there are a bunch of copepods in it. Do I need the sponge? I am storing some extra LR in sump also. Thanks!

 

[ThomastheTexan]

just make sure u clean the sponge every now and then so it wont collect gunk in it

 

[acemow]

Thanks, will do

 

[sambrinar]

You should clean the sponge every couple of days, IMO or it will raise the nitrates

 

[acemow]

I will clean it every couple days, that's a good idea, thanks!

 

[jgking21]

You can try to add a piece acrylic to cover the opening. That way you could remove the sponge all together and the water will just run over that baffle. If you do, make sure you let the silicone set for at least 24 hours before you start running the sump again!

 

[acemow]

Putting acrylic piece and removing sponge would be easy because there are support brackets where I could use silicone to secure the baffle. I think the tank was FO at first, then converted to reef some time before we got it, I took bio balls out soon after getting it, think sponge was left over from FO setup