water polishing block

[The Shark]

My ADHI refugium has a foam "polishing" block that the overflow water from the refugium runs through. It does a good job of masking the trickling sound of the falling water. This is a very coarse and dense block, similar to the tube filter on my ASM skimmer.

Would it be more beneficial for me to remove the block in favor of free flowing water from the refugiun? This may allow more detritus into my pump, but would also allow for easier flow of pods and mysis from it...

thoughts?

 

[Krish]

One of the other purposes of that block is to prevent micro-bubbles from entering the return chamber and being transferred to the tank so if you remove it, you "may" have to look into preventing micro-bubbles from getting to the return pump and then again you may be alright. Other than that, those sponges can work against you big time degrading water quality if not cleaned/changed every 2-3 days as they will trap waste and allow it to rott. This is the reason why most people remove any sponges in their system. Personally, I vote for tossing it. Just a personal preference though