Pro's & Con's of sump chamber foam

[dmsc2fs]

I am trying to look at the pro's and con's of removing the foam block that is in the passthrough from my main sump chamber to the section that has my return pump.

The reason I wish to do this is to remove a barrier for Amphipods to migrate into the DT. I believe that the foam would be a barrier to this and removing it would allow for an easier path of entry for the pods to make it to the DT.

I am unsure, but was also thinking that if the Amphipods are taking up residence in the foam they would eventually make it through the foam to the bottom and as new generates are hatched they would be funneled back into the DT and this is a moot point.

The chamber before my return pump is a fuge. I don't anticipate any algae moving into the return pump chamber but it is a possibility. The Chaeto stays pretty thick and it forces the other algaes over to the other side of the chamber.

The foam block also catches some detrius but do i want it to? If I am not pulling it out to clean it I think I would be better off with it not trapped in the foam. Foam block is in the space on the right of the Chaeto. I pulled it out and cleaned it and tossed the pods from it into my goby QT tank.

 

[Waters]

I pulled out all that stuff from that chamber and just use it to keep a few pieces of live rock (for emergency QT tanks) and to use it to float bags for new livestock. IME the foam just clogs up pretty quick anyways. I don't want anything else in my sump causing possible water level fluctuation.