[nemo79]

I vacuum my crushed coral in small sections when I do my water changes, nothing that I can see has died, i mean if i had a nassarius snail die I wouldn't know but all livestock accounted for. I purchase my ro water at the water depot so I don't have an ro unit but I never add tap water no matter what. Now I try to be diligent with the sponge...so I clean it once a week but there have been times where I have missed it but even then my tests read zero. I will do the test tonight as soon as I get home. Now why do you suggest leaving the sponge in? and what should I do if the nitrates are still high and will it affect anything in the tank? Maybe my old tests were crap. God I hope I screwed up