Live sponges and heavy metals

[dianelynn]

Would large amounts of live sponges in the tank have any effect on the removal or accumulation of heavy metals in the tank?

[rshimek]

Originally posted by dianelynn

Hi,

Would large amounts of live sponges in the tank have any effect on the removal or accumulation of heavy metals in the tank?

As long as the sponges remained in the tank, any heavy metals they accumulated would remain there.

Sponges are good filters of all sorts of particulates, but they would be poisoned by heavy metals just as other animals would. Some would be more tolerant of such pollution, some less so.

One could, theoretically, use sponges as an export of heavy metals, (as one can with any living export organisms). Depending on how much they absorbed, such export would be more or less successful. There are no data on the accumulation of metals in sponges, though.