Anyone know anything about sea sponge?

[Mondo]

Hey I just picked up 3 pieces of sponge from hidden reef. In the last 48 hours 2 of them started to change color. They were a dark blue and a vivid purple . Now they are turning white in spots. Are they dying? Thank you

[justinl]

sounds like they aren't doin so hot. got pics?

sponges are super delicate and VERY finicky about water quality. when you introduce them into the tank, you cannot allow ANY exposure to air. air gets in, they can't expel it, and they die. these are by no means suitable for any one but experts and even they have troubles with sponges. they also require pretty much constant feeding which most aquarists wont bother to or can't do.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Did you have them out of the water at any point? Even transfering them out of the bag?

[Discustopia]

actually, even bubbles from your skimmer that stray into the tank or if your sump cavitates and blows bubbles are dangerous

As the bubble rises through the sponge it kills the surfaces it touches - sensitivity varies sponge to sponge. especially deep water spponges are not used to any air bubble contact

[Mondo]

no i was informed not to let air touch them. I am going to try to cut off the dead so it does not spead. Hopefully this will stop the spread.

[Big Al's BC]

Mondo,
In our experience sponges are some of the most beautiful yet challenging species. Although air exposure is a huge issue, proper flow is key. Most sponges are collected at depth in areas of significant alternating current. The question here is were the sponges exposed to air at the collection facility? Few operations handle and hold sponges to avoid exposure. In our experience ball sponges fair the best. The more branching, the more difficult. There are some species that are photosynthetic but these are rare in the trade.
Good luck with your specimens. :biggrin:

Big Al's BC

[Canadbis]

I have cut pieces off of my sponges when I first got them. to stop the death from spreading, It does work, be sure to get all of it. Dont worry about having small sponges for a bit they will grow.
I feed my tank phyto and reefroids and haven't had any problems with my sponges...yet.
My orange branching one seems to be growing quite well.

Good luck

[Pier Pressure]

You know what is really weird? I had purple sponges grow in (lots of little pockets of them) on live rock that we had out of the water for a good hour while we drove it across Calgary. We have had it since we got our tank up and running in November.

I had a die-off of livestock that I blamed on water quality. If the sponge and corals made it - must have been a different issue?

[christyf5]

You know what is really weird? I had purple sponges grow in (lots of little pockets of them) on live rock that we had out of the water for a good hour while we drove it across Calgary. We have had it since we got our tank up and running in November.

I had a die-off of livestock that I blamed on water quality. If the sponge and corals made it - must have been a different issue?

I think the "volunteer" type sponges are much hardier than the ones that are collected and sold in LFS. As BigAls BC said, they're collected at depth and probably aren't adapted to any type of exposure to air or changes in environment. The types of sponges you have found in your tank might be found intertidally in the wild where the surrounding environment changes on a daily basis. Or it just might be one tough mutha :wink:

[Pier Pressure]

It is a lot more than one. There is one big patch and then several - probably more than twenty - little patches on one rock. I bought this rock from a Calgary reefer who had it in his tank for over a year, but he did not have any sponges on there when I bought it from him(?)

Saltwater is so strange and cool!

[christyf5]

It is a lot more than one. There is one big patch and then several - probably more than twenty - little patches on one rock. I bought this rock from a Calgary reefer who had it in his tank for over a year, but he did not have any sponges on there when I bought it from him(?)

Saltwater is so strange and cool!

You probably have the right conditions for their growth and maybe he didn't. I know when I switched tanks a couple of years ago, many of the rocks were bound together with a white sponge that I had never seen in the tank before (it was only between the rocks) and I haven't seen it since. Currently I have little bits of yellow, some different white and some purply blue sponges in my tank. Pretty neat. :cool: