Importance of Sponges in a reef..

[paddyob]

Did the article mention many sponges will not thrive, or live long, in an aquarium?

There is a recent thread on this.

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by paddyob

Did the article mention many sponges will not thrive, or live long, in an aquarium?

There is a recent thread on this.

This article is purely about coral reefs and not about the hobby:

The mystery of how coral reefs thrive in "ocean deserts" has been solved, scientists say

Alongside, there are sponges that can easily thrive and help captive environments (forgot the names; almost every matured reefs have most of them, doing an excellent job by filtering water). Its the ornamental and fancy ones that are hard to keep.

[KPG007]

While I take good care of my tanks, I do not do everything I need to do to maintain a low nutrient system. One thing I do though, is I add KZ Sponge power to my tank to help promote better sponge growth. When I move rock the under sides are usually covered in sponge. Because of this (and other small things) my tanks are bright and colorful, with excellent growth.
I have always heard and believed sponges to be excellent biological filters. Reading an article like this reaffirms this. Nice article.

[kien]

Originally Posted by KPG007

I have always heard and believed sponges to be excellent biological filters. Reading an article like this reaffirms this. Nice article.

I completely agree. It is also for this reason that I like using live rock. Lots of hitchhiker sponges that proliferate. Granted, there's also the potential of bad hitchhikers but in my experience it has always been easier to remove bad hitchhikers than to add good hitchhikers, like sponges.

[michika]

While I'm not always a proponent of live rock, sometimes the costs are somewhat unrealistic, I am definitely a fan of varied microflora in our systems. I've always equated sponges with a healthy system and usually actively try to cultivate multiple types in my system.

KPG, do you think Sponge Power has a positive impact on your system?

[msjboy]

I have a lot of sponges that from somewhere, came alive over the last of year especially. I think it was probably from a dorminant state/spores that come on the liverock I got. They are black, green ( ones in the dark sump) and pinkish... I did add a couple of small pieces of blue sponge but they have not grown much at all but still alive after 2 years being bought. It really depends on what tank/its setup you have in order for sponges to come alive or keep ones you bought alive.

[KPG007]

Originally Posted by michika

KPG, do you think Sponge Power has a positive impact on your system?

While I have never done an actual test, I do see sponge everywhere in my tank (well, hidden between rocks). Much more then I believe I would see without the additive. I can occasionally go months between water changes (Ca & Alk every night though) and everything will look the same. Is this because of sponge power? I would say 'Yes' to the sponge growth, which would lead me to say 'Yes' to better water quality.

Now to be honest, it's not the only additive I use (I also use Pohl's xtra, Coral Snow, and Kaliumiodid (KZ iodine additive to bring out blue in corals)), but it's one that I always recommend.

[reefwars]

i also have been using kz spongepower for quite some time , i have a whack load of sponges of all colors.

does the sponge power account for this....not 100% sure but im not seeing any bad results from using it so i continue to do so.

i also use amino acids,coral vitalizer and pohls extra

sps and zoanthid grow systems , fully loaded.

dosing cal and alk

[daniella3d]

I have one that I love and it's doing great now: I always had a love for sponges but those what we can keep in an aquarium are those that are photosynthetic, like the blue haliclona and they do need silicate to grow well. This sponge produce tubular structure up to 5'' tall and it does not do well when Chemiclean is used as it completely bleach and some part or whole die. I think it has a symbioze with some sort of cyanobacterias?

Originally Posted by paddyob

Did the article mention many sponges will not thrive, or live long, in an aquarium?

There is a recent thread on this.

[SanguinesDream]

Originally Posted by daniella3d

I have one that I love and it's doing great now: I always had a love for sponges but those what we can keep in an aquarium are those that are photosynthetic, like the blue haliclona and they do need silicate to grow well. This sponge produce tubular structure up to 5'' tall and it does not do well when Chemiclean is used as it completely bleach and some part or whole die. I think it has a symbioze with some sort of cyanobacterias?

Those are gorgeous, although everything in your tank is gorgeous, Daniella.