Importance of Sponges in a reef..

[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