Turkey liver sponge?

[Rogueaquariums]

I’ve had this sponge in my 600g tank for some time now. At first it was isolated to one rock structure and I didn’t give it much thought but now it has started to spread through out my rock scape and is rather ugly to look at. If anyone knows how to eradicate this sponge, could you please let me know. It’s not really feasible to scrape it off as I have a lot of rock and different structures in there as well.

Thank you..

 

[Timfish]

I'm not sure how to eradicate any sponge species from a system effectively. It kinda looks more like the cyanobacteriosponge Terpios hoshinota which is one sponge we do not want in a system. Something that might help you control it and maybe eventially erradicate it would be siphoning it out with steel straws then using a syrenge apply small amounts of H2O2 to where it was scrapped off to kill any remaining tissue.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

Urchins are generally your best bet in eliminating sponges, they will chew down to the rock and keep the populations in check. I would be wary of scraping or poisoning it since a lot of sponges release toxins when irritated or killed, so urchin would be your safest bet.

 

[Rogueaquariums]

Urchins are generally your best bet in eliminating sponges, they will chew down to the rock and keep the populations in check. I would be wary of scraping or poisoning it since a lot of sponges release toxins when irritated or killed, so urchin would be your safest bet.

Thank you for the feedback. I was told that pencil urchins should take care of the issue but would any urchin do the same job? I won’t scrape the rock work for that reason (any potential toxins) being released into the water column.

 

[Rogueaquariums]

I'm not sure how to eradicate any sponge species from a system effectively. It kinda looks more like the cyanobacteriosponge Terpios hoshinota which is one sponge we do not want in a system. Something that might help you control it and maybe eventially erradicate it would be siphoning it out with steel straws then using a syrenge apply small amounts of H2O2 to where it was scrapped off to kill any remaining tissue.

Appreciate your input but I am hesitant in scraping the sponge off due to any potential toxins being released into the water plus it is getting out of hand. Using a steel straw won’t take it off because I tried a small portion to scrape off and it was very hard to do so. Maybe applying h202 in some areas will help but I think I’ll try to place some urchins in there to see if that works.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

Thank you for the feedback. I was told that pencil urchins should take care of the issue but would any urchin do the same job? I won’t scrape the rock work for that reason (any potential toxins) being released into the water column.

Pencil urchins would be the most effective, but they are also very effective at eating coral (especially encrusters!). You could take the risk, but other great species are the longspine urchin and tuxedo urchin. Pincushions are lightweight in my experience and don't graze as aggressively.

 

[Rogueaquariums]

I need something that is effective but I might try to mix some tuxedo urchins in there as well. I’m ambivalent about putting urchins in my tank as it is acrylic but because the sponges have gotten out of hand I’m willing to take the risk. Lol..

Thanks..

 

[Mr_Knightley]

Good luck!

 

[Cantusaurus]

Yeah I think your best bet is finding something that will eat it. You don’t want to kill off sponges in mass in your tank due to releasing stuff. I know certain butterfly fish eat them, but they also can eat corals.
Maybe look into wrasses? I hadn’t heard of urchins eating sponges so I can’t speak on that.

 

[Timfish]

Appreciate your input but I am hesitant in scraping the sponge off due to any potential toxins being released into the water plus it is getting out of hand. Using a steel straw won’t take it off because I tried a small portion to scrape off and it was very hard to do so. Maybe applying h202 in some areas will help but I think I’ll try to place some urchins in there to see if that works.

Using steel straws with a siphon as demonstrated in the video will remove tissue and whatever is released. One question, if a steel straw won't remove it how is an urchin's calcite teeth going to remove it?

It is true sponges do some pretty interesting chemistry. The problem with sponges using Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC, aka OM or carbon dosing) to create positive feedback loops that promote algae is one well documented example. Since sponges are essential recyclers in reefs systems it seems to me the fear of toxins is overplayed. Especially considering how fast they are processing stuff. It doesn't take days or weeks for them to process stuff and dump beneficial or detrimental products into the water but just hours. If the sponges in your system really are producing a lot of deadly toxin(s) as fast as they process stuff why are you corals still alive? It seems more reasonable to me they are recycling a lot of stuff like other sponge species do and besides the aesthetic issue are just crowding and overgrowing your corals.