Adding an ornamental sponge

[JNalley]

So, I've been considering adding a couple of sponges to the tank, never had one before, the only thing I know for sure is that you don't ever want to expose it to air and therefore need to be water to water transfer. But how the heck do you attach it to rock? And what can I expect from adding one of these? How fast do they grow? Any tips/info?

 

[blaxsun]

This video has a bit of information on introducing them. It looks like he placed it in a low flow area of his sump so it could seed on its own.

 

[elysics]

The best you can do is just wedge it between rocks without crushing the sponge. I tried impaling before but that went badly, though that was with a wooden skewers, maybe plastic would fare better. Hoping for it to attach itself being wedged is your best bet, that can happen rather quickly

Need to consider it's needs, different sponges want different amounts of flow, some also light, some not

Growth is very variable, some can be very fast, others slow, if it will grow in your tank at all and not starve. The bigger the sponge, the more food, phytoplankton and bacterioplankton, also silicates for some sponges (not all)

 

[JNalley]

The best you can do is just wedge it between rocks without crushing the sponge. I tried impaling before but that went badly, though that was with a wooden skewers, maybe plastic would fare better. Hoping for it to attach itself being wedged is your best bet, that can happen rather quickly

Need to consider it's needs, different sponges want different amounts of flow, some also light, some not

Growth is very variable, some can be very fast, others slow, if it will grow in your tank at all and not starve. The bigger the sponge, the more food, phytoplankton and bacterioplankton, also silicates for some sponges (not all)

Hey, thanks for the reply! I'm looking at 3 different options, and would like 1 or 2 of them. If you have any direct experience with any of these 3 and you want to share your knowledge I am all eyes/ears.

Orange Dragonfire Sponge
Orange Ridge Sponge
Tabling blue and black sponge (Aquacultured)

 

[elysics]

Not directly no, but if the tabling one is the one I think it is then it should be relatively easy from what I've heard and seen in other tanks, maybe even too easy.

Maybe don't put it on your main rock

No firsthand experience with the other ones other than watching some die in a store, what I'll say is try to figure out which way the current was flowing when it grew (big openings usually face somewhat away from the current, sometimes perpendicular, rarely into the current,and try to replicate that as best you can

The bigger a piece, the harder to satisfy the way it grew into its flow, same as with putting big acro colonies in a new spot

 

[dennis romano]

I have about a dozen sponges. The orange dragonfire is difficult to keep. The orange ridge, if it is the one that I am thinking of, is relatively easy. The tabling blue, again not sure if it is what I am thinking, is photosynthetic and treated like a montipora. The orange ridge must be kept in a low light with a moderate flow. I feed mine by stirring up the substrate to get the microfauna into the water column. As for attaching this sponge, forget it. I lost 90% of one but it grew back. It never attached to this day. It is several years old. The easiest sponge to start with is a yellow ball. Try that first.

 

[JNalley]

I have about a dozen sponges. The orange dragonfire is difficult to keep. The orange ridge, if it is the one that I am thinking of, is relatively easy. The tabling blue, again not sure if it is what I am thinking, is photosynthetic and treated like a montipora. The orange ridge must be kept in a low light with a moderate flow. I feed mine by stirring up the substrate to get the microfauna into the water column. As for attaching this sponge, forget it. I lost 90% of one but it grew back. It never attached to this day. It is several years old. The easiest sponge to start with is a yellow ball. Try that first.

This is the store I will be buying the sponges from and their selection:

Sea Sponge

Salty Underground Sea Sponges for sale now!

www.saltyunderground.com

 

[dennis romano]

This is the store I will be buying the sponges from and their selection:

Sea Sponge

Salty Underground Sea Sponges for sale now!

www.saltyunderground.com

Yeah, I was right. The blue is photosynthetic and can become invasive. If you want a non-photosynthetic, go with the yellow ball. They are pretty bullet proof. Forget the dragon fire. If you can keep the yellow ball alive for a few months, then try the orange ridge. The ball will attach to a rock by itself.

 

[JNalley]

Yeah, I was right. The blue is photosynthetic and can become invasive. If you want a non-photosynthetic, go with the yellow ball. They are pretty bullet proof. Forget the dragon fire. If you can keep the yellow ball alive for a few months, then try the orange ridge. The ball will attach to a rock by itself.

So this one that looks like it has spiderwebs on the sides of it, the Yellow Moon Sponge Cinachyra Alloclada? do I just let it float around the tank until it finds a home? I've got a lot of flow, and I'm assuming it won't attach in a few seconds. Should I turn off the pumps for an hour or so?

 

[elysics]

Hoping for a sponge to attach in a day is a bit optimistic. Hoping for it to find its place tumbling in the current even more so, that's not really how it works.

I'd put it down in one spot an wedge it.

Another technique is to blend a sponge up into a slurry of millions of small pieces and dump that in your tank with skimmer and mechanical filtration off for a few hours, that way a couple of those million pieces might actually find their place and settle down. Wouldn't do that with an expensive store bought piece (or an expensive blender for that matter) but maybe you can cut a small piece off of one. Also might potentially release toxins so be aware of that

If you are really into sponges I can recommend the book captive oceans volume 1 by Tyree. Doesn't really read like a proper polished book and more like a collection of a bunch of papers but the ebook is only $10 to make up for it. Has a bunch of interesting stuff on sponges and how to keep them

 

[dennis romano]

So this one that looks like it has spiderwebs on the sides of it, the Yellow Moon Sponge Cinachyra Alloclada? do I just let it float around the tank until it finds a home? I've got a lot of flow, and I'm assuming it won't attach in a few seconds. Should I turn off the pumps for an hour or so?

Put the sponge in a low flow spot. It usually takes a few weeks to attach.

 

[JLavy]

A

 

[JLavy]

I have about a dozen sponges. The orange dragonfire is difficult to keep. The orange ridge, if it is the one that I am thinking of, is relatively easy. The tabling blue, again not sure if it is what I am thinking, is photosynthetic and treated like a montipora. The orange ridge must be kept in a low light with a moderate flow. I feed mine by stirring up the substrate to get the microfauna into the water column. As for attaching this sponge, forget it. I lost 90% of one but it grew back. It never attached to this day. It is several years old. The easiest sponge to start with is a yellow ball. Try that first.

Do you have any tips on sponge keeping? I already dose phyto and ab+ but was considering marine snow or other micro foods. I’m not sure what is necessary and what is overkill.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Do you have any tips on sponge keeping? I already dose phyto and ab+ but was considering marine snow or other micro foods. I’m not sure what is necessary and what is overkill.

I'm not sure what species you've decided to add, but cinachyrella ball sponges are fairly low-effort. I dumped mine into a quiet and dimly-lit area under a ledge, and it's doing fine without supplemental feedings. I do give it a shot of phyto once a week, but it otherwise seems to be obtaining food through the water column, as it should. I should also add that I exposed it to air (briefly) during transfer, and it didn't seem to result in any tissue necrosis.

 

[JLavy]

I have about a dozen sponges. The orange dragonfire is difficult to keep. The orange ridge, if it is the one that I am thinking of, is relatively easy. The tabling blue, again not sure if it is what I am thinking, is photosynthetic and treated like a montipora. The orange ridge must be kept in a low light with a moderate flow. I feed mine by stirring up the substrate to get the microfauna into the water column. As for attaching this sponge, forget it. I lost 90% of one but it grew back. It never attached to this day. It is several years old. The easiest sponge to start with is a yellow ball. Try that first.

Do you have any tips on sponge keeping? I already dose phyto and ab+ but was considering marine snow or other micro foods. I’m not sure what is ne

I'm not sure what species you've decided to add, but cinachyrella ball sponges are fairly low-effort. I dumped mine into a quiet and dimly-lit area under a ledge, and it's doing fine without supplemental feedings. I do give it a shot of phyto once a week, but it otherwise seems to be obtaining food through the water column, as it should. I should also add that I exposed it to air (briefly) during transfer, and it didn't seem to result in any tissue necrosis.

do you recommend any sponge foods? I’ve hear marine snow might be good?