McDave
New Member
Hello all,
I recently experienced a major event in my nano temperate tank that I’d like to share with you.
(Mods: Please let me know if this is the wrong subforum. I saw this section covers inverts, so I figured it was the best place to post. Happy to move it if needed!)
A few weeks ago, after my nano tank completed its cycle, I began researching stocking options. While I’ve kept some beginner-friendly corals and inverts before, my real passion lies with sea sponges. Unfortunately, many of the tropical sponge species I was interested in were either unavailable in the hobby or unsuitable for nano tanks due to their size, fragility, or specific needs.
That’s when I discovered tidal sponges.
After reading several biological papers and species reports, I learned that many temperate and tidal sponge species are not only far more common in the wild than their tropical counterparts — but also much hardier. Some are even considered borderline invasive in certain regions.
Eventually, I found a vendor: Gulf of Maine Inc., who offers a variety of coldwater and temperate marine life, including sponges. After some careful research, I ordered a sponge sampler from them. While these were collected from coldwater habitats, I confirmed through online resources that the species also occur in temperate zones, making them perfect for my setup.
I highly recommend Gulf of Maine Inc. to anyone interested in coldwater or temperate marine life — they were great to work with.
Here’s what arrived in the sampler:
Halichondria panicea (Breadcrumb sponge)
Haliclona oculata (Mermaid’s glove sponge)
Suberites ficus (Fig sponge)
Haliclona permollis (Purple encrusting sponge)
Now to the main reason for this post:
Shortly after acclimating the sponges, I made a critical error — I didn't inspect the substrate they came attached to. Two days later, the tank crashed hard. The water turned completely black, reeked of rot, and everything looked doomed.
Turns out, the "rocks" the sponges were attached to was actually live mussels, which had begun to vomit, die, and decompose in the tank. In a small nano tank, that was catastrophic.
I immediately pulled the sponges, did a 100% teardown, set up a temporary holding tank, removed the dead mussels, and completely restarted the system.
To my surprise, 48 hours after the crash:
None of the sponges had sloughed off tissue.
No signs of rot, collapse, or detachment.
Only Haliclona permollis showed slight color fading, but remained fully intact.
While it's still early to say with certainty that they’ll all make it long-term, the fact that they didn’t immediately die in the midst of mussel rot is a testament to their hardiness.
I’m sharing this for discussion and documentation — sponge-keeping is rarely talked about in hobby circles, especially when it comes to temperate or tidal species. If you’ve had similar experiences (or tips on sponge care in nanos), I’d love to hear your thoughts! I have some photographs of the incident, and will post them later!
I recently experienced a major event in my nano temperate tank that I’d like to share with you.
(Mods: Please let me know if this is the wrong subforum. I saw this section covers inverts, so I figured it was the best place to post. Happy to move it if needed!)
A few weeks ago, after my nano tank completed its cycle, I began researching stocking options. While I’ve kept some beginner-friendly corals and inverts before, my real passion lies with sea sponges. Unfortunately, many of the tropical sponge species I was interested in were either unavailable in the hobby or unsuitable for nano tanks due to their size, fragility, or specific needs.
That’s when I discovered tidal sponges.
After reading several biological papers and species reports, I learned that many temperate and tidal sponge species are not only far more common in the wild than their tropical counterparts — but also much hardier. Some are even considered borderline invasive in certain regions.
Eventually, I found a vendor: Gulf of Maine Inc., who offers a variety of coldwater and temperate marine life, including sponges. After some careful research, I ordered a sponge sampler from them. While these were collected from coldwater habitats, I confirmed through online resources that the species also occur in temperate zones, making them perfect for my setup.
I highly recommend Gulf of Maine Inc. to anyone interested in coldwater or temperate marine life — they were great to work with.
Here’s what arrived in the sampler:
Halichondria panicea (Breadcrumb sponge)
Haliclona oculata (Mermaid’s glove sponge)
Suberites ficus (Fig sponge)
Haliclona permollis (Purple encrusting sponge)
Now to the main reason for this post:
Shortly after acclimating the sponges, I made a critical error — I didn't inspect the substrate they came attached to. Two days later, the tank crashed hard. The water turned completely black, reeked of rot, and everything looked doomed.
Turns out, the "rocks" the sponges were attached to was actually live mussels, which had begun to vomit, die, and decompose in the tank. In a small nano tank, that was catastrophic.
I immediately pulled the sponges, did a 100% teardown, set up a temporary holding tank, removed the dead mussels, and completely restarted the system.
To my surprise, 48 hours after the crash:
None of the sponges had sloughed off tissue.
No signs of rot, collapse, or detachment.
Only Haliclona permollis showed slight color fading, but remained fully intact.
While it's still early to say with certainty that they’ll all make it long-term, the fact that they didn’t immediately die in the midst of mussel rot is a testament to their hardiness.
I’m sharing this for discussion and documentation — sponge-keeping is rarely talked about in hobby circles, especially when it comes to temperate or tidal species. If you’ve had similar experiences (or tips on sponge care in nanos), I’d love to hear your thoughts! I have some photographs of the incident, and will post them later!
