Orange fan sponge difficulty?

[Levinson]

I found orange fan sponges being sold at LFS, and it is quite tempting as I like sponges.
We hardly get any sponges brought in for sale where I live, and this was a surprise. They even labelled it "orange fan sponge coral".
However, these cost quite a bit of money, and I wanted to know how difficult or easy they are to keep. I don't want to spend the money and have it die on me.
I did a little googling, but some say the difficulty is easy to moderate, while others say it is difficult.
Has anyone had any experience with them or know about them?

I have a few sponges in my tank, and they have been doing well for over two years.

 

[Subsea]

I found orange fan sponges being sold at LFS, and it is quite tempting as I like sponges.
We hardly get any sponges brought in for sale where I live, and this was a surprise. They even labelled it "orange fan sponge coral".
However, these cost quite a bit of money, and I wanted to know how difficult or easy they are to keep. I don't want to spend the money and have it die on me.
I did a little googling, but some say the difficulty is easy to moderate, while others say it is difficult.
Has anyone had any experience with them or know about them?

I have a few sponges in my tank, and they have been doing well for over two years.

Show me a picture of what you googled. I have orange elephant ear sponges as well as yellow ball and red tree sponge.

 

[Subsea]

I have perused your threads and am interested in you describing your ecosystem that has Hymeniacidon sinapium you collected, I assume in South Korea.

I am jealous that you can collect sponges. With a fishing license’ on the Texas Gulf coast, I can collect pepppermint shrimp and grass shrimp.

 

[painter1982]

All my sponges are pretty easy it seems. I supplement silicates with brightwell sponge excell. I feed phytoplankton and reef roids twice per week. I probably could feed more often but it’s been working.

 

[sjfishguy]

People have success with these sponges that are sold? I live in Florida, can get them very easy, but they always die within a few months for me. Red finger, red ball, yellow ball. Always die.

 

[Levinson]

Show me a picture of what you googled. I have orange elephant ear sponges as well as yellow ball and red tree sponge.

This is what they look like. I mean the ones that are being sold.

I have perused your threads and am interested in you describing your ecosystem that has Hymeniacidon sinapium you collected, I assume in South Korea.

I am jealous that you can collect sponges. With a fishing license’ on the Texas Gulf coast, I can collect pepppermint shrimp and grass shrimp.

It was only one-time thing. I rarely get to go to the ocean, and that sponge ( Hymeniacidon sinapium) was the only sponge I could manage to find. Texas Gulf coast sounds a lot more interesting.

 

[Subsea]

All my sponges are pretty easy it seems. I supplement silicates with brightwell sponge excell. I feed phytoplankton and reef roids twice per week. I probably could feed more often but it’s been working.

Count your blessings.

Are the sponges in your bare bottom sps tank? Any pictures?

With more than 10K species of sponges, feeding strategies are complex.

 

[Subsea]

This is what they look like. I mean the ones that are being sold.

It was only one-time thing. I rarely get to go to the ocean, and that sponge ( Hymeniacidon sinapium) was the only sponge I could manage to find. Texas Gulf coast sounds a lot more interesting.

Nice. Do you have a scientific name for that sponge?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

People have success with these sponges that are sold? I live in Florida, can get them very easy, but they always die within a few months for me. Red finger, red ball, yellow ball. Always die.

I think sponges are a high difficulty creature. They need special things that corals do not, including silicate and an appropriate food, such as bacteria or phyto.

Despite using both, I would no longer say my sponges are thriving. Barely hanging on is a better description.

 

[Levinson]

Nice. Do you have a scientific name for that sponge?

I did a quick google search and I think they are Axinella bookhouti.

 

[Paul B]

Many sponges are photosynthetic and live forever, sometimes at the bane of the hobbyist. Those orange, red, purple, and green sponges are not photosynthetic, so they require feeding. Constantly. Much more than the average hobbyist can accomplish. 6 months or a year is not a success because those creatures are immortal and should live forever.