Sponges?

[Joe Tony]

Hey guys, I really want to add some sponges to cohabitate my corals, and I'd like to get a variety of them.

I was thinking of getting a yellow ball sponge, a red/orange tree sponge, and maybe a pink strawberry sponge

I'm planning to get Sponge Power and marine snow, and to possibly stir the sandbed because I know they eat bacteria.

What are your thoughts/experiences caring for sea sponges? I want to get a sense of what I'm getting myself into. I also travel, and am wondering if they will die after a week of me not supplementing food?

 

[Troylee]

I know @Randy Holmes-Farley has kept them before.. I just have random ones that show up in my tank lol.. silicates is the best food for them

 

[Joe Tony]

I know @Randy Holmes-Farley has kept them before.. I just have random ones that show up in my tank lol.. silicates is the best food for them

What product would you recommend that provides a silicate supplement?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Those sponges are beautiful, but challenging.

I think a source of silicate (cheap and easy to dose, but can boost diatoms) and food for the sponges is critical, and most tanks don't have enough food for long term survival, IMO.

I dose live phyto daily (PhytoFeast Live).

Dosing organic carbon, such as vinegar, to boost bacterial levels worked for me in the past with one type of yellow ball sponge. Not sure on tree sponges that way.

What product do you mean by marine snow? A number of different things are referred to that way, but fine calcium carbonate powder is something I personally would not use with sponges whose pores might get clogged.

Here's a recent update in the Tank and Learn thread on my Red Tree Sponges.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/randys-tank-and-learn-thread.1103636/page-92#post-13768274

 

[Troylee]

What product would you recommend that provides a silicate supplement?

Water glass by loud wolf is cheap and potent. Much better than sponge power etc.

 

[Joe Tony]

Those sponges are beautiful, but challenging.

I think a source of silicate (cheap and easy to dose, but can boost diatoms) and food for the sponges is critical, and most tanks don't have enough food for long term survival, IMO.

I dose live phyto daily (PhytoFeast Live).

Dosing organic carbon, such as vinegar, to boost bacterial levels worked for me in the past with one type of yellow ball sponge. Not sure on tree sponges that way.

What product do you mean by marine snow? A number of different things are referred to that way, but fine calcium carbonate powder is something I personally would not use with sponges whose pores might get clogged.

Here's a recent update in the Tank and Learn thread on my Red Tree Sponges.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/randys-tank-and-learn-thread.1103636/page-92#post-13768274

What sponges would you say are "easy/beginner?" FYI I am aiming for the colors of the sponges more than the shape/species, because I went them to encrust the live rock.

Also, I travel out of country several times a year and I don't have an automated feeding system for sponges. Would they starve if there are a few days without supplemental feeding?

Marine snow IE coral food (that may not work for sponges, now that I think about it)

I'll look into using vinegar.

 

[Joe Tony]

Water glass by loud wolf is cheap and potent. Much better than sponge power etc.

Is this it? https://www.loudwolf.com/storefront/index.php?route=product/category&path=768

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What sponges would you say are "easy/beginner?" FYI I am aiming for the colors of the sponges more than the shape/species, because I went them to encrust the live rock.

Also, I travel out of country several times a year and I don't have an automated feeding system for sponges. Would they starve if there are a few days without supplemental feeding?

Marine snow IE coral food (that may not work for sponges, now that I think about it)

I'll look into using vinegar.

I don’t actually know which are easier, but I would not describe any as easy.

 

[Troylee]

Is this it? https://www.loudwolf.com/storefront/index.php?route=product/category&path=768

Yes..

 

[Joe Tony]

I don’t actually know which are easier, but I would not describe any as easy.

Okay, thank you for the advice. I might just get 1 sponge for now and see how I do with it.

 

[redacted_]

Liveaquaria sells two strains of photosynthetic sponges. The blue/purple one grows faster in my tank, but is less forgiving to air bubbles compared to the red one.

To be honest, if you really want to keep filter feeders the secret is just to dose phyto daily. I have kept some species of tunicates and sponges on live rock from TBS for maybe half a year by dosing my surplus phyto. This one on the bottom spread particularly fast when I had enough to dose

Here is a mystery tunicate larvae I captured in that tank

 

[Louis Z]

My plan of cultivation . I have removed filtersocks , my skimmer pump stopped working . DOC keeps popping up in online journal and. Considering vodka dosing so as to bump up bacteria levels . keeping phosphate up along with silicates

 

[Louis Z]

Will be adding Phytofeast also for clam cultures .which should benefit the sponge. The red sponge will go in last chamber of sump . First chamber super hi flow .secondchamber collects detritus . Third chamber has flow , but less large particulates Online articles suggest that sponges have a wide array of bacteria that make up their micro biome . From bacteria that break down nitrogen and make it available to the sponges