White sponge (killing zoas)
- Thread starter makscopes
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Be glad non of your animals will touch it, they would first eat your zoas. Manual removal is your best option. Does this sponge grow in branching ribbon like structures? If so don't wait to long as it can grow really fast and smother anything.
najer
Valuable Member
How long did you sit it in air for, it could be a tunicate, sorry not sure what to suggest?
Yes.
thanks for the replies. I was hoping some kind of urchin, snail or fish would eat it.
najer
Valuable Member
Possibly an angel?
Thespammailaccount
2500 Club Member
Yes exposing sponges to air can block their pores therefore restricting the ability to feed but would have to be removed since you do not want a sponge dying in your tank can cause issues
So maybe take the rock out - put in a Tupperware - brush off the sponge and keep rinsing in seawater. Then lit sit out in the air for a bit. How long do you think is needed?
The zoas are growing on the top, but from my understanding they are used to being in the air for hours a day (due to tides). So they should be ok.
Thespammailaccount
2500 Club Member
If you are going to go that route make sure you get off all of the sponge since you do not want the sponge to die in the tank. Maybe try and take off the sponge with a pair of tweezers when it is underwater
Last edited:
Rawsreef
Active Member
Having the same issue with my 90g tank right now. Had this crap come on a darth maul zoa frag I bought less than a year ago. I first noticed it on the zoas, then it spread from the plug to the rock the plug was glued on, to now it’s growing almost everywhere. I asked every LFS, even the one I got the zoas from and they said it’s no biggie just a regular sponge.
well let me tell you whatever it is, it grows at an incredible rate and definitely damages zoas from what I can see. Who knows what else it could has been hurting with toxins etc.
that was when first picked up the plug off the rock and scraped some of it off. Made the huge mistake of not getting 100% rid of it.
Now this is the same rock, same zoas, about 6 months down the road
I think today I am going to remove that entire rock and completely clean it off again. As for the darth mauls not really sure what I’m going to do, they’re almost as good as gone at this point.
well let me tell you whatever it is, it grows at an incredible rate and definitely damages zoas from what I can see. Who knows what else it could has been hurting with toxins etc.
that was when first picked up the plug off the rock and scraped some of it off. Made the huge mistake of not getting 100% rid of it.
Now this is the same rock, same zoas, about 6 months down the road
I think today I am going to remove that entire rock and completely clean it off again. As for the darth mauls not really sure what I’m going to do, they’re almost as good as gone at this point.
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Old thread but just found my first sponge, ever,
...and it's in one patch of zoas that are on a shaded part of my tank towards the back (of course).
It was cool to find one but I guess I need to extract it,,, right?
*bad pic during ramp down nighttime lighting with flashlight blasting at it
*body is smoother than pic makes it look,,, not like a pineapple sponge
*filter hole down the center is open with clear path deep into the sponge
...and it's in one patch of zoas that are on a shaded part of my tank towards the back (of course).
It was cool to find one but I guess I need to extract it,,, right?
*bad pic during ramp down nighttime lighting with flashlight blasting at it
*body is smoother than pic makes it look,,, not like a pineapple sponge
*filter hole down the center is open with clear path deep into the sponge
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I have 2 money cowries that eat sponges. I had some fast growing white ones like yours and they destroyed it. They did however ate all my orange and red sponges.
Tired
2500 Club Member
@EricR , that appears to be a pineapple sponge. Harmless, very common.. They pop up in new places around the tank, but don't grow (much) and spread like branching sponges, and they don't do anything to corals.
I used to have some of the stuff in the older photos. It does seem to be bad for zoas, though only the ones it directly touches. Mine eventually vanished of its own accord.
I used to have some of the stuff in the older photos. It does seem to be bad for zoas, though only the ones it directly touches. Mine eventually vanished of its own accord.
Thanks,,, the funny thing is, I've seen tons of pictures of pineapple sponges and this, in person, looks nothing like those.
*maybe all the pics I've seen are poor representations and now I know what one really looks like
This one is very smooth on the surface,,, like the natural sponge my wife has in the shower (for whatever reason).
Hole down the center is very circular and deep,,, but couldn't get the angle in pics due to where it's at.
Anyway, thanks.
Will probably pick it out tomorrow morning before lights come on or maybe at night after lights out.
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