White spots on red tree sponge…

[Bugenar]

Got this red tree sponge possibly 2-3 months ago. Beautiful piece and a lovely red color.

Recently it’s been bleaching in certain patches. I can say while it’s been under my care it’s never been exposed to air, and we have been feeding the tank phytoplankton, pods, etc. Keeping our water nice and rich.

There is algae growing on the tips of the sponge around where it’s bleaching (too much light?). But there are already patches of bleached. Crabs and snails also love to hang out on the very tip of the fingers, this could suffocate it as they’re usually there for an entire day until I remove them.

It is in direct light and high flow. but it went a long time before it started showing these symptoms. I believe something else is going on.

Best course of action? Can those white spots come back? Should I cut it?

 

[Rocks reef]

If there is algae growing on the sponge, it needs higher flow. I wouldn't worry about critters crawling on it, they will actually help clean the algae off it. Do you happen to know if it is a non-photosynthetic sponge?

 

[Bugenar]

If there is algae growing on the sponge, it needs higher flow. I wouldn't worry about critters crawling on it, they will actually help clean the algae off it. Do you happen to know if it is a non-photosynthetic sponge?

Yes they are phoyosynthetic, I put it in a higher flow spot

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yes they are phoyosynthetic, I put it in a higher flow spot

Red tree sponge? Maybe you have different ones than I do, but they typically are not photosynthetic.

 

[Bugenar]

Red tree sponge? Maybe you have different ones than I do, but they typically are not photosynthetic.

Non photosynthetic*** what the heck

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Non photosynthetic*** what the heck

It does make them harder to keep. That’s why they are not commonly kept.

 

[56longroof]

Dosing phyto wont help feed the sponge. They eat things along the size of bacteria. If it's loosing color then it's slowly dieing. You can try to carbon dose to increase the amount of bacteria in the water column or start dosing some PNSB. Personally I'd do both. They crabs and snails are doing their job and eating the algea. I'd just let them hang out on the sponge. Mine are always hosting several hermits at a time.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Dosing phyto wont help feed the sponge. They eat things along the size of bacteria. If it's loosing color then it's slowly dieing. You can try to carbon dose to increase the amount of bacteria in the water column or start dosing some PNSB. Personally I'd do both. They crabs and snails are doing their job and eating the algea. I'd just let them hang out on the sponge. Mine are always hosting several hermits at a time.

Sponges do consume phytoplankton. A simple search shows many scientific studies demonstrating it. They also eat bacteria and dissolved organics.

 

[56longroof]

Sponges do consume phytoplankton. A simple search shows many scientific studies demonstrating it. They also eat bacteria and dissolved organics.

From what I've researched it says otherwise. The articles I've read said phyto was too large. I'd be interested in reading up more on it if you have info on it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Here’s one:

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?...2#d=gs_qabs&t=1750988263758&u=#p=2WixIV4h-QMJ

 

[Bugenar]

It does make them harder to keep. That’s why they are not commonly kept.

Figured, might just give it back to the lfs they might be able to take care of it. Doesnt look like these live very long in captivity, feels inhumane that they’re sold in stores lol.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Got this red tree sponge possibly 2-3 months ago. Beautiful piece and a lovely red color.

Recently it’s been bleaching in certain patches. I can say while it’s been under my care it’s never been exposed to air, and we have been feeding the tank phytoplankton, pods, etc. Keeping our water nice and rich.

There is algae growing on the tips of the sponge around where it’s bleaching (too much light?). But there are already patches of bleached. Crabs and snails also love to hang out on the very tip of the fingers, this could suffocate it as they’re usually there for an entire day until I remove them.

It is in direct light and high flow. but it went a long time before it started showing these symptoms. I believe something else is going on.

Best course of action? Can those white spots come back? Should I cut it?

This is loss of tissue which is an indicator of water issue such as too much brightness from light, insufficient flow , high nitrates , lack of feeding or being nibbled by a specimen in your tank

 

[Rocks reef]

Dosing phyto wont help feed the sponge. They eat things along the size of bacteria. If it's loosing color then it's slowly dieing. You can try to carbon dose to increase the amount of bacteria in the water column or start dosing some PNSB. Personally I'd do both. They crabs and snails are doing their job and eating the algea. I'd just let them hang out on the sponge. Mine are always hosting several hermits at a time.

They feed off phyto as well as copepods, rotifers, new hatched brine shrimp.

 

[56longroof]

They feed off phyto as well as copepods, rotifers, new hatched brine shrimp.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_copepod_a_good_feed_for_sponges

 

[Rocks reef]

Good information. Thank you sir. I just know that when I add copepods in the tank with the flow off, I pour them over my gorgonians. They open more, then you can see individual polyps close and retract.

 

[56longroof]

Good information. Thank you sir. I just know that when I add copepods in the tank with the flow off, I pour them over my gorgonians. They open more, then you can see individual polyps close and retract.

Gorgonians will eat pods. I think they are too big for sponges.

 

[Bugenar]

This is loss of tissue which is an indicator of water issue such as too much brightness from light, insufficient flow , high nitrates , lack of feeding or being nibbled by a specimen in your tank

Thinking it’s light because there is algae growing on the tips, coincidentally where it’s bleaching. I moved it to the very bottom of the tank with good flow. Hopefully it recovers…

 

[56longroof]

Thinking it’s light because there is algae growing on the tips, coincidentally where it’s bleaching. I moved it to the very bottom of the tank with good flow. Hopefully it recovers…

I had to move some of mine to a shaded area to keep algea off of them. This and alot of flow seemed to help.

 

[Bugenar]

Update: We didn’t get rid of it, it’s doing a lot better now since we moved it, and our decorator arrow crab seems to love hanging out on it.

White spots are mostly gone which is awesome

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Good to hear!

One tricky thing with many sponges is the difficulty in knowing if they are thriving, barely surviving, or actually dead. lol