Sponge Article

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mogurnda

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Apr 29, 2003
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Just thought people might be interested in this article by Rob Toonen in the most recent Advanced Aquarist online. A lot of us have sponges, mostly brought in with live rock, and most of us have little idea of how to make them thrive. The article describes their biology, and something of their care. For me, one of the coolest things about marine aquaria is exploring other phyla, and sponges are about as different as they get.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/april2004/invert.htm
 
I love sponges Morg! I don't mean to hijack your thread but would you please reccomend one for a 90 gallon reef set up? I should have enough lighting to satify almost any of them and stable water conditions. I wonder if you had enough of them if you could perhaps use them in the place of a skimmer? Also could you advise on a good source for them most of my lfs seem to be afraid of them. I'd really like to get a couple though one like maybe a chicken liver or halaconia to cement my l.r together and one of the pretty one's that are fairly fool proof.
thank you
chris
 
Chris,
I am very much a newbie when it comes to sponge selection. I have stuck with hitchhikers so far, and some of them have started to cover the bottoms of the rocks and fill in the cracks. I use very scientific terminology, like "the orange one" and "the black, fluffy one." Little by little, I am hoping to learn a lot more from articles like the one in AA.

For selection, the best I can do is parrot what Toonen says:
Particularly hardy reef sponges which are well suited for the novice and nervous include Callyspongia vaginalis (Lavender tube sponge, typically with Parazoanthus throughout the body wall), Chondrilla nucula (Chicken-liver sponge), Cliona delitrix (Red boring sponge), and Cinachyra kuekenthali (Orange ball sponge).
Click to expand...
I have seen orange ball sponge for sale online, so that may be a good one.

In principle, it seems like heavy sponge growth could substitute for a skimmer. Some say that a lot of the benefits of live rock are due to the sponges. Not sure how much sponge, and what kind, would do the trick, though.
 
I love my sponge! I have one of those ''orange ball" ones, when I don't remember what size was being talked about but it could filter 5gallons of water a day through its pores. They are really nice, pretty cheap too, the only problem I have with mine is that my snails climb on it and then it rolls. You can tell how your water is doing by how it looks too... if there is any type of stuff floating on the top of the water you can notice it on the outside of the spounge... which isn't good for the spounge but made me get an overflow :) That was a good article.
 
oh oh oh oh .... they also change their shape based on the current in the tank, when mine is moved by a snail I'll notice it looks A LITTLE different in a few days.. its pretty cool (Strong Currents will make it rounded and low current will make it have like deeper creaves's in it like folds?)
 
I have a red sponge (fairly good size at about 6"x4") and an orange tree sponge. They both are doing well I would think since they have lasted for 8 months without a hitch. The hermies are good to crawl on them because they clean off algae that might grow on them from the light. With sponges you want a darker place to put them in if possible otherwise they begin growing algae. I also feed DTs daily (1 cap of Marine DTs). I am not sure I need to do this but my trates and trites are fine so something is using it.

Bottom line from my experience:
good water flow, low lighting, feed a supplement

I hope this helps!

Mike
 
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