Sponges

[VoodooChild]

Heyya folks. I just picked up a small piece of LR with quite a bit of growth on it. One of the organisms appears to be a large whitish/creamish sponge that is over most of the rock. I was told by the LFS person just to kinda "squeeze" them to get the air bubbles out. The other, also a sponge I believe, is bright neon green, and there's 2 of these about the size of a nickel and 3 or 4 more about the size of a pencil tip (they're so bright you can't miss them). Any sort of husbandry I should know of, or should I scrape the sponges off with a toothbrush? Also, if they are dying, will my shrimp (skunks) start picking at them? Thank you.

[OrionGirl]

You can try squeezing them, but I wouldn't count in it being very effective. IMO, a better method is to scrape off the sponge a bit and let chunks float around. The pieces will settle and attach in more places, and most will grow. Any dead pieces will be removed quickly. Pick up some good invert filter food--Marine Snow, or such. The sponges will love it. Keep in mind that sponges don't like lots of light, so if they can be in shadowed caves, they will do better.

[VoodooChild]

Point taken thank you very much:) I'll pick up some of Kent's phyto-food on Thursday. What's the best way to scrape them off without damaging them? Thanks again.

[OrionGirl]

Well, you actually WANT to damage them. Sponges can be ground into puree, swirled into new waters, and regrow completely from the bits. So, I'd do the equivalent of a cheese grater--not as much as a blender, but enough to get the bits moved around. Maybe take a stiff brush, and work the area over still in the tank. This will provide small pieces that don't have any air in them to recolonize, and the main chunk should regrow.

[VoodooChild]

I'll grab a toothbrush and see what I can do:) Thanks alot! One more quick question. You posted that site on LR hitchhikers awhile ago, but I lost it. Could you post it again? Thank you.

[OrionGirl]

http://reefs.org/hhfaq/

:)

[VoodooChild]

Thanks Orion. Some day when I am curator for Monteray Bay I'll name an exhibit after you:D I scraped the white sponge off with my fingers, which created about 8-9 big chunks, with some left on the rock. I'm thinking it might be chicken liver sponge, but I know little, so I'm not drawing any conclusions. The little green ones though were stuck as all hell and are very hard. I just left them there. I also discovered some little pink, what look like tunicates next to the green guys. It's like a grab bag! What fun! I'll tell you guys if anything survives (the sponges).

[OrionGirl]

;) I'm honored in advance. How about just giving me discounts on tickets?