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Gilbert
Mon, 2nd Jun 2008, 11:45 PM
im my tank i have recently notice some sponges growing in different places under my rocks. they seem to not like direct lighting. but the population seems to have grown a little since i switched over to MH's from PC's and i want to get rid of them. is there some sort of reef safe shrimp or fish i can buy??? the sponges are lime green, dome shaped, with many little pores and a single bigger pore that pokes outwards. they came on a red mushroom rock i had got from wolf reef about 8 months ago.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk89/Gilbert1606/DSC00926.jpg
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk89/Gilbert1606/DSC00922.jpg
JimD
Tue, 3rd Jun 2008, 12:34 AM
Why get rid of them? Theyre beautiful and are beneficial.. Some angelfish feed on sponge, might want to do some research.
SoLiD
Tue, 3rd Jun 2008, 01:41 AM
Sponges are some of the most beneficial animals to have in your Marine Aquarium. When it comes to natural filtration, no other Living Filter compares. If I were you I'd count your blessings.

I will post Your Pictures. Here you go:
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk89/Gilbert1606/DSC00922.jpg

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk89/Gilbert1606/DSC00926.jpg
p00num3lli
Tue, 3rd Jun 2008, 12:35 PM
Why get rid of them? Theyre beautiful and are beneficial.. Some angelfish feed on sponge, might want to do some research.

i dont think that he new that there were not benificial to his tank:D. but now you know , they are very good for your tank and you dont want to get rid of them, very good for your refugium also
LoneStar
Tue, 3rd Jun 2008, 01:04 PM
Keep 'em. They'll do more good than harm!
Gilbert
Tue, 3rd Jun 2008, 04:19 PM
wow, i had no idea.
envy
Fri, 6th Jun 2008, 08:04 PM
i have a couple same color and also some purples they look nice once they get bigger just try to keep them away from hard corals as it might grow on it and over take it happened to me with candy canes
des
Sat, 7th Jun 2008, 11:17 PM
i got a piece of live rock from wolf reef and have the exact same sponges, i like them a lot!
tropicana
Mon, 16th Jun 2008, 11:29 PM
i have a couple same color and also some purples they look nice once they get bigger just try to keep them away from hard corals as it might grow on it and over take it happened to me with candy canes

How can you stop this? I have some sponge growing on some green acros and its killing it, base up. How do you stop it? Take it out of the water for a short period? I heard sponges cant handle air....
Mr Cob
Tue, 17th Jun 2008, 12:28 PM
How can you stop this? I have some sponge growing on some green acros and its killing it, base up. How do you stop it? Take it out of the water for a short period? I heard sponges cant handle air....

Good idea! I would also remove the sponge because if they are large they could cause problems while dieing. I believe they release some toxins when dieing.

I have a fist size orange sponge that I got recently and I love it...I just hope it takes to my tank and doesn't start to die off.
JimD
Tue, 17th Jun 2008, 02:27 PM
Only a few sponges will release toxins when they die, most arent found in a captive reef. Typicly, the hard crusted blue sponge will but, the soft tissue common blues will be fine. If you have them encroaching on your corals, just scrape them back to give the coral some breathing room.
Mr Cob
Tue, 17th Jun 2008, 03:41 PM
Only a few sponges will release toxins when they die, most arent found in a captive reef. Typicly, the hard crusted blue sponge will but, the soft tissue common blues will be fine. If you have them encroaching on your corals, just scrape them back to give the coral some breathing room.

Super good to know!!! I've been doing a lot of research online about them and it's so hard to find solid information about them. Everything is either too generalized or too specific if that makes any sense at all.

Anyways...thanks for the clarification :)
RayAllen
Wed, 18th Jun 2008, 12:59 PM
Very good to know. Great post Gilbert. Ive had them before not knowing rather they were beneficial or not.
txstateunivreefer
Fri, 4th Jul 2008, 12:13 PM
I have those same ones in my tank they dont hurt anything zoas get irritated when the sponge touches them, however use caution when scraping them off. I scraped one off one time and when i did it released something toxins or whatever everything all corals anemones etc all closed up and deflated like everything was going to die... i ran carbon and everything bounced back but i would just be careful.