help...red tree spong dying????

[quirkie]

Hi.. first time poster...I got 2 red tree sponges just the other day and they seem to be disintigrating...They have white sponge? growing on them and long strings of hair which seem to containg their flesh...what's goin on or is this OK..

thanks in advance Rory Dublin

[graveyardworm]

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Was it exposed to the air at all?

[teamfocus]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7418685#post7418685 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by graveyardworm
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Was it exposed to the air at all? That's what I was thinking also.

[quirkie]

No...was super carful about that..but i did go to the shop i got them from and he's a good bloke and took them back from me...He thought that it was odd that they would go so quickly...the others he had were not in as bad a condition but were getting there...am i correct in thinking that perhaps they were subjected to air before getting to the shop???

realy appreciate you thoughts Thanks

[romunov]

They could have been. See these articles for other possible causes (primarily starvation).
Sponges (http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/april2004/invert.htm)
How to ID a sponge and why should you just call it what it is - a sponge (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rs/index.htm)
Sponges: A Bunch of Holes Held Together by Some Cells (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/rs/index.htm)
Sponges - pump-filter modules through space and time (http://web.archive.org/web/20020806012027/http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1998/jan/wb/default.asp)
Some Truths about Sponges (http://web.archive.org/web/20020806011533/http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1998/feb/wb/default.asp)