Any good advice for taking care of a blue sponge?
 

So I went to phishys today for my birthday present (tomorrow)

My boyfriend picked out this blue sponge, its beautiful!! I was wondering if any of you also bought these sponges and how they are doing.

any good advice for taking care of it? (lighting, flow, food, etc??)

I always assumed sponges are hard to keep alive... but I gotta give it my best shot! :)

[IMG]http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h159/TOURKID/DSCF2701.jpg[/IMG]


thanks for any info! the internet seems void of sponge information

You should probably keep it out of direct sunlight and somewhere where there is current but not a powerhead aiming directly at it.

I think i heard aaron say that this sponge is photosynthetic. I would PM him and ask him.

Yes Aaron and Serdar both said it was a photosynthetic. Very nice grab I almost got one of those but decided against it. Kind of wish I would have.

right now its about 7 inches from the sandbed. The back of it is shaded.

serdar dident sound posative that is photosynthetic. If it starts to bleach just move it maybe?

jakano.. theres still 4-5 pieces left, hard to resist the blue stuff :D

I have some red sponge I've had for a couple years. It definately likes to be shaded. The top fades over time so I just flip it...the underside is always bright red. I shoot some cyclopseeze at it once in a while and it seems happy. Slow grower though. Mine is more of a blob, very different structure than yours.

I got this blue and the purple... I put them in light as suggested and it started dieing...

Then I moved it to the shade and it started doing better. I would not put it in direct light. I needes decent flow but not hard direct flow.

hope that helps and good luck with it. Both my purple and blue are still alive, although the blue is not doing as well as the purple.

really. ok thanks for the heads up! Ill go ahead and move it.

Those are some sweet blue sponges. I keep thinking about grabbing one for the Sea Horse Tank.

I believe they are species of Haliclona. Heres a bit of info on the tropical members of this genus (1st and 3rd articles)
[url=http://www.wetwebmedia.com/spongedisfaqs.htm]Haliclona[/URL]

As Bob Fenner notes:
"Out of the Indo-Pacific several warm colored Sponge genera/species are collected for the trade; my choice picks are the beautiful blue, yellow or purple Halichondria and Haliclona. These two genera comprise hardy (1’s), hermatypic finger and encrusting species requiring intense light."

It is possible that bleaching could be the result of light shock, like introducing a photosynthetic coral to a new light scheme (which happens with corals that require high light as well). Hopefully those that have faded will adjust and reestablish themselves. In the mean time, Id still suggest a Strong current, and very regular feedings until it is able to produce its own food (color back up)

HTH

I have noted sponge growth due to feeding phytoplankton, DT's and Phytofeast.

awsome! thanks so much for the name and info!

that helps alot.

The only tiny food i have right now are dts oyster eggs, will that sufice till i get some phytoplankton?

edit: also, heres where the sponge is located.. (bad pic only actinics are on at the moment..

think i should move it up? (90 gal tank, 2 250 watt mh's and 2 t5s)

[IMG]http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h159/TOURKID/DSCF2705.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10519762#post10519762 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TOURKID [/i]
[B]The only tiny food i have right now are dts oyster eggs, will that sufice till i get some phytoplankton?[/B][/QUOTE]

I think that will be OK for a little while at least. I usually suggest a good combination of foods for filter feeding sponges- mostly cause noone (myself included) seems to be 100% sure what food items they use most efficiently. Ideally Id recommend a combo of micro food (oyster eggs), phytoplankton, and something like Marine Snow. When I feed them, I use a mixture of phyto, eggs, and mysis shrimp 'juice' (from thawing out the frozen stuff).

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10519762#post10519762 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TOURKID [/i]
[B]also, heres where the sponge is located.. (bad pic only actinics are on at the moment..
think i should move it up? (90 gal tank, 2 250 watt mh's and 2 t5s)
[/B][/QUOTE]

I think that placement would be OK for now, just for the sake of avoiding light shock (if thats actually whats going on with them). More importantly than light, just make sure its in a spot with really heavy flow moving across the whole colony.

And Happy Birthday! :beer:

I borrowed Sean's cryptic sponge book a while back. Based on my readings and experience with about 7 species of sponges in my cryptic fuge, I would recommend keeping it out of light completely. As for feeding, most sponges filter feed on particulate smaller than 5 micron. There are only a few species of phytoplankton that have a size this small. I would not target feed it. Once a pore is clogged, the section dies. Likewise with air contact.

I would keep it in a low flow area. My sponges thrive in almost no flow at all. I have a 40 breeder being fed by about 75 gph.

hollaback... you just completely contradicted all the info ive gotton so far lol

I did read about clogging pores and the section dieing.... I almost want to slice it in two and keep em in different places. im a bit torn.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10521628#post10521628 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TOURKID [/i]
[B]hollaback...[/B][/QUOTE]

Just for clairification, HOLLBACK is my last name. There is no "A". That song ruined my life!

Sorry to make it difficult. I am only going off of my experience with my cryptic fuge that I have had set up since Sept. 05.

Splitting the colony with a razorblade might not be a bad idea. Try it in two different enviornmental locations. If one starts to melt away then you've always got another. I'm not sure but you might have to watch that PB with the sponges.

heehee sorry! I hate that song too.

Ill keep an eye on the sponge. from what i read a few cells is enough to keep it alive, so i might cut off a smaller piece for now.

the pb is in jail for awhile, think it has ick so.... *pouting*

lol

So how old are your now????

And do you tell your friends what you got for your b-day present???

sammie-- 28 :)

b day presents? sure. phishys gift cards, a trip to phishys, v. secret, bath and body works... steak dinner.... and in a lil bit we are going and renting a ski boat at alum creek for a few hrs. should be fun :)

One thing to keep in mind is that a cryptic fuge is designed in a way that only sponges that prefer low flow and low light conditions will thrive there. The several species that grow successfully in that environment do so because they are specifically adapted to it- any high light/flow sponges thay may have been on the rockwork would have died long before you knew they were in there, leaving the low/low varieties behind to grow. Youve been successful with sponges, but only with a limited variety of them. You cant generalize and say that all sponges will do well in that kind of set up simply because those particular species did; that would imply that all species are adapted to require the same environment.

According to Mr Calfo on the topic of blue sponges in general~
[quote] They are unique among Poriferans in that they like very high light, very (!) strong water movement and they are both calcareous and heavily photosynthetic. Basically, treat them like an sps coral. The big catch is that they cannot be exposed to air for long or at all. Bag them completely underwater and release them underwater...Little or no phyto[plankton] needed. They are symbiotic with BGA. [/quote]

You are right Aaron. I am generalizing and basing my statement off of my experience. I would like to point out in the Calfo quote "They are unique among Poriferans in that they like very high light". This would lead me to believe that most don't. I also have several of the same species of sponges growing in my display in high flow areas and also in my cryptic fuge. I added the sponges to the cryptic tank. They did not come form the LR.

You would obviously know better on the subject of the blue sponge being discussed. I am not arguing that what I am saying applies to that species. I am just generalizing IME. :)

Hollaback and AmigaAquatica its rumble time! :eek1:

I've never heard of a sponge that enjoys light but I think it would be a great experiment to conduct. Anyone have some of this blue sponge to slice and put in two places? Would be an interesting experiment. What kind of lighting did Serdar have this under? If this is really photosynthetic via symbiosis I could really see this catching on in the hobby as we all seem to have pretty high powered setups.

There are many photosynthetic sponges, in fact, using cyanobacteria commonly as the symbiont (versus zooxanthellae as in corals)

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10525367#post10525367 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Genetics [/i]
[B]Hollaback and AmigaAquatica its rumble time! :eek1:
[/B][/QUOTE]

BRING IT ON!!!! :lol:

Not trying to give you a hard time at all Jason- what you said about many sponges is absolutely true. Only meant to point out that there are exceptions.

And thanks Anthony!

I have this sponge and the purple... I moved them out of high light to low light and they appear to be doing better.

My blue split when I tried to move it (already attached to a rock) so I will put one piece in high flow high light and the other in low flow low light and see what happens.