anyone have sponge issues?

[likemike99]

So I have 2 tanks and in both I get quite a lot of sponge growth. In one it is a neat bright. In the other it is either white or blue. I had not purchased any sponges, they just grew on their own. My understanding buying sponge was not a good investment since they don't grow well. Well I didn't buy any but i do have some growing well. It is not growing out of control. Just not intended growth. I am not sure what to think. any thoughts?

 

[Fishdisease]

I had a white sponge that grew all over the place in my last tank. It covered most of the exposed undersides of all of my live rock. It never got to be more then an inch thick and it never bothered anything (it wouldn't grow over corals or irritate them). So I left it, plus getting rid of it would have been a huge pita. It's a filter feeder and unless it's causing visible harm I wouldn't be concerned. It actually held my rock together really well...solidified the wobbly rocks in my aquascape over time.

 

[davocean]

Most see sponge as a good thing, but if too many are bugging you not hard to remove.
The only neg I can think of is most die when air hits them, so pulling LR for any reason will have some dieoff.
There are some really pretty sponges, I have a purple plating sponge that I really like, but again, have to be careful about air.

 

[cloak]

Here's a few good articles.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/rs/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rs/index.php

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/4/inverts

 

[franklypre]

Exposing them to air doesn't always kill them, sometimes it seems to make it bloom(or spore)

 

[davocean]

It depends on the type of sponge.

 

[sirreal63]

I have several sponges and they are great, with one exception, I have a purple spaghetti sponge that is death to SPS. In 9 years of this hobby, this is the first sponge I have seen that is toxic to SPS, wherever the tentacles touch sps, they recede. Kind of neat and depressing at the same time. It is also the fastest growing sponge I have ever had.

 

[davocean]

Wow, first I've heard of a sponge that harms sps.
Got pics of that?
Here's my purple plating sponge.

 

[sirreal63]

I need to snap a few pics, if I can find one that I haven't peeled off.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Most of the big sponges do not do well in reef tanks.

A few encrusting sponges do so well they become pests to the point where some folks have considered tearing down their reefs.

Most of us can easily grow many different colors of small sponges in darker areas on live rock.

I specifically add silicate to my system to enhance such growth.

 

[Pallobi]

Wow, first I've heard of a sponge that harms sps.
Got pics of that?
Here's my purple plating sponge.

imo, that is actually really sweet... amazing the things that jus "pop up" out of no where

 

[sirreal63]

It is truly an insidious little sponge, sends out runners which cause polyps to retract, then it attaches and grows a new sponge, which then sends out little runners and the process starts all over.


A new runner just starting.

A pic of the damaged areas. (coral has been fragged to ensure survival)

 

[davocean]

Wow, I've seen similar sponge in my tank but w/out the sweepers or sps choking or damage, trippy.

 

[davocean]

imo, that is actually really sweet... amazing the things that jus "pop up" out of no where

This one I actually sought out, and bought a frag.
It grows really easy, likes darker areas like RHF mentioned.
I like that it is very similar to a purple plating monti but much easier to keep brighter purple color, and no invasive issues like some encrusting monti's may have.
It's very easy to frag, except you need to always keep it submerged.

 

[Lynnmw1208]

I have pineapple sponges showing up everywhere! do these go away with time? they look kind of weird.

 

[phenom5]

I've got plenty of the white-ish/ tan-ish/ ugly-ish grows on the under side of rocks sponge.

I've also got a ton of this yellow sponge (pic under actinic so it looks a little green)

And I've got patches of pink/ purple sponge, and this patch of drab green with bright yellow dots.

 

[jgsteven]

Coral attacking sponge

Coral attacking sponge

I had a similar looking sponge to the one that is damaging your SPS on my galaxea a while back. It seemed to be winning for about 6 months, and killed a few polyps. I pulled the coral out of the tank to expose the sponge to air, and physically removed as much as I could several times, but never was able to kill it.

In the end, I began heavily feeding the galaxea by syringe as a last ditch measure -- and fortunately after a few months of this this galaxea appears to have beat the sponge and it entirely disappeared.

 

[likemike99]

thanks for all the input. Pretty much share the same opinions. I just was not sure what to think of it. I figured it as a plus for the filter feeding , since it is not harming anything.

 

[allsps40]

I've got plenty of the white-ish/ tan-ish/ ugly-ish grows on the under side of rocks sponge.

I've also got a ton of this yellow sponge (pic under actinic so it looks a little green)

I have these all over my rock as well as purple ones and white ones.

 

[KafudaFish]

Wow, first I've heard of a sponge that harms sps.
Got pics of that?
Here's my purple plating sponge.

That is a very cool sponge.