Australian sponge update

[jeremym420]

So far the aussie sponges are doing great. They seem to do best completely shaded and under high water flow. I also feed oyster eggs a couple times a week. The zooanthid polyps are big enough that they also take cyclopeeze and mysis. It's still too early to tell how they will do long term, but they have been in captivity for about 5-6 months now and so far so good.

 

[acdraindrps]

Sweet!

 

[Namyar]

That is great they are cool looking

 

[thriceanangel]

Man, waiting to see frags of that thing!

 

[jeremym420]

I'm going to give it a few more months, and if they are still doing well i will make up a couple frags.

 

[PCIALF]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11613674#post11613674 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jeremym420
I'm going to give it a few more months, and if they are still doing well i will make up a couple frags.

in line

 

[Capt_Cully]

I just got a few frags from Jeremy. Beautiful, just as advertised. So I can bet those sponges are as nice in person as they are above. Keep us posted JM.

 

[jeremym420]

Glad your happy with the frags Mark. Hopefully the sponge continues to do well and i can offer up some frags in the near future. It's amazing how colorful and exotic the stuff comming out of australia is. I had to stop looking at the aussie acans to make sure i don't make anymore impulse buys

 

[Capt_Cully]

Is most of that stuff aquacultured or what? Do we need to be concerned about conservation and vicimization of the GBR or anything?

 

[jeremym420]

The only aquacultured aussie corals are the ones the hobbiests are selling as frags. All the crazy colonies you see comming in are all wild collected. From what i understand, it is very controlled collecting.

 

[Capt_Cully]

Is there any information available about it. The aussie stuff seems to really be in vogue right now. I love the way it looks but certainly would be appaulled if I was contributing to some new "gold rush" attack on the GBR.

(sorry, not trying to be a #%$**er, but...ya know what I mean..)

 

[jeremym420]

I couldn't find much online about collection in Australia. I know they are very strict about how many collector they issue permits to, and the quotas on how many coral can be taken. Most wholesale facilities that are lucky enough to get aussie corals are limited to 1 shimpent per month. I'm going to post another thread about this and see if other people have more details.

 

[magdelan]

Why is it that anytime there is a video of a reef, the images are never of anything that I see in the store. There are always montipora and acropora, but never frogspawn, acans, zoos, etc...

 

[Kreeger1]

The white part is actually not a sponge, its a parazooanthid spelling check on that, that is eating the host sponge. On the lines of a hydroid but a little different. Cool stuff though.
Erik

 

[Kent E]

can the parazoanthid live without the host?

 

[Kreeger1]

Not sure, I would guess no but I can't be sure as I've never had a chance to try it yet myself.

jeremym420
Can you see the white polyps feed on anything else?
Do you feed reef mariculture food such as shellfish diet or roti feast?

How much was that sponge if you don't mind me asking. I'd love to find something like that
Erik

 

[Namyar]

Hey what ever happened to these corals are they still doing well

 

[jeremym420]

Hey Namyar, the sponges are still doing great. The key to them is providing a completely shaded area with high water flow. Feeding them is also very important. I use cyclopeese, oyster eggs, and mysis a few times a week.

 

[thriceanangel]

Got a frag you want to trade?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12492004#post12492004 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jeremym420
Hey Namyar, the sponges are still doing great. The key to them is providing a completely shaded area with high water flow. Feeding them is also very important. I use cyclopeese, oyster eggs, and mysis a few times a week.

for those unaware, sponges are not corals.
Sponges will not consume Cyclopeeze or mysis- these items are much too large for them. Sponges will utilize oyster eggs and/or other broken up small sized food particles. ("Coral Frenzy" might be a good choice for feeding sponges directly.)
The Parazoanthids are more likely to be consuming Cyclopeeze and mysids.
How are the sponges faring in relation to the zoanthids, Jeremy?
Are either of them actually reproducing/growing?