Can sponges and tunicates tolerate iodine, revive, or FWE dips??

jlinzmaier

Premium Member
I'm working on creating a cryptic zone for the use of filtation via sponges. I have found some little cryptic sponges in my sump but I'd like to go sponge hunting through the LR at my LFS's. My only concern is that most LFS's have no idea what AEFW's, RB's, planaria, Monti eating nudis are. That means their rock and other livestock could very well be infested (I've seen more than one reputable LFS have colonies clearly infested with multiple nasty parasites). Granted, most of these parasites live on particular species of corals, but the chance of getting something in from it being on some LR or sponge colony is more risk than I'm willing to take.

Can sponges or tunicates tolerate iodine or revive dips to remove any unwanted guests?? I'd love to just QT and observe the sponges but many of the parasites are so small that an infestation (or a single larva or egg waiting for the right circumstances to create an infestation) can't easily be ruled out by observation (especially since sponges can't be easily removed and viewed with a magnifying glass due to the risk of air getting inside their porous structure.

Any info would be very much appreciated.

Jeremy
 
I dont think Iodine would work. You could try revive it's supposed to be all natural. FW dip would also probably kill them as well.
 
I wouldn't put any of those through a dip. Especially a sponge because you can't take a sponge out of the water and there would be no way of getting it from the dip to the DT without cross contamination.
 
I wouldn't put any of those through a dip. Especially a sponge because you can't take a sponge out of the water and there would be no way of getting it from the dip to the DT without cross contamination.

Yeah, excellent point. So how does someone keep from bringing in unwanted pests when you buy sponges and tunicates??

Jeremy
 
Leave the sponge in the bag of water then empty the bag of water into the container to be dipped in. Then on the reverse to put it into the tank just drip acclimate it for a few hours and rinse out the dipping solution with water change water. So you would use one gallon to dip then say rinse that one gallon with ten gallons of tank water. The revive would be so diluted that you could put that water into your tank. A lot of work, but you could do it if you really want to.
 
I guess that is possible but some of those chemicals even in minute quantities can be extremely toxic to your tank and you just shouldn't risk it.
 
Leave the sponge in the bag of water then empty the bag of water into the container to be dipped in. Then on the reverse to put it into the tank just drip acclimate it for a few hours and rinse out the dipping solution with water change water. So you would use one gallon to dip then say rinse that one gallon with ten gallons of tank water. The revive would be so diluted that you could put that water into your tank. A lot of work, but you could do it if you really want to.

Thanks. Sounds like a relatively good plan. Certainly the best suggestion so far. I would think setting up a sequence of flush/wash containers could dilute the dipping solution enough to keep it from harming anything in the DT.


I guess that is possible but some of those chemicals even in minute quantities can be extremely toxic to your tank and you just shouldn't risk it.

What do you suggest for properly adding sponges to a DT while preventing the addition of any unwanted parasites??

Jeremy
 
Well I don't want to sound snobby or anything but personally if I see any major issues like flatworms or something else, I just would play it safe since sponges are do delicate. I would just inspect it very well and decide if it looks safe or not. If you have any doubts at all, don't buy it. That's how I do it.
 
Well I don't want to sound snobby or anything but personally if I see any major issues like flatworms or something else, I just would play it safe since sponges are do delicate. I would just inspect it very well and decide if it looks safe or not. If you have any doubts at all, don't buy it. That's how I do it.

Oh no, not snobby. I see your point. I just find it really hard to entirely rule out many pests just by looking at it. Not to mention if it's bought on-line there is no way to view it first.

Thanks for the input!!

Jeremy
 
I don't know how this story got started but the majority of sponges will be just fine if they're in air for a while. Live rock tends to be collected from shallow lagoons where the rocks are exposed at low tide. A lot of my field work involves having divers collect sponges from deeper areas so I can examine them for critters. Again, the majority do fine when placed back in some water.
 
Ok well I can tell you that orange finger sponges and orange fan sponges can't be taken out of the water. Killed both of mine when I did that. Now I have more though.
 
Revive destroyed the sponges within minutes... they just melted away.

i too, have some sponges on a LR (one i didn't dip) that i have removed and replaced in water several times...they are still there (and growing)
 
I too have some that can tolerate being removed from the water, however some cannot. It depends on where they occur naturally and if they have adapted to being exposed to the air or not.
 
I too have some that can tolerate being removed from the water, however some cannot. It depends on where they occur naturally and if they have adapted to being exposed to the air or not.

That's so true! And it's always good to be cautious just because there's so much we don't know about the critters living in tanks.
 
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