Help me create an ideal environment for the growth of sponges and tunicates

[jlinzmaier]

Some have called it a cryptic fuge but I don't think the term has yet been truly coined. I'd like to create an area where sponges, tunicates, and other inverts can thrive. I'm hoping this area can become a refuge for various pods and other fauna as well as various species of filter feeding inverts. The goal would be to successfully create an environment for these types of animals so they can reproduce, assist with filtration of the water, and coincidentally the offspring, reproductive components, and fauna overflow can become a healthy and live snack for my corals and fish.

In my current sump I have various types of sponges which have grown on the underside of the rocks indicating they prefer low light or no light. Therefore, my thoughts on this project is that it would have very little light or light only in one area for a portion of the day. I plan to have various sizes of substrate including an area of 4-5 inch deep fine sand. I also plan to order some live mud from florida as well as some live sand from an indonesian supplier. I would think that would be enough to seed things and get some significant biodiversity. The entire space would be filled with substrate of varying depths and sizes as well as LR rubble as well as the upper space being filled with some LR. This entire tank will likely be a 75 or 55 gal tank and simply be branched off from my existing sump plumbing. The return from this tank would be via gravity to prevent any unecessary harm to any fauna heading out into the DT return.

I plan to feed this area frequently (daily) some live phyto (I'm culturing nano, tet, and isochrysis) as well as 2-3 times per week a large feeding of newly hatched brine shrimp. I'd also like to feed this are some sponge power by KZ. I have no idea if this stuff is snake oil or not but I'm willing to give it a go. I've heard good things about it.

Few questions for you experts on sponges, tunicates, and other such creatures:

What flow rate is ideal for these types of animals?? I'm sure it varies from species to species but give me a general idea of what I should shoot for.

Should I have an area of high flow rate and an area of low flow rate?

Are there any other details I'm missing to make this a successful and interesting endeavor??

Jeremy

 

[jlinzmaier]

Anyone ever done a project like this??

Jeremy

 

[Western_reefer]

I don't have a separate species only tank, but I do have tunicates and TONS of sponges in my 180 gallon DT. Almost all the sponges are in dark caves.

 

[jlinzmaier]

I don't have a separate species only tank, but I do have tunicates and TONS of sponges in my 180 gallon DT. Almost all the sponges are in dark caves.

Hey, thanks for the feedback.

Nearly all of the sponges I've seen seem to grow either in caves with very little light or in completely dark areas. Tunicates on the other hand seem to grow in more lighting than sponges but not in the very bright areas.

Does anyone know what kind of flow is preferential for sponges and tunicates?? In my tank all the areas that are dark and shaded coincidently also have relatively low flow. I'm not sure if the sponges would do as well or even better if there was a higher flow rate. Any thoughts??

Jeremy

 

[Western_reefer]

Hey, thanks for the feedback.

Nearly all of the sponges I've seen seem to grow either in caves with very little light or in completely dark areas. Tunicates on the other hand seem to grow in more lighting than sponges but not in the very bright areas.

Does anyone know what kind of flow is preferential for sponges and tunicates?? In my tank all the areas that are dark and shaded coincidently also have relatively low flow. I'm not sure if the sponges would do as well or even better if there was a higher flow rate. Any thoughts??

Jeremy

Np.

Yeah.


Eh, my sponges are everywhere. In VERY high flow areas and very low flow areas.

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

This is a display tank but it basically is a "cryptic fuge". I call it a lagoon setup.

Sponges and a little macro only! Also two seahorses and a rainsford's goby. Soon to be hopefully a pair of Bongo Shrimp (Phyllognathia ceratophthalma) too.

Pics:
FTS:

Orange Finger Sponge:

Orange Paddle Sponge:

Blue Sponge (Haliclona spp.):

Unknown Blue Sponge (My Frag):

Unknown Blue Sponge (Mother Colony): NOT MY PIC

Unknown Purple Sponge (My Frag):

Unknown Purple Sponge (Mother Colony): (sorry about the watermark)

Yellow Reidi Seahorse:

Orange Reidi Seahorse (ORA):

Like it?

 

[jlinzmaier]

Awesome!! What sort of flow and lighting do your sponges seem to prefer?

Jeremy

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

It is extremely low flow as the seahorses need low flow. You can see in the FTS that I have wrapped a filter sponge over the outflow to reduce flow significantly. As for light. Only the light blue sponge, dark blue sponge, and purple sponge are actually photosynthetic. I have the stock PC lights of the biocube 29g on them, nothing special. The others just need to have the algae blown off them once or twice a day with a turkey baster.

Any other questions, feel free to ask...

 

[Western_reefer]

Phyllognathia ceratophthalma are VERY nice! But pricey! Very nice tank and pictures Bongo Shrimp!!

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

Thanks Western_reefer!

While we're on the topic, you wouldn't happen to know of a place other than liveaquaria that has any bongo shrimp?

Oh and I forgot to mention that I have some other sponges hidden in the liverock that came as hitchhikers.

 

[Western_reefer]

Thanks Western_reefer!

While we're on the topic, you wouldn't happen to know of a place other than liveaquaria that has any bongo shrimp?

Oh and I forgot to mention that I have some other sponges hidden in the liverock that came as hitchhikers.

Umm... No, I don't know any other place that sells Bongo Shrimp.

 

[lancer99]

Bongo,
Great tank! How long has it been going?

-R

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

It's been going for about 5 months now.