Help...sponges!

[ksanmamaril]

So ive been researching all last night at work and this morning when I got home and ive come to a conclusion that I got a pink encrusting sponge... But with all that research, I havent found a solution to the problem... Does anyone have any experiences with this and does anyone know how to get rid of it, besides scraping and exposing it to air? Let me know... It seems like its spreading fast and close to my corals... Also my rocks are from marcorocks and I was wondering if marco rocks were once live rock then dried out before sold... Thanks in advance

Btw I dont want to keep the sponges... Just wanna get rid of it

 

[BeanMachine]

I'd love to take the sponge if u can peel or scrape it off. Let me know.

 

[ksanmamaril]

Haha okay... Thought u had some insight but yeah ill gladly give it to u if I can scrape it off... Ill let u know

 

[BeanMachine]

Haha okay... Thought u had some insight but yeah ill gladly give it to u if I can scrape it off... Ill let u know

I don't know of any secrets sorry. Is the sponge shaded? Expose it to more light maybe? I'd be hesistsnt to start cutting it off but make sure to get it any free floating pieces to prevent it from spreading in other areas .

 

[RandyFolds]

I have never seen a problem sponge...you wanna be like steve tyree, don't you? it's the cryptic dank...

I would definitely leave it, or give it away before killing it.

Seriously though, silica is usually at way too much of a premium for sponges to overtake coral. Most sponge-keepers need to supplement it. Consider your topoff or maybe something else in the tank that could be supplementing your silica levels...maybe that is the cause of the massive growth.

 

[RandyFolds]

Also, breaking a sponge off it's substrate usually kills it. You'd be better off giving or trading away the rocks that it is on.

 

[562R33f3r]

Sponges will come and go Ken. You may have too much nutrients in your tank? How many fish do you have or how often do you feed? I used to feed my fish every other day and I had a sponge explosion! Keep the feeding to a minimum. IMO

 

[vamaro]

I have white sponge growing in my tank on a few rocks. The sponge I have seems to prefer less light and grows mostly under some shelf rock that I have.

I had a moorish idol that was eating the sponge like crazy. Bit since getting rid of the idol my other fish (mostly triggers) do not seem to have in interest in it. The sections that the morish idol ate eventually grew back after the idol was gone but it took a while. If you can find a fish that will eat the sponge, it will go fast becasue they pick at it all day.

I do feed a lot, and feed everyday. I have triggers, rays, etc. Messy eaters. I test my water and my nitrates are undetectable and the phosphates are not too bad either but could be better. The sponge has been there for over 15 months.