How can I tell if a sponge is dead?

[djryan2000]

I bought a piece of live rock from my LFS with sponges on it - the associate strongly recommended that I include a sponge in my tank. Upon some reading I see I could have killed my sponges - they were exposed to air during the weighing and packaged in newspaper and a bag and then driven home and just dropped into the tank. It seems like they're a blackish color and I'm not sure if that's normal. I'm afraid of them dying and nuking the tank - especially since I just added a $100 dollar fish!
Here's a photo of the sponge:



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[Daddi0]

It looks open/alive? I would not stress~
Cheers! Mark

 

[djryan2000]

It looks open/alive? I would not stress~
Cheers! Mark

How could you tell that it looks open/alive?


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[Sk8r]

Black is not good, but there are some blackish low-light sponges. I'd just watch your tank chemistry, maybe run carbon, see if they grow.

 

[mcgyvr]

They will NOT nuke your tank.. Way..way too small to cause any problems if they were to die..
Just don't worry and if they are there in a month they are still alive..

Sponges like that can certainly survive air exposure..

 

[Daddi0]

How could you tell that it looks open/alive?


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Well when I have a sponge that dies, it is covered in algae pretty quick. The vent tube looks to be open and they look more of a purple than black in your picture.
Cheers! Mark

 

[djryan2000]

They will NOT nuke your tank.. Way..way too small to cause any problems if they were to die..
Just don't worry and if they are there in a month they are still alive..

Sponges like that can certainly survive air exposure..

If they die will they just fall off the rock after a while?


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[Uncle99]

The creatures inside the sponge which create the flow through the sponge
Start to die when removed from water.

Sponges need a constant water source which they move through their bodies, air is a very bad thing.

Sponges must be packaged in water and never leave the water for best results.
An LFS should know this.

Hope for the best....

It will start to fall apart as it dies, pigment loss going likely white

Not going to kill anything as stated above

 

[billdogg]

Those appear to be a very common sponge, and as luck would have it, ones that are not affected by incidental exposure to air.

There are many types of sponge that live in the inter-tidal zones - meaning that they are exposed to air at every low tide. I wouldn't worry about those at all.

 

[monkeysee1]

+1 for sK8r's and Billdoggs input...
......leave it alone for a bit longer and see if the black starts to go away before chucking it. If it spreads, then yes - it won't be long for this world.....