Pink sponge (Aplysilla rosea)

sfarid123

New member
Hey guys,

Does anyone know if this spong is bad for a reef tank? I'm planning to keep a BTA and hope it would not harm the nem.

thanks
 
If you had this sponge living in your tank it would be very bad news. Since it's a coldwater sponge, if it was doing well, reef animals wouldn't be.

Whatever your sponge is, it's probably harmless, especially to motile animals like anemones.
 
thanks for the reply,

do you suggest that i should get rid of the sponge?
and if so what is the best way?
Also do you know if they could cause stress for fromia star fish?

I have recently bought a orange star that is curling its arms and trying to figure out if the sponge is the culprit

thanks again
 
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No, there is no need to get rid of it. In all likelihood it's completely harmless to everything in the tank including the star. The trouble with these stars is extremely common and is usually due to salinity/acclimation issues or lack of food.
 
Great, thanks for the info :)

When I bought the star from the LFS, their salinity was 1.019 and Alk 15dKH and my salinity & Alk currently is 1.023 & 11 dKH ; I acclimated it within 1.5 hr or so; do you think i need to raise my salinity higher to what target?

Also should temp fluctuations be a concern?
 
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Temp fluctuations aren't a problem. The salinity is. 1.019 is way low for invertebrates, especially delicate ones like sea stars. Even the short time it was in the shop was probably enough to doom it. 1.023 is also a bit low, but it would take a bit longer for that to do the star in. It's probably already too late for the star, but bump your salinity up to at least 1.025. In the future, I wouldn't buy any inverts from a system that's kept as low as you LFS'.
 
Thanks again,
Just for future reference, do you know any good sites where I can get detailed Info on starfish,nems or other invertibrates?

BTW that is a cute avitar, who is she if you dont mind me asking?
 
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