Red tree Sponge Help

[zplat]

I have had a nice sized red tree sponge for the past two months, in the past couple days there is a White film growing. I shake it off.
(never touching air). Now it looks like it's color is going quick too.
My PH has been running lower.even after my water changes, I am now buffering it and have it back to 8.2
The rest of my water params are all in good readings.
Does water temp have anything to do? I have been getting up to 85 deg and everyting else looks great.
Light ..it is at the back of the tank and not directly in the light ,but at the same time not out of if completely.I am running 550 MH.
Can it be saved? if so how?
thanks for any advise.
Brian

 

[smy168]

believe it or not most sponges aren't light needy, they require high water flow (really high and as filter feeders they need phyto dosing or other food supplements. White film is definitely a bad sign and color fading means it's on it's way out but if you really want to give it a shot, I would increase the water flow and target feed with phyto or maxzooz.

good luck.

 

[Sk8r]

85 degrees in combination with light is 'bleaching' territory. YOu might need to reverse the day night cycle of your tank to take advantage of cooler temps at night. I second smy168's suggestion.

 

[zplat]

Thanks smy168 and SK8r for the advise.
I want to run a fan across the tops of my tank. have either of you done this to cool the tank.if so how much does it work?
Since I added a couple maxijet 1200 it seems like the water has gone about 5 deg warmer. Is it the maxi jets or the Average chicago temp? my house has been about 73-76 deg's

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7696386#post7696386 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sk8r
85 degrees in combination with light is 'bleaching' territory. YOu might need to reverse the day night cycle of your tank to take advantage of cooler temps at night. I second smy168's suggestion.

 

[smy168]

the 1200 will add some temp to your system but they still run cooler than most powerheads. I have a fan pionted over my tank to keep it cooler but beware evaporation, when this happens you can use fresh water to top it off. depending on the fan you can bring the temp down about 3 degrees.

 

[zplat]

I set up a large fan( all I have at this time) about two hours ago. and my temp is down to 84 deg. I have also turned on my house air conditioning which lowered my house temp from 80 to 77,so far,
Do you think the sponge will come back? it has lost a lot of it's color?

 

[zplat]

Anyone ever watch Reef ideos.com
Pretty nice stuff.
http://www.reefvideos.com/reefshowcase_04_content.html

 

[smy168]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7701668#post7701668 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zplat
I set up a large fan( all I have at this time) about two hours ago. and my temp is down to 84 deg. I have also turned on my house air conditioning which lowered my house temp from 80 to 77,so far,
Do you think the sponge will come back? it has lost a lot of it's color?

Tough to say when it comes to sponges, I've seen some come back but most eventually die off. If you really want to try, I would focus more on feeding and high water movement and not worry so much about lighting, in the end a sponges need food. I would try a simple mix of Phyto and I personally am a fan of Kent ZooMax. Dose every other day and be ready to do maybe 10%-15% (5 gallon) water changes every week. This is about as aggressive I would go to bringing back a sponge, if you don't see results in a month or so, then it may be time to remove it completely.

Good luck

Here's a pic of my red sponge ball with zoanthis Swifitis

 

[chocolateblnt]

I have a Red Tree Sponge that is doing really well ... do you have a pic of yours? I am away from my regular computer but I'll try to come back to this thread and help when I get back home!

 

[chocolateblnt]

 

[Frizz]

red ball sponge

red ball sponge

OOh, I have one of those awesome sponges as well. It looks a lot like yours. Is the zoanthis swiftis the yellow polyps or is that part of the sponge?
Frizz

Here's a pic of my red sponge ball with zoanthis Swifitis

[/B]