spider sponge?

[fullmonti]

Received my order from DD today. (try to get some pix tomorrow) One new critter is a spider sponge, was wondering if any one has kept one & could give tips on care?

 

[uhuru]

Don't spot feed the polyps. They grow fast enough as is. Mine died due to temperature shock but even if it lived I'm not sure how long, because the polyps grow faster than the sponge.

 

[Matt_Wandell]

Any luck getting the polyps to grow onto some other substrate?

 

[uhuru]

Stunreefer tried but the polyps died without the sponge.

 

[alexruegamer]

i had no success in growing on other substrate.

i made the expirence that the polyps grow very fast that i cant see the sponge

 

[fullmonti]

S0 are you guys saying that the polyps growing to fast causes the hole sponge to die?
We are moving the studio so haven't had a chance to get a photo yet, but he looks very happy already. I hope I haven't gotten one of those critters you just can't keep alive. Because I love the big white polyps.

 

[coltrref]

Stunreefer tried but the polyps died without the sponge.

the whole reason uhuru!
I tried to fragment the polyps in another part that was not the sponge and they died.

 

[uhuru]

Yes the polyps need the sponge to survive, but in our tanks we don't have the correct balance of food for the sponge and polyps to grow at the same rate. You might actually try keeping a frag of this in your sps tank with no direct feeding of the polyps to see if it lasts longer. Perhaps just target feed the sponge with phyto.

 

[fullmonti]

Good idea, I already feed sps tank zeo sponge power.

 

[coltrref]

yes, it is a good option to use the product of zeovit, but also you can use the reef booster of prodibio.

 

[Aquabacs]

Jim as I mentioned before, you might want to look at silica dosing. I am not sure how much of it is actually in Zeo's Sponge Power. Randy wrote an article a few years back on silica in reef aquariums that you might want to take a look at. As I remember it didn't help the growth of the sponge he was keeping but it could work in your application. I would also be interested to see if the polyps could grow on a certain fast blue photosynthetic sponge.

 

[fullmonti]

pix

pix

coltrref I do use reef booster in my fauna marin mix

Aquabacs I did find the thread with Randys article & have ordered the silica solution he recommended. Trying to get the local club to buy the tester.

Got some pix

sponge & new dendro (dendro turned loss of his rock in shipping so had to tie it down)

new little yellow gorgonian & yellowheads

The scleronephthya I have that wasn't opening has been opening & has grown some

 

[WSI2406]

Hey Fullmonti,

Nice grab from DD. I can't wait to get my spider sponge back. I hated to sell it. I love all of the softies in your tank. I hope to get a few Dendro sp's too. Love to see a FTS when you have a chance.

 

[fullmonti]

Well I took uhuru advice & have taken two frags from the spider sponge & put them in my sps tank. One in a semi shaded place the other in a fairly open spot (good bit of light). We'll see how they do.

I finally realized what you guys were talking about the polyps growing to fast. They are not actually a part of the sponge, but a kind of symbiotic polyp. Are the a zoanthus?

 

[flying_dutchman]

Maybe try adding a carbon source to increase growth. The diet of certain cave sponges is largely reliant on dissolved organic carbon (DOC)–in some cases over 90%-so it might be worth trying out.
Good luck, spider sponges are awesome

 

[fullmonti]

I have been using zeo carbon, sponge power & have started dosing a little silica. think I have the bases covered. I got a purple smooth sponge (in the sps tank) about six months ago & it has grown to 5-6 times its original size. Here's hoping the spider sponge will do even half as well.

 

[happysak]

Hello Jim,
What are you using for silica additive?

 

[fullmonti]

I found a thread by Randy on reef chemistry on silicate dosing. He recommended sodium silicate solution cat. # NC o882 from the science company. That thread has allot of good info, the solution & dosing rate was the two biggies.

My spider sponge has developed some spots where the orange is loosing its color. The frag of it I put in my sps tank in bright light is doing great so I think I will put the mother colony in the sps tank tomorrow. I fear the loss of color means it's unhappy/dying, think the polyps are overtaking the sponge or there isn't enough light for it in the nps tank. Any opinions on this??

 

[fullmonti]

moved sponge to sps tank

moved sponge to sps tank

Cut the colorless/dead parts off & moved him to sps tank. Looks very happy!

The two frags I cut earlier look happy too. You can see some of the smooth blueish purple sponge in the shade on right side. some frags on sand bed I'm go to trade those & others to LFS for food & salt.

 

[bluereefs]

What you use to atach trikentrion to rock, epoxy? Or something else?