spider sponge

alebrun

New member
Has any one ever heard of a spider sponge?If so how difficult are they.They sorta look like a candy cane,with red and white strips.
 
It's a sponge with an encrusting zoanthid, if we're thinking of the same things. I would also like to know if anyone has kept one.
 
Do you mean like this:
May17_08.jpg

only with much more branches, and maybe red?

I have it only for a couple of months, so far nothing different from common orange tree sponge, except additional larger food for the polyps. I had conversation in LFS with a keeper, who has this sponge for an year, she advised phytoplankton feedings for a sponge and medium flow.

Everything I found about it so far, is here

It is known as Candy Cane Sponge in UK and White Line Sponge in Australia and Canada. It's either Axinella damicornis sponge with encrusting Parazoanthus axinellae, or Trikentrion flabelliforme. From what I had read, the usual sponge care and prognosis, but sponges do grow in some tanks, and we have to have more information on their keeping.

1, 2, 3... : They better to be left in the ocean.
Agree, as everything else ;) .
 
Yes!! Thats what I saw in the fish store. I wanted to ged it ,but didnt know anything about it. How diffacult is it to keep?
 
I have it for a short time, but so far it is in the tank, that is fed several times a day by small food (10-40 micron and up) for other corals, this just gets its share.

Other keepers used phytoplankton and Oyster Eggs. Cyclop-eeze for white polyps, or any other food, that fits the mouth - they are relatives of the common yellow polyps.

The lady what keeps it for an year already, uses phytoplankton.

Medium to high flow, they are quite tolerant to the flow. But not too high to break the flattened trunk.

When you will choosing it, take your time: it has to have a base (widening at the bottom), for gluing or epoxying to the rock. And it's better to have a choice: they are frequently very big, around 10" x 10", with multiple branches.

All of this is in the linked page, that I posted before, here is one more link: thread here at RC, the photos, linked to it, show how the sponge was mounted.

If sponges are living well in your tank, this will give better chances for this sponge too. I treat mine as the any other sponge, and the polyps - as a separate entity, like yellow polyps. That's it.

jacksock at Ultimate Reef, that keeps the red kind, had closed loop pump failure, when he was absent and problem wasn't corrected in time. This sponge suffered the most. Maybe worth to set some backup pump, just in case. My 2 Seios are connected to power backup device.

I found no information, but was suggested, that if sponge dies, polyps may die too. Just passing this to you.
 
dendro982, I know that this was posted months ago...do you still have the spider sponge? How is it stil doing?

I have a tiny piece that is doing well. The sponge is really tiny and I have about 10-12 polyps. There is no base but we had a tiny dead coral skeleton that we could place it into and it has not moved since.
 
Sponge is dead, polyps still alive, ~1.5 months after sponge died.

I suspect either aiptasia sting:
Jun20_08deadcontaipt.jpg

or:
- water quality (not measurable parameters, but consequences of frequent massive trials to eradicate aiptasia by Kalkwasser paste, no drastic changes in pH or alkalinity)
- red cyano
- particulates (NPS corals food) clogging sponge pores.

Process of declining:
Aug15_08csdecl2.jpg
Aug15_08csdecl3.jpg


Separated polyps:
Aug04_08csfrags.jpg

They won't stay glued, and now are in the plastic cage in overflow. Opening and eating OK. They don't like nitrates above 20 and phosphates at all.

Continue posting your information, it helps to learn.
 
Back
Top