er1c_the_reefer
In Memoriam
please ID this sponge
sponge ID please
- Thread starter er1c_the_reefer
- Start date
BuddhaKiss
Active member
can i have it?
You have a good chance to find it if not in one, then in another LFS, or maybe online.
It is not a rarity: the store, slightly away, then my usual LFS, imports them in quite a numbers time from time. Imagine the half of tank, filled by 10" (25 cm) wide sponges! Mine was $40, in UK they slightly more expensive. These are plain orange, like all orange sponges, but in UK they posted photo of the red one.
Mine:
It is not a rarity: the store, slightly away, then my usual LFS, imports them in quite a numbers time from time. Imagine the half of tank, filled by 10" (25 cm) wide sponges! Mine was $40, in UK they slightly more expensive. These are plain orange, like all orange sponges, but in UK they posted photo of the red one.
Mine:
TrappedMetal
New member
fyi they are about £90 here so about $180!
Tennyson
Active member
they're only that much in UK? wow? At my LFS here in the US, they barely get them, and when they do, they're like $80-$100!!! Maybe I'm checking out the wrong/bad LFS to buy these at. and A 4 inch ugly square frag of one is $25.
Oh, and dendro982, awesome pics. I love it! this thread just made me wanna get one.
Oh, and dendro982, awesome pics. I love it! this thread just made me wanna get one.
er1c_the_reefer
In Memoriam
yea mine was pretty expensive, in the triple digits. my lfs had it for a while before i acquired it and it's doing pretty good so far in my tank with the white polyps coming out everyday when the lights are on. i'll get another shot of it. i was told to feed it fauna marin ultra-min F, but i'm also dosing zeovit sponge power everyday. i don't know if these are what's keeping it going, but at least its alive.
Tennyson
Active member
oh yeah, just one question. My LFS frags them, and sells the frags for like $25 like I said. But they're not like a branch, its like a huge square of a sponge, not a finger branch. If I got a frag of one as a flat square shape, would it grow out to be like a tree form like all of yours?
Keith_man says, that they are 60-150, depending on source (link ).
Here, where I am, one LFS sells most common corals, excluding dendrophillia, duncans, micromussa and acans, for usually $40, size independent. They have these sponges in different sizes, from 3 fingers (like mine) to maybe 10 "fingers", very wide shape.
The new arrival is always in better shape, mine was one of the last, 2 months after arrival. Why they are closed in LFS: mine opens to feed, when the food is available. The clean tanks in LFS are fed less, but once I came in the feeding time, and had possibility to choose the healthiest one from leftovers.
I asked one reefer in store about this sponge, she said that she has it for an year and feeds it by phytoplankton.
My sponge had (has?) dieoff from 3 possible factors: aiptasia stings, fouled aiprasia remnants after kalkwasser treatment (even if I did my best to remove them and used skimmer and carbon), or/and strain on the place of gluing it to the rock, made by flow.
After that - I have suspicion - that the dying parts of sponge are contributing to dieoff in the tank, corals hold, but coraline died. I'm using carbon all the time.
If your sponges (knock on the wood) will decline, can you tell, how the tank reacted on this?
I also did a small experiment: will polyps survive, when sponge dies, or not. Removed dead parts of the sponge by tweezers and glued polyps to the rock. For a week they partially opened, then started looking, like they are melting. But not melted yet.
Here, where I am, one LFS sells most common corals, excluding dendrophillia, duncans, micromussa and acans, for usually $40, size independent. They have these sponges in different sizes, from 3 fingers (like mine) to maybe 10 "fingers", very wide shape.
The new arrival is always in better shape, mine was one of the last, 2 months after arrival. Why they are closed in LFS: mine opens to feed, when the food is available. The clean tanks in LFS are fed less, but once I came in the feeding time, and had possibility to choose the healthiest one from leftovers.
I asked one reefer in store about this sponge, she said that she has it for an year and feeds it by phytoplankton.
My sponge had (has?) dieoff from 3 possible factors: aiptasia stings, fouled aiprasia remnants after kalkwasser treatment (even if I did my best to remove them and used skimmer and carbon), or/and strain on the place of gluing it to the rock, made by flow.
After that - I have suspicion - that the dying parts of sponge are contributing to dieoff in the tank, corals hold, but coraline died. I'm using carbon all the time.
If your sponges (knock on the wood) will decline, can you tell, how the tank reacted on this?
I also did a small experiment: will polyps survive, when sponge dies, or not. Removed dead parts of the sponge by tweezers and glued polyps to the rock. For a week they partially opened, then started looking, like they are melting. But not melted yet.
Tennyson
Active member
My LFS has had a pretty good sized piece of this and it hasn't been sold for a long time, about a month or more 
I may be tempted to buy it, but its kind of dusty looking, and the polyps aren't opened. Is that a sign of bad health? Can it be brought back to normal? Everything else looks healthy except for the dust and the white polyps not opening.
I don't know the price, but its lower than $100 if not equal to it for sure. Is it worth buying?
I may be tempted to buy it, but its kind of dusty looking, and the polyps aren't opened. Is that a sign of bad health? Can it be brought back to normal? Everything else looks healthy except for the dust and the white polyps not opening.
I don't know the price, but its lower than $100 if not equal to it for sure. Is it worth buying?
I would say no.
If I remember right, Tennyson, you set nice tank with non-photosynthetic corals, and there are much more cheaper, better (looking and surviving) corals and non-photosynthetic animals in stores, at significantly lesser price. But it's my personal opinion, I prefer having collection of 5 different kinds of the sun corals to 1 few polyps$150 frag of dendrophyllia
.
My tanks are not able to support most decorative sponges, some hitchhiking sponge only. And I tried Haliclona blue, spiny orange, tree orange, ball orange, this candy cane, encrusting yellow, orange white and others. If decorative sponges are doing well in your tank for 5 months or so, it's another matter.
All other inhabitants are OK: suns, gorgonians, scleros, dendro, relative of blueberry gorgonian, Christrmas tree worms, crinoids.
Pardon the mess, working on it
Even the Holy Graal on non-photosynthetic corals - dendronephthya - is as usual:
Though had coraline bleaching after treating from aiptasia, same time as sponge visibly declined.
Let see its decline:
Aiptasia burned the lower branch, it died:
(Aiptasia was upside down and retracts fast).
2 months later:
The dead part of sponge was cut off, dead tissue removed by tweezers, and live polyps' mesh was glued (super glue) to the rock.
For a few days polyps were open, then they relaxed and looks like they are melting.
11 days difference:
But again, I had seen a person that was able to keep this sponge for an year with phytoplankton feedings. Maybe she has the cleaner tank with significantly less particulates and dissolved organic content.
P.S. This sponge was never exposed to the air, at lest at my knowledge. So I can exclude this as a cause.
If I remember right, Tennyson, you set nice tank with non-photosynthetic corals, and there are much more cheaper, better (looking and surviving) corals and non-photosynthetic animals in stores, at significantly lesser price. But it's my personal opinion, I prefer having collection of 5 different kinds of the sun corals to 1 few polyps$150 frag of dendrophyllia
.My tanks are not able to support most decorative sponges, some hitchhiking sponge only. And I tried Haliclona blue, spiny orange, tree orange, ball orange, this candy cane, encrusting yellow, orange white and others. If decorative sponges are doing well in your tank for 5 months or so, it's another matter.
All other inhabitants are OK: suns, gorgonians, scleros, dendro, relative of blueberry gorgonian, Christrmas tree worms, crinoids.
Pardon the mess, working on it
Even the Holy Graal on non-photosynthetic corals - dendronephthya - is as usual:
Though had coraline bleaching after treating from aiptasia, same time as sponge visibly declined.
Let see its decline:
Aiptasia burned the lower branch, it died:
(Aiptasia was upside down and retracts fast).
2 months later:
The dead part of sponge was cut off, dead tissue removed by tweezers, and live polyps' mesh was glued (super glue) to the rock.
For a few days polyps were open, then they relaxed and looks like they are melting.
11 days difference:
But again, I had seen a person that was able to keep this sponge for an year with phytoplankton feedings. Maybe she has the cleaner tank with significantly less particulates and dissolved organic content.
P.S. This sponge was never exposed to the air, at lest at my knowledge. So I can exclude this as a cause.
Tennyson
Active member
Oh thanks. My tank actually doesn't have alot of non photosynthetic corals. Just a huge sun coral colony.
So I shouldn't buy it? The only thing bugging me is the dustiness and the polyps not extending. Is that a sign that its dying? Would it be too risky to buy it and try to get it back and normal with extending polyps?
It's the only one I've ever seen around here in MD, besides mr coral, but theirs are only frags that dont look too good.
-I'll ask for the price later. thanks for the info! and I love your tank, and your spider sponge.
So I shouldn't buy it? The only thing bugging me is the dustiness and the polyps not extending. Is that a sign that its dying? Would it be too risky to buy it and try to get it back and normal with extending polyps?
It's the only one I've ever seen around here in MD, besides mr coral, but theirs are only frags that dont look too good.
-I'll ask for the price later. thanks for the info! and I love your tank, and your spider sponge.
Maybe not far from you there are other LFS, with better choice or pricing. My usual LFS (chain stores) are specializing more on gorgonians and sun corals (from NPS), but slightly aside is family store with different choice and good prices ($40-50 for maybe 10-fingers spider sponge).
I bought mine after seeing the polyps extended, so can't say about risk of buying sponge with closed polyps. You also may wait for another, new shipment to have more choice and animals in better condition.
I bought mine after seeing the polyps extended, so can't say about risk of buying sponge with closed polyps. You also may wait for another, new shipment to have more choice and animals in better condition.
