Thinking about a gorgonian and/or sponge - advice please

C

Crawdads57

In Memoriam
I started a 16 gallon tank with approx 20lbs of live pukani from TBS in April. Great stuff, I got a ton of cool hitchhikers. Among those hitchhickers were 20+ porcelain crabs! It took about a week for me to realize how many were actually in there. Within about the first 3 weeks I lost 3. Last night I sat down and really tried to count them after feeding some frozen mysis and reef-roids. I counted 18, and I wouldn't be surprised if I missed a few. They seem to be happy as can be.

I feed about 1/3rd of a cube of frozen mysis and a couple "dashes" of reef-roids (like a little less than 1/8 tsp) - and I do this twice weekly. I use a syringe with a 12" needle to spot feed various soft corals and acans and 80% of that is actually eaten by fish and porcelain crabs. I also feed a few different kinds of pellets everyday.

So here's my question, given that my water is now stable and I'm happy with the consistency of my Ca / Mg / Alk, and since I haven't lost anything in at least 6 weeks, do I have conditions for a photosynthetic (hardy / easier) gorgonian? Those 3 porcelain crabs are the only thing I've lost at all.

Do you feel I would need to up my feeding? I'm not really crazy about feeding more - tank is staying pretty clean and nitrates are testing 2-5ppm routinely.

If I were to get a gorgonian, what is the easiest / hardiest available?

Same questions regarding a sponge. Also, would a gorgonian or a sponge be hardier given what I am describing here?

I use D-D H2Ocean salt and supplement sparingly with Brightwell Reef Code A and B, and also Korallin-S Plus trace. Ca: a little north of 400, Mg: a touch over 1200 and Alk: 3.0 - 3.2meq (pH at 8.2-8.3). Does that chemistry sound ok for a gorgonian / sponge?
 
Most photosynthetic gorgonians are fairly hearty but not very colorful.

Display sponges are extremely difficult to keep. There are some sponges that like to grow under rocks in our tanks, but they don't like the light and most stay out of sight.

Most sponges that you would like as display items are not photosynthetic and are very difficult to keep. They tend to die off slowly over a couple of weeks to a couple of months. There are a few (very few) photosynthetic sponges around. I have a very deep red one (from Live Aquaria) and a bright blue one (from a fellow reefer in my local club). They are both relatively new to me (about 6 months now) and both seem to be doing well. The dark red one is actually growing quite well, easily doubled in 6 months. Both are just flat sheets that 'plate' similar to a red cap monti coral.

I do a lot of snorkeling in the Florida Keys and I've tried a handful of small, colorful, sun loving sponges from shallow reef flats and none of them has lasted more than 2 months.
 
Great - thank you for the advice. Its funny how many places I see selling ball sponges and saying that they are "moderate" difficulty or stating that they'll "do well in an established reef aquarium." Then I notice that I only rarely see them at the LFSs and they never look too good - I also notice that Live Aquaria lists them as "expert only" where other online sellers seem to make them out to be as difficult as an LPS.

I fish inshore in the gulf in the Crystal River area. There are places out there where I see hundreds of what I would call orange ball sponges. I also see the blue/gray column types that get pretty large. I've never snorkeled, but the ones I see are typically in 4' of water (I'm sure they are found deeper too - I just cant see them from in the boat). That's what got me thinking about them, and that TBS and others sell them relatively inexpensively. And no, I'm not saying that I would grab one out there - the water is not Crystal clear anyways.

After calling around I found a local LFS that has some gorgonians. They are describing them as the following varieties: "purple candlebra, purple lace, and purple whip." I'll post what I get if anything.
 
Sponges can be really difficult because if they touch air it can kill them... Plus when they die they go fast and can really foul the water, I would wait.

Photosynthetic Gorgonia can be hard to easy depending on what kind.


I highly recommend the Grube's gorgonia from ora.
http://www.orafarm.com/blog/2011/10/30/grubes-gorgonian-new-from-ora/
grubes.jpg

It is super easy and grows like a weed. It is very fuzzy and looks super cool when it gets bigger. It is also easy to get.

The rusty/spiny gorgonia is another easy to keep gorgonia.
http://www.kpaquatics.com/product/spiny-orange-sea-rod-gorgonia/

Briarium can be another easier gorgonia.
 
I like the form of that Grube's - I'm going to inquire about that at my local stores, thanks for the advice. I have shelved the sponge idea.
 
I bought a frogspawn frag from someone and they included a couple inch red gorgonia piece with the frogspawn as a bonus (I didn't know they were doing this). I thought it was a dead stick and threw it in the trash. It stayed there for 3 or 4 hours until, through email correspondence, the seller informed me what it was. After I got home I got it out of the trash, dipped it and put it in the tank.....an hour later feeder filters were out and its still doing great. So I can tell you the one I got is VERY hardy and easy to care for.
 
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