yellow ball sponge in reef tank...i have a ?, pic's included

reefD

New member
yellowballsponge002.jpg


just got this guy..ive always liked the nice colorful sponges available in the hobby. about 5 yrs ago i tried a red tree sponge and it just slowly parished. research in the past has told me that sponges are hard to take care of and some are imppossible to keep in a home aquirium but they stay in the trade due to the wonderful colorations and us not being able to resist them. now i know that some of the hard to care forms can be kept with success but its not easy.
yellowballsponge001.jpg


anyways i recently came across this little guy called a yellow ball sponge. everything a researched said they are one of the most hardy sponges in the hobby. and that they are even hard to kill when buried in substrate!
now i wont go that far but does anyone have experinece with this specimen and is it really that hardy? also does it require any lighting ? i know some sponges do aprieciate bright lighting.
any other care info much apprieciated!!

THANKS GUYS!
 
IT LOOKS LIKE IT HAS SAND ON TOP OF IT BUT IT ISNT SAND JUST SOME DIFFERENT COLOR /TEXTURE ON THE TOP OF IT.
 
I never kept one, but these should be popular with the kids. "Hey, its spongebob!"
 
I have a friend who keeps some really pretty blue sponges alive.

He has to feed live phytoplankton though, he cultures it himself.
 
I hve some flourescent green ball sponges popping up in my tank. One has grown to the size of a large grape. theres 5-6 others that are about marble size. They are all in very dim/dark areas.
 
There is an article in advanced aquarist about silicate dosing -- you can dose your tank with sodium silicate, which diatoms need for their shells. The diatoms feed your tank, and you can skim them out, and there is less nutrients available for algae to grow. I have tried it, and it works pretty well.

I am just mentioning it because some sponges use silica in their shells -- I have noticed some sponges in my tank grew faster after I added the stuff. There was not much difference in diatom growth so that didn't turn into a big problem.

I got my sodium silicate from a pottery supply store -- just mentioning it in case you wanted to try it for your sponges, although in the article they say they couldn't see a difference in the sponges they tried to keep alive.
 
They do like heavier feedings so they wouldn't be the best things in an all SPS tank, but they should be okay if you have a larger fuge to help constantly feed your system
 
thanks guys ...i do feed heavy and i also have a fuge. sponge bob looks happy in the tank so i will continue dosing the way i did prior to getting him.

AGAIN THANKS FOR ALL THE INFO GUYS!
 
Yellow ball sponge possible exposed to air

Yellow ball sponge possible exposed to air

Hi all,
I just purchased a yellow ball sponge. I carefully acclimated it in the bag, taking water out and replacing with tank water, small bits at a time. When it came time to release it into the tank I tried my best to do it completely underwater but I think the sponge may have been exposed to air in the bag for a second or two. I tried very hard to avoid this but it still happened. Just HOW sensitive are these creatures when it comes to air exposure?
Thanks,
JKJ
 
Very sensitive to air. Most large sponges also do not survive in reef tanks.

I would put it in a dark spot or algae will likely kill it. I have had one like that for a couple of years now and it has grown considerably.

I dose silicate, and I dose vinegar which drives bacteria which may be feeding mine.
 
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