Advice For Keeping Photosynthetic Plating Sponges

[reddevilant]

Hello! I was also thinking about getting the blue and red photosynthetic plating sponges from LiveAquaria. I only keep macro algae with my livestock and no corals, but I wanted to add some interesting new stuff.

My tank is about 10 months old and I already have had some hitchhiking pineapple sponges come in that are doing very well in my tank. My current lights are two Kessil A80 suns along with a LED strip light that has both white and blue lights.

Has any one kept these before? Any tips for these or tips for sponges in general? Thanks!

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Here is a shot of mine back in Dec 2017. Obviously a purple plating sponge. For the 6 or so months that I had it, it did quite well and grew. Remember sponges can release toxins so keep them separate from other corals.
The one reason it was only with me for 6 months was: at that time I had a small cace of Cyano. Quick cure in my opinion is Chemi clean. Well it definitely took care of the Cyano but it killed just one coral…..you guessed it, my purple sponge. Lesson learned. But remember this if you’re going to use Red Slime Remover or Chemi Clean. Good luck. ;Shamefullyembarrased

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Here is a shot of mine back in Dec 2017. Obviously a purple plating sponge. For the 6 or so months that I had it, it did quite well and grew. Remember sponges can release toxins so keep them separate from other corals.
The one reason it was only with me for 6 months was: at that time I had a small cace of Cyano. Quick cure in my opinion is Chemi clean. Well it definitely took care of the Cyano but it killed just one coral…..you guessed it, my purple sponge. Lesson learned. But remember this if you’re going to use Red Slime Remover or Chemi Clean. Good luck. ;Shamefullyembarrased

 

[Tamberav]

Hello! I was also thinking about getting the blue and red photosynthetic plating sponges from LiveAquaria. I only keep macro algae with my livestock and no corals, but I wanted to add some interesting new stuff.

My tank is about 10 months old and I already have had some hitchhiking pineapple sponges come in that are doing very well in my tank. My current lights are two Kessil A80 suns along with a LED strip light that has both white and blue lights.

Has any one kept these before? Any tips for these or tips for sponges in general? Thanks!

Yes I have them. The purple grows much faster then the red and can smother the red if placed near.

They are indeed photosynthetic and easy to keep. No real special care. Just feed your fish and continue doing maintenance per usual. As long as they have light, they will grow.

 

[reddevilant]

Here is a shot of mine back in Dec 2017. Obviously a purple plating sponge. For the 6 or so months that I had it, it did quite well and grew. Remember sponges can release toxins so keep them separate from other corals.
The one reason it was only with me for 6 months was: at that time I had a small cace of Cyano. Quick cure in my opinion is Chemi clean. Well it definitely took care of the Cyano but it killed just one coral…..you guessed it, my purple sponge. Lesson learned. But remember this if you’re going to use Red Slime Remover or Chemi Clean. Good luck. ;Shamefullyembarrased

Thanks! I won't be keeping any other corals. Maybe other sponges if this goes well, but most likely not unless I find something really really cool. Also, I plan on placing the red and blue ones on opposites sides of the tank. Are the toxins harmful to fish and inverts? Or just other corals? I usually always run carbon if that helps. And I'll never use anything like Chemi-clean or vibrant in fear of it harming my macro algae.

 

[reddevilant]

Yes I have them. The purple grows much faster then the red and can smother the red if placed near.

They are indeed photosynthetic and easy to keep. No real special care. Just feed your fish and continue doing maintenance per usual. As long as they have light, they will grow.

Awesome! Yeah I plan on having them on opposite sides of the tank. Thanks!

 

[Tamberav]

Thanks! I won't be keeping any other corals. Maybe other sponges if this goes well, but most likely not unless I find something really really cool. Also, I plan on placing the red and blue ones on opposites sides of the tank. Are the toxins harmful to fish and inverts? Or just other corals? I usually always run carbon if that helps

Mine is next to soft corals (nepthea, toadstools) and doesn't seem to harm them. May be different with other types of corals.

No harm to my fish either.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Thanks! I won't be keeping any other corals. Maybe other sponges if this goes well, but most likely not unless I find something really really cool. Also, I plan on placing the red and blue ones on opposites sides of the tank. Are the toxins harmful to fish and inverts? Or just other corals? I usually always run carbon if that helps

Carbon is definitely the cure. It won’t hurt fish. I’ve found that soft coral toxins are troubling from sps corals.

 

[reddevilant]

Mine is next to soft corals (nepthea, toadstools) and doesn't seem to harm them. May be different with other types of corals.

No harm to my fish either.

Carbon is definitely the cure. It won’t hurt fish. I’ve found that soft coral toxins are troubling from sps corals.

Great to hear! I think I might order them tomorrow!

 

[bnord]

Here is a shot of mine back in Dec 2017. Obviously a purple plating sponge. For the 6 or so months that I had it, it did quite well and grew. Remember sponges can release toxins so keep them separate from other corals.
The one reason it was only with me for 6 months was: at that time I had a small cace of Cyano. Quick cure in my opinion is Chemi clean. Well it definitely took care of the Cyano but it killed just one coral…..you guessed it, my purple sponge. Lesson learned. But remember this if you’re going to use Red Slime Remover or Chemi Clean. Good luck. ;Shamefullyembarrased

My one and only experience with Chemiclean resulted in an absolute shredding of the network of translucent tubular sponges within 18 hours. Never came back
others commented that it should not affect sponges
it did a number on mine...

 

[reddevilant]

My one and only experience with Chemiclean resulted in an absolute shredding of the network of translucent tubular sponges within 18 hours. Never came back
others commented that it should not affect sponges
it did a number on mine...

Yeah I don't think I'll ever use anything like chemiclean or vibrant because I mainly keep macro algae and those products will probably kill all of it.

 

[jgirardnrg]

@Paul B keep sponges by the truckload.

 

[Paul B]

I throw out a bunch of it every week.
Everything above this box fish is sponge.



Everything behind this filefish is sponge.



Many of my "corals" are sponge.

 

[reddevilant]

I throw out a bunch of it every week.
Everything above this box fish is sponge.



Everything behind this filefish is sponge.



Many of my "corals" are sponge.

Amazing! The sponges and your tank are beautiful!!! How do you trim it? Could I just get a scalpel or scissor from a coral fragging kit? Also, nice to meet a fellow Long Islander on here!

 

[Paul B]

Hello Reddevilant. Nice to meet you to. I am near Riverhead. I trim the sponge with an Exacto knife with a long handle. It is easy to cut but sticks to the coral so kind of a pain to remove.

 

[reddevilant]

Hello Reddevilant. Nice to meet you to. I am near Riverhead. I trim the sponge with an Exacto knife with a long handle. It is easy to cut but sticks to the coral so kind of a pain to remove.

Oh cool! I'm in Stony Brook and I go to the college here for marine vertebrate biology. Thanks for the tip!

 

[reddevilant]

So, since I last posted on this thread, temps have dropped for the winter so I haven't been able to order anything online. Unfortunately, LiveAquaria hasn't had the blue/purple plating sponge in stock for a while but has had the red one and an option for both on a single plug. I'm assuming the option with both, the pieces of sponge are probably really small. So I kind prefer to get both individually because I feel like they'd have a better chance at survival as bigger pieces since this would be my first time (intentionally) adding sponges. Does anyone know of a good place to get it if LA doesn't get the blue one back in stock when I start ordering things again? Or maybe, @Paul B if you have extra you throw away I'd gladly take some off your hands!

Also if anyone has any recommendations for other types of sponges I could get and where I could get them let me know! I think I want to collect really cool different species like I do with macro algae. Right now I've got my eye on Blue Haliclona as well, but I'd love to hear about some other species I should check out! Thanks!

 

[Paul B]

Or maybe, @Paul B if you have extra you throw away I'd gladly take some off your hands!

I can give you all you want. Just don't blame me if it covers your house. I live near Riverhead on exit 71 on the LIE.

PM me if you want some. In a week and a half I am getting shoulder surgery and won't be able to cut it.

 

[reddevilant]

I can give you all you want. Just don't blame me if it covers your house. I live near Riverhead on exit 71 on the LIE.

PM me if you want some. In a week and a half I am getting shoulder surgery and won't be able to cut it.

Awesome! Thank you so much! I'll send you a PM right now