Are you sponge worthy? :)

[davocean]

Ok, may be giving up my age and silliness on the Seinfeld reference, but one of my favorite things I have had in my tank for a while is a purple plating sponge.
I love this stuff, kind of looks like a scrolling purple monti, super easy to keep and care for as long as no air hits it, easy to frag and grows well, and w/out the encrusting issues of a monti.
Figured I'd throw up some pics, feel free to show off what you got yourself, show us if you are sponge worthy!!!

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

Here you go. I had this one for about 4.5 years and grew it out to this size from a penny size piece. It got to about 18" in diameter 3 times and I cut it back and it regrew. I recently cut it way down to make room for some macros from a tank I took down. This is it in its prime.

 

[scottishreefer]

Nice! It does look like a monti.

 

[TrialandError]

I've never seen a sponge like that. Wish mine were cool like that but they just look like fingers :/ lol

 

[davocean]

Very nice Bongo!
I knew there had to be other sponge keepers out there.
I love how you can frag the heck out of them when needed or wanted, and they just go right back to shape in no time.

 

[davocean]

I've never seen a sponge like that. Wish mine were cool like that but they just look like fingers :/ lol

Pics!
There are a lot of different cool looking sponges out there.

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

Very nice Bongo!
I knew there had to be other sponge keepers out there.
I love how you can frag the heck out of them when needed or wanted, and they just go right back to shape in no time.

Me too but it depends on the lighting. I know people with this sponge who put it under very high light and had it encrust instead of plate. I recently put new bulbs over my tank however and it seems to have bleached.

 

[davocean]

I do keep mine lower in the water column and closer to ledgey rock areas for that reason.
I'm running a 6x ATI and two ecoxotic LED strips, so there is a decent amount of light, seems to be handling, but I do notice as it grows tall it gets weird.

 

[Squishie89]

I love those babies coming off! So cool! Like little ledges.

I have got a white sponge about the size of my fist growing in my overflow. Has been really cool to watch. Sponges are awesome.

 

[spspirate]

Very cool sponge! Sponges are incredible in the fact that they recycle 10 times more nutrients than bacteria! Great find!

 

[MrDJeep123]

I've always wanted spiral sponge or vase sponges. I never can find them available.

I've had this branching sponge for sometime now. I was told the group my LFS got in didn't fair too well. Some employees and customers had complained they died out. I've nary an issue. In fact, I bought it as 2 pieces because of a branch broke off. The part that broke was dying off. I got it with the intention of feeding an angel and well, she decided alongside a dottyback to go carpet surfing. Both parts have since grown over.

 

[DunkCityReefer]

Ive always wanted to buy sponge but my LFS never has any. Im nervous to order online because I know sponge cannot be exposed to air and I worry that during the whole shipping process someone might take it out of water at some point. Has anyone had success ordering sponges online?

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

Ive always wanted to buy sponge but my LFS never has any. Im nervous to order online because I know sponge cannot be exposed to air and I worry that during the whole shipping process someone might take it out of water at some point. Has anyone had success ordering sponges online?

I have and it never ended well. The best way to get one is to see them in person and examine it all the way around to check for dead parts. Although this purple one we have in this thread can be exposed very briefly to air with, at least IME, no ill effect. In any case if you wanted to order this purple one from somewhere you should be fine. I have shipped it (with no air in the bag) and had almost perfect success. The only reason some was lost was due to the shipper exposing it to too much cold.

 

[davocean]

I've always wanted spiral sponge or vase sponges. I never can find them available.

I've had this branching sponge for sometime now. I was told the group my LFS got in didn't fair too well. Some employees and customers had complained they died out. I've nary an issue. In fact, I bought it as 2 pieces because of a branch broke off. The part that broke was dying off. I got it with the intention of feeding an angel and well, she decided alongside a dottyback to go carpet surfing. Both parts have since grown over.

This is actually one of my favorites and on my list, very nice!

 

[davocean]

Ive always wanted to buy sponge but my LFS never has any. Im nervous to order online because I know sponge cannot be exposed to air and I worry that during the whole shipping process someone might take it out of water at some point. Has anyone had success ordering sponges online?

I would also consider liveaquaria, they usually do ship well, and at the very least have great customer service and will refund if there was a shipping issue.
My purple plate does not like air at all, thought I lost it a couple times just from micro bubbles after a WC start up, so I would still take great care that you do not intro to air.
They should be jarred tight

 

[TrialandError]

Here's my sponge

 

[FishRForMe]

Do you feed your sponges, and if so... what?

 

[Velcro]

Best title ever.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Do you feed your sponges, and if so... what?

While not a part of this earlier thread, I add silicate and dose organic carbon, both of which I believe benefit of the sponges (large and small) in my tank.

The organic carbon dosing likely increases bacteria in the water, and may also be able to supply consumable organics directly for the sponge.

 

[saltyhog]

I would love to have some sponges. I just thought they were almost impossible to keep. Is there any chance the purple one is this species? I took this picture in the Caribbean. Would love to be able to keep one of these. In person they are stunning.