Can anyone tell me whats wrong with this sponge?

STP wellsophyllia · May 18, 2013

Idk if sponges are soft corals or not but i just wanted to see if you guys had any opinion or knowledge about whats happening..
Left side of the orange sponge is losing color and then tissue :/

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STP wellsophyllia · May 18, 2013

Water parameters are 0nitrate/ite 0ammonia 0phosphate 8.1ph 1.026salinity 7.8kh 475calc

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Mcreefer · May 18, 2013

Did you expose it to any air when getting it in your tank?

STP wellsophyllia · May 18, 2013

No.. Its been in the tank for a couple of months no problems but i noticed it was losing its color last week and now its losing tissue

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SeahorseKeeper · May 18, 2013

Could anything be picking at it? What lighting do you have?

ebushrow · May 18, 2013

It is dying...probably starving in the tank...they need a ton of food constantly in the tank...non photosynthetic sponges dont generally do well in reef tanks.

mike007 · May 18, 2013

They are very hard to keep most people do not have much luck with them.

Mike J. · May 18, 2013

All of the comments above are correct. I'd like to add another one for consideration. They don't like a lot of light. I'd suggest you move it into the shade. Is there a way that you could feed it plankton? Or overfeed your tank until you don't have 0 nitrates? Is that a leather I see behind it? It won't do well in a 0 nitrate tank either.

bullet reef · May 18, 2013

I had the same thing happen to a beautiful bright blue sponge from Live Aquaria's Diver's Den when I moved my tank across the country. I believe that it was due to having to add so much new SW when I refilled the tank and the water was too clean and it starved like mentioned above. My nitrates are consistently 0 send I feed a lot! Maybe try turning off your skimmer for a few hrs a day and see if things start to improve. I don't know if you can save it if it's already started dying or not. But good luck.

Mcreefer · May 18, 2013

Mike J. said:
All of the comments above are correct. I'd like to add another one for consideration. They don't like a lot of light. I'd suggest you move it into the shade. Is there a way that you could feed it plankton? Or overfeed your tank until you don't have 0 nitrates? Is that a leather I see behind it? It won't do well in a 0 nitrate tank either.

Very true!!!!! Grab a bottle of DTs or find someone local who grows phyto. I've had orange sponge do "okay" in higher lighting but it will always do better in low light.

Mike J. · May 18, 2013

Here's a link:Saltwater Aquarium Live Sponges - Aquatic Connection

STP wellsophyllia · May 18, 2013

yeah. i had it under an overhang in my setup but i didnt think it was getting enough flow so i moved it under the shade of my cauliflower colt coral and its getting medium flow and medium to low light. usually i feed the corals every 2-3 days target but ive been dosing with phyto about 2 teaspoons every day for about 5 days.. maybe itll help. thanks guys. ill keep you posted.

STP wellsophyllia · May 22, 2013

The tissue of this sponge is still detiriorating. Ive been target feeding it and dosing the tank with phytoplankton and reefroids nearly every day. Discoloration has spread and the tissue has receded farther. The battle is not going good. Ill post a picture when i get home.

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Mike J. · May 23, 2013

Well, we try our best and sometimes new specimens just don't make it. If it was taken out of the water they don't die right away; it takes a few weeks. I'd like to see a photo.

STP wellsophyllia · May 23, 2013

Thats the thing though, its been in the tank for two or three months and has been perfectly fine up until last week

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STP wellsophyllia · May 24, 2013

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STP wellsophyllia · Jun 1, 2013

The main "fan" portions detirioration has just about reached the hole in the middle. I really love this piece but im thinking of taking it out to avoid any extra dead tissue floating around and rotting in my tank. I dont see anything positive happening with this thing in the near future because its rate of decomposition hasnt slowed at all since feeding more often. Thank you all for your help.

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