Fragging Sponges?

[josephxsxn]

Recently the thought of setting up a cryptic zone in my sump has been really appealing to me. I tried to do a quick search on the forms for fragging sponges but didn't find much of anything other than eradication of sponges.

Does anyone have any tips for how I can frag these so that I can clone them into my sump? Is there anything specific I should do or watch out for? Or is it just as simple as cutting it and attaching it slightly to a new rock?

 

[Shon]

Sponges can be propagated by fragging or milking. The original sponge will recover over time.

"To harvest a sponge today, the sponge is cut three inches from the bottom, leaving tissue that can regenerate. Divers also squeeze the sponges after cutting to release the spores by which they reproduce."
- https://www.850businessmagazine.com...-forgotten-coast-are-reopened-for-harvesting/

"... complete regeneration of an adult from fragments or even single cells. Sponge cells may be separated by mechanical methods (e.g., squeezing a piece of sponge through fine silk cloth) or by chemical methods (e.g., elimination of calcium and magnesium from seawater)."
- https://www.britannica.com/animal/sponge-animal/Regeneration

Never tried it myself, though I have milked many crumb-of-bread sponge growing off boats for the fun of it, porcelain crabs galore, feeding them to sheepshead.

It is well documented not to let most sponges be exposed to air as it will trap bubbles, killing it. It seems possible to propagate sponges by both fragging and milking the same piece.

Side note; Googling about milking sponges gives you alot of links to cow udder treatment, so some digging for more info is a slight hassle.

 

[najer]

This is just in my experience, fewer cuts and place the cut loose bit cut down on rubble, they heal a lot faster.
This was my big blue sponge, let's just say that some angels I tried thought it was yummy!
This frag basically had the top shaved off, this was destined for a museum aquarium, it needs a clean, slowly recovering.

Fragged at the same time, this is in my small tank, also needs a clean, two sections of this so this will be the piece that goes as things stand.

Looking into mama!