Sponge Growth, How to Prevent/Eliminate

[Hugh Mann]

Been getting these white sponges growing all over my tank, rock, equipment and even on my green star and aussie star polyps, making them close up.

Easily brushed off every few days, but still, I am wondering what, if anything I can do to curb the growth, whether by tank conditions, or CuC.

 

[dhanking]

Some nudibranchs might eat it as well as some inverts and some filefish or pufferfish. Also after you brush it off you have to suck it up

 

[User1]

Depends on the sponge but to be honest they are controllable by nutrients. They are also beneficial. Sounds like maybe it is a mixed blessing which could be used to tool to know nutrient levels are too high or low.

 

[Hugh Mann]

I just got off the phone with my lfs. They're just generic white sponges that everyone gets apparently.

Good filter feeders for nutrient uptake, but in my case, they're growing on equipment and overtaking my corals.

Suggested a nudibranch or two to solve the issue. Some concerns my eel may eat said nudibranch.

 

[User1]

I just got off the phone with my lfs. They're just generic white sponges that everyone gets apparently.

Good filter feeders for nutrient uptake, but in my case, they're growing on equipment and overtaking my corals.

Suggested a nudibranch or two to solve the issue. Some concerns my eel may eat said nudibranch.

Eels - not sure I've read that before but I guess maybe. Wrasses though, the nudibranch won't last 24 hours in most cases.

 

[ichthyogeek]

Sounds like a pineapple sponge outbreak to me. (Un?)Fortunately, they'll disappear in a month or two. Some people think it's because of excess silicate in the water, others think it's something else. I think they're awesome because of how squishy they are, but they do have a penchant for growing right where you don't want them to grow...

 

[stanleo]

I read up on those nudibranchs cause my LFS had a gorgeous purple one with yellow spikes on its back. It exclusively eats sponges and I thought about getting one cause I have a lot of sponges and it would have a lot of food. But the more I read the more I found out that they can go through the sponges pretty quickly and then they starve in a tank.

I have a white sponge in the middle of my green star polyps that is slightly larger than a golf ball. Its kind of annoying but it only prevents the polyps from growing into that one spot and it has taken two years to get that big so I just let it be. Just a natural part of the reef IMO.

 

[Hugh Mann]

I looked today, and noticed about a hundred new growths around the tank, on top of the few hundred already growing. I don't think it starving will be an issue if I only get one or two.