Sponge ID???

rc1626 · Mar 27, 2019

Hey Folks,
About 2 year old reef. Started with BRS reef saver rock. Added about 20lbs. of live rock from a company down in Florida to add some biodiversity. This was about 16 months ago. Best guess is that I've have had this, what I'm assuming is sponge growing on one of my rocks for about the past 6 months (Not rock from Florida). Doesn't seem to be growing too fast. Just wondering if anyone can ID it? Bad?/Good?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Tank Params if needed:
Alk - 8.5
Cal - 470
Mag - 1400
No3 - between 2.5 - 5
Po4 - .03 - .05

P-Dub · Mar 28, 2019

Sponges. There are arguments for and against them. Generally, a few small sponges are ok. They are known to leach toxins into the tank. Large, colorful ones likely emit a lot more toxins. We are not talking about the small pineapple sponges but the large ones. If it was me, I would remove any sponge greater than the size of a quarter and preferably do so by removing the rock from the tank then remove the sponge.

wesman42 · Mar 28, 2019

P-Dub said:
Sponges. There are arguments for and against them. Generally, a few small sponges are ok. They are known to leach toxins into the tank. Large, colorful ones likely emit a lot more toxins. We are not talking about the small pineapple sponges but the large ones. If it was me, I would remove any sponge greater than the size of a quarter and preferably do so by removing the rock from the tank then remove the sponge.

Well that's interesting info, do you happen to have a link to information on these toxins? I'm honestly intrigued because I had no idea.

Tiger Brown · Mar 28, 2019

Try this: https://reefbuilders.com/2018/04/02/five-reasons-sponges-are-bad-for-a-coral-reef-tank/# and https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/6/inverts2

rc1626 · Mar 28, 2019

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Glad I asked. Probably going to remove to be on the safe side. As you can see from the pictures they have very nice colors. Pinks and purples. Unfortunately that may also mean they are more toxic.

Any recommendations on how to remove them? My first thought is to remove the rock and chisel the underlying and surrounding rock to make sure I get them all. Then rinse rock in fresh bucket of salt water.

Any other thoughts?
Thank you again!

P-Dub · Mar 28, 2019

wesman42 said:
Well that's interesting info, do you happen to have a link to information on these toxins? I'm honestly intrigued because I had no idea.

What @Tiger Brown posted^^

P-Dub · Mar 28, 2019

rc1626 said:
Thanks for the feedback everyone. Glad I asked. Probably going to remove to be on the safe side. As you can see from the pictures they have very nice colors. Pinks and purples. Unfortunately that may also mean they are more toxic.

Any recommendations on how to remove them? My first thought is to remove the rock and chisel the underlying and surrounding rock to make sure I get them all. Then rinse rock in fresh bucket of salt water.

Any other thoughts?
Thank you again!

If you can get the rock out I would just remove by hand and get most if not all the sponge out with your trusty fingers. Then scrub with a toothbrush and rinse and do a final check and straight hydrogen peroxide rinse followed by one more DT rinse and place back in.