[akreef47]

hey, i was wondering if anyone has had any luck with a flourescent purple vase sponge. are they hard to keep?

 

[akreef47]

anybody?

 

[fihsboy]

Never heard of one. I clicked this post in hopes to see what one may look like. Sounds cool. Most sponges live on suspended matter, and some depend on plankton which is usually a hard biotope to reproduce due to the constant feeding nature. I just did a search on here and didnt find much about it, I try to keep articles close to home, but heres a article on another website thats pretty informative about constant dosing like you would need in a NPS tank or cryptic zone tank.

http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=330570


Also, heres another link on sponges. And EVERYTHING you would want to know about them.

http://www.spongeguide.org/

 

[akreef47]

here it is:

 

[fihsboy]

Thats pretty sick! Im sure they are hard to get ahold of. I would maybe talk to an aquaculture facility in south florida and see if they can get ahold of one, but be prepared for a hefty price and make sure you absolutly know what to do with one. Are you familiar with NPS systems?

 

[Jerad]

I want one of these and the orange fan sponge... they would both be pretty cool

 

[fihsboy]

Eventually I would like to try a NPS tank, but for right now im not up to the challenge. The constant 24/7 feeding seems like it would be hard. Especially in a smaller tank. The nitrate and phosphate levels would be extreme unless you had an amazing filtration system.

 

[Jadinop]

Feeding live foods would help. Properly cultured live phyto and zooplankton do not have the high levels of nitrate and phosphates that the preserved products have. The live foods will pretty much live in the tank until consumed.

It would be easy to rig up a dosing system from a live culture to feed the tank small doses at regular intervals.

 

[Helmermud]

Well i just bought one $ 45 and its hard to find any documentation about it . here's one that could help .

http://ambergriscaye.com/reefbriefs/briefs98.html

i have an NPS zone as well but i'm not sure this sponge goes there. Anyone have an idea because the tank i bought from was lith pretty good.​

 

[Kungpaoshizi]

Good luck, beautiful specimen!

Though even the best of the best aquarium keepers will shy away from sponges, they all seem to die in the end, or just hang on and never grow..
There's a serious lack of information and research that's been done for sponges in general.

 

[pixievixi]

I have two sponges, ones been doing great for months and growing, the new ones doing poorly. I dont do anything special to feed them. I add phytoplankton every other day. Actually, now that i think about it, i do blow off detritus with a turkey baster once a week to help keep my growing sponge unclogged.

 

[Kungpaoshizi]

What's the species of the one you're having good luck with out of curiosity?

 

[connorp]

Well i just bought one $ 45 and its hard to find any documentation about it . here's one that could help .

http://ambergriscaye.com/reefbriefs/briefs98.html

i have an NPS zone as well but i'm not sure this sponge goes there. Anyone have an idea because the tank i bought from was lith pretty good.​

Do you have a picture? If it is Callyspongia plicifera like the OP asked about years ago, then get rid of it. It is toxic. I tried one last year. It didn't make it two days past shipping. When I say it was dying, I went to remove it, I saw some clear stuff come off it, and the next day, 4/5 of my fish were dead. Beautiful sponge, but you don't want to keep it.

 

[Helmermud]

Do you have a picture? If it is Callyspongia plicifera like the OP asked about years ago, then get rid of it. It is toxic. I tried one last year. It didn't make it two days past shipping. When I say it was dying, I went to remove it, I saw some clear stuff come off it, and the next day, 4/5 of my fish were dead. Beautiful sponge, but you don't want to keep it.

Yes its exactly that,

 

[connorp]

If you plan on keeping it, I would quarantine it for a few weeks to make sure it will live. When they go downhill, they go fast.