Blue and purple sponge

[Kojek]

Hi all,

was wondering if anyone is keeping those blue and purple sponge?

IF yes, whats your advice for keeping them ?

Cheers

KOjek

[RX_GAN]

Okay, Blue and purple sponges huh?

Blue and purple Sponges, which are available in Singapore, will be the Haliclona Sponge.

They are from the Indo-pacific region.

This specie of sponge required intense lighting so make sure you place them at the correct position.

Please do a few checks when you buy the sponge or at least ask yourself these questions now:

Firstly, did you or the LFS expose the sponge to air?

Never EVER expose the sponge to air as the air will be trap inside and those portion will die off.

Next, is it attached to a huge substrate?

It must be attach to one or else it can’t survive.

Last but not least. Is that any white portion?

If there is so, then ask the LFS to cut it away and wait for it regenerate before you collect them. Or you can do it yourself. AND REMEMBER NOT TO EXPOSE IT TO AIR.

Many people have tried to keep Sponge in their reef tank but fail because due to the lack or knowledge. I am sure and not surprised that your LFS exposed these animals to the air.

But don’t fear and don’t need to be panic because help is here. ?

Few checks for the health of the sponge will be:

1) Smell. Is there any foul smell? It shouldn’t have any. If so, it will pollute your water and crash your tank, as some sponge can be poisonous.

2) Color. A bright color is a healthy color and anything other than that will be bad.

3) Algae. If algae is growing on your sponge, that’s not a good news.

A good way to revive it will be to cut the bad portion away and let it regenerate.

Sponges are filter feeder so you can place them somewhere near the current or power head and allow them to filter the food and air.

They also engage in chemical warfare with your corals so do place them not so near to your other corals and they can grow fast too.

A sterile environment is not suitable for sponges especially when silicate level is at zero. Sponges need these nutrients in the water for feeding. If nutrients are not enough, you can try feeding it by turning off your power head and pouring food to feed it.

And one last final thing you should take note when keeping your sponge will be to get rid of anything detritus on it. ? It shouldn’t be that hard for you if you follow my directions. Have a nice fishy day.

[mansiz]

But since LFS always expose them to air, is there anyway to remove trapped air? Btw if they are exposed to air, the harm is that the air will be trapped inside right? Is it a must to remove detritus on them?