Adding Sponges

finestbeast

finestbeast

Reefing newb
For those who do know me from my recent posts...Im new and am a week into cycling my 35 gallon saltwater hex....Im interested in getting a few sponges...any suggestions as to what kind and as to when I should add them?
 
you need to age your tank for a while before you get sponges. they are filter feeders and require a huge amount of the right size food to do well. also they absolutely can not be exposed to air at any time. they have to be bagged under water and taken out of the bag and placed in your tank under water. if they get exposed to air and any gets inside the animal that part if not all typically dies. do a lot of research on any type that you want to get. most sponges dont survive very long. its imposible to feed them what they need without fouling your tank. most need food the size of bacteria. the ones that grow on their own on your live rock are pretty blah but they grow real well. there are some that will survive buy you have to give them exactly what they need. again research the type you want to buy. if you are new to saltwater i recomend you wait till you have some gallons under your belt because they are for experienced hobbiests. i have been running a tank for 5 and a half years and i have a 265 gal and i havent lost a fish or coral in over 2 yrs but i cant keep sponges. also when they die the give off a lot of toxins- ie. poison your tank. there are several animals that are in the same catagory. sponges, tunicates, feather duster worms all require mature tanks, they all eat food that is the size of bacteria and need a lot of it. so they just slowly starve to death sometimes as in the case of the feather duster it can take months. another is the basket star. beautiful but almost imposible to feed. part of being a responsible pet owner is to give your livestock the best home you can and also for your own satisfaction and enjoyment be able to keep them alive. so you have to use some judgement when you purchase. start off easy and as you gain experience try more challenging animals. if you start off hard you end up giving up in frustration. this is an expensive hobby and you can only flush so much money down the toilet before you quite.
 
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Been to lfs today was a beautiful orange sponge and for now was on the small side which would have fitted my 10 gal nicely but i know after 3 and half years of saltwater that i couldnt keep it alive and alot of other stuff too .In the past i wouldnt have listened and bought it but no point.So ive learned what i can keep and stick with them and upgrade in the future when i can afford to and learnt more bout certain species
 
good for you, i have done the same thing. when you know you cant take care of something and you buy it anyways just to watch it die is wrong. wrong and stupid. i know thats how we figure out how to look after some of creatures but killing something just to learn is not humane. i want my livestock to thrive, so i am very careful what i put in and how i put it in there. a tank wipeout at this stage would cost me thousands and i have stuff in there i have had for 3 or 4 yrs. that would really hurt to kill my tank by taking a chance on something i know nothing about. when i just started i tryed a basket star. my god those things are beautiful. i tryed to feed it. you cant feed them enough and it has to be the right size or they reject it. fell apart over 2 wks. the big feather dusters, same thing,six monthes, one of the orange paddle sponges lasted about 6 wks, although i think it was exposed to air because it died in patches. now i watch and if the store cant show me on the computer or a book- no purchase
 
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Have had featherdusters myself added phyto to my tank twice a week they still died within 6 months.am surprised a little that your system couldnt sustain them:)
 
i figured with that big i could to. nope. i tried several times and they just slowly faded away. i like my stock to thrive so i stopped trying. i think maybe if my tank was dirtyer maybe they would do better but then other things suffer, so i dont get them anymore
 
Whats considered to be an easy sponge...if one even exists. I have read feather dusters were supposed to be one of the easiest but now Im having second thoughts after hearing otherwise from you guys...
 
i have lots of the little feather dusters that grow on the rocks themselves and they seem to do ok. but the big ones dont get enough food. same with the sponges. the ones that grow on their own do fine. ones i have bought. no. i dont know. something is not right in my tank for them. the food they need is so small and you have to put so much in to make sure they get enough that you cant keep the water quality up. maybe i need different current or dirtyer sand or something. i vacum my same every couple months. maybe i should stop. but then i start getting cyno
 
no, they just grew on their own. if you can get really top quality live rock or a really nice piece of rock with polyps or coral or something of that nature lots of times you get a little extra. these little guys grow tubes on the rock you can see and the little feather caps are less then a 1/2 in across. they are usually white or a pale grey. i probably have 20 or 30 of them that just showed up. i also have a real nice zoanthid colony i purchased that is growing a nice blue mushroom and some kind of red encrusting stoney coral that wasn't there when i bought it. i also have a cabbage coral that showed up on its own. a couple of coral crabs showed up in coral colonys that i didnt know were there when purchased and snail have also appeared. really good rock is $$$ but its wurth it to buy a piece once in a while. couple times i have bought a colony of something i wanted that had something extra growing that was still to small to notice. once in a while you get something you dont want but lots of times you get a nice surprise.
 
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They sell live rock with goodies attached by me for about 16 bucks a lbs...One rock I liked in particular was about 60 bucks. I think Ill pick one up next week like this...they are cool looking.
 
finestbeast said:
They sell live rock with goodies attached by me for about 16 bucks a lbs...One rock I liked in particular was about 60 bucks. I think Ill pick one up next week like this...they are cool looking.
Click to expand...
yup sometimes you get some real neat stuff by taking your time and really looking in the rock tank or at the live rock in the fish tanks
 
finestbeast said:
They sell live rock with goodies attached by me for about 16 bucks a lbs...One rock I liked in particular was about 60 bucks. I think Ill pick one up next week like this...they are cool looking.
Click to expand...
$16/ lb?!?!?!?!? I hope they buy you dinner before they bend you over like that. Good gawd! You can get nice fresh from Fiji or Indo rock for about $4/lb. I have some really cool little red featherdusters on a few pieces of rock.
 

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