Orange Sponge Help

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osprey440

Guest
I have had an orange sponge for about 4 months. The problem is it doesn't seem to be growing or seem healthy. This is the first sponge I have ever owned so I don't know a ton about what they are supposed to look like. It has two brownish grey spots that look like dead tissue. I spot feed every week with marine snow phytoplankton and have it in a shaded area. The only thing that I can think of is that it might not be getting enough water flow. If that is the case, I might move it to the refugium.
Tank water params:
nitrate: 0ppm
Phosphate: 0ppm
KH: 8
calcium: unsure need to test
SG:1.024
temp: 78.8


 

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by florida joe http:///t/394547/orange-sponge-help#post_3513776
IMO they are not easy to keep and again IMO they must have laminar flow to survive
LOL Joe...I had to look up the word to understand what you said.

laminar flow

the flow of a viscous fluid in which particles of the fluid move in parallel layers, each of which has a constant velocity but is in motion relative to its neighboring layers.
Osprey, a sponge is not spot fed. It needs a really strong flow of water to push it through the sponge, and it will absorb the food it needs that way. They need to be completely out of the light, because the algae will build up on it and kill it off. I kept an orange sponge for over 6 years and I it had it's very own power head aimed right at it. I kept it in an open on both ends cave in my 90g reef tank. The tall finger sponge (I ordered on-line) I had no luck with at all...it started dying within a few days of getting it. Oh, and they must NEVER be exposed to air.
I think the best way to get a sponge is to find one that has been in the stores tank for a long time, that way you know it was alive and happy, not exposed to air. That's what I did with the orange sponge I had. It was way in the back of the guys rocks...I kept seeing it each time I visited the store. I finally asked the owner about it, and pointed it out, he had forgotten all about it even being in there.
When you get a sponge from the store or on-line, you have no idea how it was handled, and they don't die fast, rather it's a very slow deterioration.
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Agreed, most orange sponge is like this: a slow degeneration over time. Most don't live past a few months, and Flower's case is more the exception, not the rule.
 
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