Exposing sponges to air

[rykna]

I have only one sponge, a orange tree sponge. I've read in many books that exposing a sponge to air equals instant death. Now do they mean a lengthy exposure to air like leaving your sponge on the kitchen counter for a few minutes while shiffling rocks in your tanks, or are they talking about the few seconds the sponge is in the air before you put it into your tank. Mine has be exposed to air on the top most tip when I was transfering it. I was horrified that I had surly killed it. That was almost 3 weeks ago.....nothing happened. The sponge is fine.So what does this mean????? just curious to get your thoughts :thinking:

 

[fedukeford]

when ever some one gets a sponge i see people saying that they should take it out of the bag UNDER the water, so i guess if it touches it for even a second it can be lethal

 

[firedog]

Yes that brief second can trap air and will cause it to die. But with sponges, "instant death" can take several weeks to take place. Best chance to save it is to cut off the dead portion (with a small margin of living sponge). You might save the sponge, you might not. Of course do all this under water. Only thing you can really do is wait and see.

 

[rykna]

True, which has been my experience as well. I have read that the exposure to air is like us inhaling water. It stops their abilty to tranfer water and they litterally starve/suffocate to death. I have also read similar things about coral, however you can view many, many pictures of costal beaches when the tide was low and many many types of coral were exposed to the elements. Yet I would bet my tank that they all were just fine,except those that were picked at by seagulls.

 

[lpardshark]

As in my other posts, I will state I M new to SW tanks. Have had great success with FW tanks, so wanted to give SW a try. Yesterday went looking round all the LFS's and came across this awsome neon red/orange sponge at the mom n pop FS that I swore I would never buy any fsh from there, cause their livestock always looked near death. But the sponge just looked to good to pass up and only $10.95. Well heres the deal, the lady who got me the sponge, netted it and brought it out of the water, and then into a bag...
Being new to everything, didn't know this was wrong, DOH! On top of that, I asked the lady if their were any special instructions (acclimatization, Light, Postitoning) The only thing she said was that I needed a coralife 50/50 bulb..
Now after doing research after the fact, I M finding that I shouldn't put them in the light due to algae, and I shouldn't postion them on existing LR, and of course no air contact.... I M praying for a miracle, I like this sponge as much as I do my fish (

 

[lpardshark]

Think it's called a red ball sponge, not sure. Searched and didn't find any pics of sponges this bright...

 

[rykna]

WOW!!!! That's a beautiful sponge!!! I have a orange tree sponge. If you wouldn't mind, I be very interested in hearing the outcome of this insident. About 6 months ago I went rebel, and set out to figure out what was worth paying attention to, not that I would advise this for newbies, but the question of the exsposure to air is one of my many unaswered questions I still have.
For instance...the tide goes out every day for about 4 hrs exposing many types of corals to the elements including air. You can see many picuters and videos of this. So where does the exposure to air come into exquasion? Certaintly I wouldn't advise taking your purple acapora for a walk around the block, but what length of exporsure to air is considered unhealthy?
My tree sponge has had a few seconds exposure to air....and after 2 weeks shows no bad after effects.....keep us updated, hope the little guy is okay

 

[hot883]

I got my red sponge tree 9 May in the mail. (Yes, I record the very day I buy something on my fish tank dedicated calendar.) When I recieved it, it was not fully emerged in water in the bag. I worried. But I did take it out with the bag very near the water and immediately placed it in the tank, between some tonga branch live rock.
I do not recommend this but it worked for me and I have not had any die off. I heard also that you are not suppose to spot feed them either as it will clog the pores.

 

[1journeyman]

Many types of corals yes... I don't think you'll find sponges below the high water mark, however.
Here's a simple experiment for you. Put a kitchen sponge in the water. Hold it under with something. See how it doesn't lose all of the air inside it? Same concept for marine sponges. They don't have the ability to purge air.

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by LpardShark
Think it's called a red ball sponge, not sure. Searched and didn't find any pics of sponges this bright...

I think that is a red ball sponge. I've been trying to find one forever!

 

[hot883]

Originally Posted by alyssia
I think that is a red ball sponge. I've been trying to find one forever!
you have mail

 

[rykna]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
Many types of corals yes... I don't think you'll find sponges below the high water mark, however.
Here's a simple experiment for you. Put a kitchen sponge in the water. Hold it under with something. See how it doesn't lose all of the air inside it? Same concept for marine sponges. They don't have the ability to purge air.
Well true, but if you leave it under for awhile eventually all the air escapes to the surface as thesponge slowly fills with water. Air is lighter than water. But is this reaction the same in saltwater? YES. So where does the worry come from? Has this been proved by a marine biologist? Or is it just a hand me down theory from the so called specialists???? :thinking: I'm leaning toward the hand me down theory.

 

[puffer32]

The tips of mine were exposed to air by my lfs as he was putting it in the bag and the tips did die afew weeks later, I cut them off and its doing fine now heres some pics of the dead tips and then now, made a great come back as you can see

 

[rykna]

Wow! Thanks for the pic. Is that a orange tree sponge? How long would you guess the sponge was exposed to air while being put into the bag???

 

[firedog]

Corals and sponges are two different animals. Most sponges (but not all) will die when exposed to air. No it is not an instant death. It may take a month or two. It will take several weeks in the least. It may look fine but it may be dying from the inside. If you cut off a piece you may notice inside that the sponge is losing its color. Yes you can cut the sponge without killing it. This is one way to propagate them.
This is not hearsay. I speak from experience, have read this online, and have read this in books (does anybody read books anymore? Have they gone the way of the LP record?) from very reputable aquarists/marine biologists. This information seems to be
Unfortunately mom and pop at the lfs are not so informed about sponges. Red ball ( which is what you appear to have, unless it stings you, which it them may be fire sponge or fire ball sponge or whatever you want to call it) and the tree sponges and most of the ornamental sponges will die if they are exposed to air. They will starve if they are clogged with detritus or sand. They have a reputation for being both hard to keep to easy. They are some of the oldest living organisms, as they are one of the simpler forms of life.
As stated before, you can try cutting away the dying portion. I don't know if squeezing the sponge will really help expel the air that might be trapped.
Some sponges are photosynthetic. I have recently read that all sponges use light to a small degree in the least. But in general they are filter feeders.
I have also read that sponges do better when they come attached to a piece of their substrate ( i.e. live rock). So it is a good assumption that the sponge should be place among the live rock and not in the sand. Moderate to strong current is also suggested.

 

[rykna]

Thankyou!!!! Now that makes

some sense.

 

[puffer32]

Originally Posted by Rykna
Wow! Thanks for the pic. Is that a orange tree sponge? How long would you guess the sponge was exposed to air while being put into the bag???
Yes its an orange tree sponge. He was exposed for just afew seconds, he started to turn white on 2 tips afew weeks after exposure to air. I had to clip him back twice cause i don't think I got all the dead the first time, second time I cut him I cut alot of the orange off also, figured I had nothing to lose. Wher I cut it, it formed a knob and sealed up.You can see the shorter stalks on the left and the knob where it healed in the pic.He is in the sand bed, but heard they should be on a rock instead, but he is doing so well, I don't want to move him. He gets some light but is shaded some by a rock, and moderate flow, he has grown alot in the 4 months we have had him.

 

[lpardshark]

Great Info... Cpl of ?'s still.....
If need to cut off dead parts, wat shud I use, I know they say no metal in the tank, but is it ok to have metal in the tank for short . of time
Has any1 ever tried the squeezing idea, it sounds like that may work, shud maybe try that first?
If it lives, can any1 say if I need to supplementally feed it, or will the tank provide all it needs?
If all fails, and it dies, can I leave it in the tank as an ornament, or will I have to remove it?
P.S. The sponge didn't sting me....

 

[puffer32]

I cut mine with sterlized metal scissors, only took 20 seconds to hack off the 2 bad tips.
You need to feed your tank,your sponge will eat what your corals eat. Phyto, cyclopeeze, that sort of stuff.
Not sure about the squeezing thing, never heard of it till now, guess it wouldn't hurt.
If it does, it will get algae covered, so not so attractive imho. Let us know how it does.

 

[reefeel]

Never squeez a sponge. They have spicules (sp) that help hold the sponge together so if you squeez it you will crush the spicules and puncture your hands at the same time. This would eventually cause the death of the sponge.