How long does it take for a sponge to die once exposed to air?

kilofey

kilofey

Member
My live rock came with 3 yellow hitchhiker sponges. I didnt realize they were there so we didnt take any precaution to keep them in water. Its been 11 days now and they all look goodstill, did I maybe just get lucky or do they die slowly? Thryve actually gotten a little bigger since ive had them & been giving them light & food. I hope theyre ok
Btw, how big can these hitchhiker sponges get? One looks like a pale yellow q tip and the other 2 look like yellow brains
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Probably won't get bigger then a pea...maybe a marble...they will come and go depending on the nutrients in the water
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
Bouncy balls are those small rubber balls you get out of the 25¢/50¢ gumball machines.
Regarding the sponge, a couple things... First, there is a difference between being exposed to air for a few seconds, and sitting out of the water for a few minutes. Secondly, different sponges respond differently to being exposed to air. The tighter or looser the 'webbing' is on a sponge, the faster or slower water travels out of the sponge, and air gets in. If the sponge has really tight webbing, most of these hitchhiking sponges do, brief exposure to air isn't too big of deal. For something like a vase sponge, it would likely spell the slow end.
As meowzer said, these sponges will come and go. I had 1 grow to several inches and cover most of the LR piece it was on, before the tank matured and it withered away (much to my disappointment)
 
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