Pink Sponge- What's happening?

[timbodmb]

I've had this beautiful pink sponge in my tank for about 6 months (when I found it)- Last night it changed drastically- Is this normal? I've never seen it change before... The sponge itself has semi-deflated, and grown these "spikes"-
It's so pretty, I'm hoping that its not dying... anyone?

 

[hlcroghan]

wow, that is amazing looking!! i personally do not know. maybe expelling the water and swelling back up, like an anemone?

 

[timbodmb]

Well, I think it's very important that we understand the process in which sponges grow. 1 day later, the sponge seems to be "re-growing" with no ill-effects. Now I don't understand why this happened to begin with, however I plan on keeping this page up to date with it's progress since there is very little about sponges on this site. I'm thrilled that the sponge seems to have not died. From the second picture posted below, you can see that the sponge tissue seems to be filling in where the "filaments" were left bare- I will post another picture tomorrow. It seems as if the night time is when most of the repairing is done.
Comments are more than welcome!

 

[jimvette1]

I found this about the little guys:
"They are natural suspension feeders, filtering food from the water. Phytoplankton foods bring out lot's of color. They are very helpful in filtering aquarium water. They can withstand a wide temperature variation and they last indefinitely in the marine aquarium. Like other Sponges, the Ball Sponge feeds on bacteria and detritus that it filters from the moving water. This is why water movement is crucial to their survival. Sponges can usually tolerate changes in water temperature with no ill effect, but they may be sensitive to drastic changes in salinity."
I found the last sentence about salinity very interesting.
They need pristine water conditions also.
They say you know your take is in good condition if you have sponges.
It was also stated they should be in areas void of light but I have some both growing in the shade as well as the bright light (my pink, like yours, is in the bright light). Go figure?
Just give it some time I think it will puff back out soon.Mine did the same thing as yours is doing.
Also one more thing I found out, do not expose them to air it will kill them.

 

[reefkprz]

looks to me like some basic restructuring, if the flow conditions change in the area of the sponge the sponge need to "rebuild" to use the flow as natural water current is used by the way the sponge shapes itself to assist in passing water through the sponges channels with the assistance of its flaggelae. if the flow is not optimum for feeding the sponge will often reshape itself to utelize the flow. just looks to me like the flow changed a bit and the sponge is reshaping itself.

 

[jimvette1]

Interesting response, reefkprZ, I cant reply for timbodmb but my pink sponge is identical to timbodmb's in every way, shape and size.
I have many sponges, gray, white, yellow, and pink but only the pink is doing the "shrink thing".In different locations,too.
There is no change in water movement, haven't touched anything in my tank for months.