Sponges and tunicates

[kravjitsu]

Not sure where to put this thread...
I have a fairly new tank, around 6 months old but very healthy and happy and I find myself enjoying the oddities of saltwater more than the standard fish and corals even. I enjoy lots of algaes and plants, shrimps, crabs, and general 'critters'.
I have a sea squirt/tunicate that I bought along with several turkey wing clams and its quickly become one of my favorite additions. I have several pineapple/q-tip songes in my larger tank and some newly discovered black sponge stuff.
My question is, is there anyway I can introduce more of these types of things into my tank without being suckered into spending lots for a small piece from a LFS? I try to buy "dirty" live rock but so far have only gotten codium intricatum and a weird snail from it. I think I could get sponges/tunicates to survive cuz I feed filter feeder food often (and the sea squirt has been alive for a long time and is thriving). I also don't see these in stores often anyway. Anyone have any thoughts?
Sorry for the long post. Thanks.

 

[speg]

I don't have much in the way of advice, but I'd love a pic of your tank. I understand that these types of things are sometimes difficult to keep, so it would be nice to see someone's collection

 

[kravjitsu]

Sure. My squirt has a tuft of hair algae on him currently though lol. I will try and take some good quality pics soon and will post.

 

[speg]

Great

 

[kravjitsu]

bump

 

[saxman]

at 6 mos, your tank is just beginning to mature, and as it does so, and even after, you'll have various critters wax and wane...it's a constant thing that never really stops.
what you might consider is the TYPE of LR you're buying, and not just whether it's "dirty-looking". for instance, if all you get is Fiji rock, you'll pretty much get what's native to that area.
if you can find it, get ahold of some Kaelini rock...that stuff always had a good amount of freebies back in the day.
i have LR from Fiji, Tonga, and MI and they all are a bit different, even down to the color of the coralline.
also, some aquarists don't care for sponges, etc, so you may be able to get some small rocks from them.
HTH

 

[fishtaco]

Don't give up on getting new critters from your LR this soon, at the 14 month point I have a beautiful lime green sponge that has started growing.
Fishtaco

 

[kravjitsu]

I will continue to get critters and things even if I am not adding more rocks? Can they be dormant in/on the rock for that long? Also, if I have something in my larger tank, can I just kind of scrape it off the rock in that tank and move it to my smaller tank? (keeping it submerged the entire time obviously) Will it reattach itself? Maybe that idea is crazy...
Side note, I saw a neat sea squirt at the LFS today, it was about the size of a red potato. It was yellow with purple "veins" running all around it. I almost bought it but I dont like yellow. It was $60. They also had a tunicate that was rather plain except for 2 small royal blue bits on the sides. It was a cool piece but $200!! Insane.