My Sponge Is it Good or Bad? I am an Experienced Aquarist.

[GreatDeep]

Hi I am an experienced saltwater aquarist, but this is my first sponge.
I have a finger sponge bright orange, and he is in a high flow area of my tank.

Yesterday i noticed that he has a sponge growth uniformly over his entire surface of about 1/32. but this is pale compared to the orange color underneath the new pale uniform color. At first i thought he was covered in some kind of pale slime, which is unuasual in my tank, it is basically flawless. I touched the sponge to make sure, and found it was actually the sponge, Now I'm not sure is he growing or dying?

The only thing I can suspect is that my skimmmer has put bubbles into the water not a lot, but some, do you think these could be destroying my sponge? Although there seems to be no openings in which bubbles get into the sponge. And I know the bubbles didn't touch every part of my sponge, and they just seem to float by him not actually sticking to him. So it leads me to believe that the bubbles have not harmed him.

Or is my tank so healthy that the sponge is growing, and the orange color deepens after growth?

Any comments well appreciated, thankyou.

Picture of my sponge is attached, it's the one with my clownfish in the picture, is my sponge. the other file is just an example. Mine are the clown- Jeb and Bob the Sponge. If you look closely you can see the thin layer of pale sponge covering the orange on bob, but it is sponge and not slime, I'm trying to figure out if this is normal. It covers Bob the sponge uniformly and completely. it actually looks like 1/32 inch of sponge growth. Is that what it is?

 

[reefrunner69]

Now I'm not sure is he growing or dying?

Sounds like the sponge is dying, first guess would be the sponge was taken out of the water to be bagged up by the KFS, but the air bubbles from the skimmer are a possibility as well. FWIW, I have found that large sponges like yours tend to do very poorly in aquaria, mostly because we really don't know exactly what they require, and we invariably don't provide one or more of the things necessary for success.

 

[Guest]

One of the things I read about Red, Orange tree sponge, is that it likes some shade, and typically grows in deeper water. So if it is in direct light, the light may be bothering it. Also, they do like the flow.. As Kevin stated, they do not fair well at all, in fact most die within weeks after the LFS receive them because they take them out of the bags and expose them to air... Then they are sold doomed to die off.. It is sad really... Try moving it to a shaded spot in the tank and see how it does.. If it starts to decentigrate, you can try to save some of it by cutting off the outer layers..It soudl reginerate...HTH

Check this out.

http://www.reefsource.com/Species Database/INVERT/orangetree.htm

 

[GreatDeep]

Hi the sponge. . .

Hello, thanks for the tips I have been watching this sponge for over a month and it has done well at the LFS. The store I goto is very good and they know what they are doing. I watched as he removed the sponge at no time was the sponge exposed to air. The LFS employee was very direct on making sure I did not expose him as well. It could be the lighting, he is in direct light. I will move the sponge to a shaded area and see how it fairs from there. thanks for your help.

 

[GreatDeep]

Sponge moved And shaved

I shaved off the thin layer covering the sponge and moved him into a dimly lit area of the tank. Well I'm hoping for the best. I'll update any advances in Bob the sponges condition. Thanks for your help.