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Thoughts On Keeping Many Invertebrates In A Small Environment

animalmaster6

By animalmaster6,
in Invertebrate Forum

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animalmaster6

animalmaster6

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So your saying a fish will aim to get out? I have an eggcrate top now you have me woried.

No they are not aiming to get out. I there is a large gap, like in Reef Keeper's case, something may scare them and they can jump. If you have a top they are very, very unlikely to jump.

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Carloslekak

Carloslekak

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That rockscape has plenty of territories and caves for the inverts to live in. Thanks for the FTS carlos :)

 

Danke, my inspiration funnily enough was Mr. Microscope's Pico... I really liked all the shady areas he made in his pico so I wanted lots of shady areas in mine...Now i gotta split my ATI/UVL bulbs are finally here!! YAY!

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animalmaster6

animalmaster6

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My writeup on sponges is turning out really great! Almost done!

 

 

Danke, my inspiration funnily enough was Mr. Microscope's Pico... I really liked all the shady areas he made in his pico so I wanted lots of shady areas in mine...Now i gotta split my ATI/UVL bulbs are finally here!! YAY!

His pico is pretty awesome!

 

Thanks AM

No Prob! :)

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animalmaster6

animalmaster6

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Sponges

Sponges are very interesting, beautiful, and complex, but are some of the hardest animals to keep in captivity.

This post will give you info and all the care you need for keeping sponges.

 

Sponges are amazing!

 

Some sponge pictures

 

20070722-candy-cane-sponge.jpg

A common Spider Sponge. Photo by www.ultimatereef.net

 

sponge.jpg

The general structure of sponges. Photo by yhsbiology.wikispaces.com.

 

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The Chicken Liver Sponge, Chondrilla nucula is a common hitchhiker on live rock. Photo by coralpedia.bio.warwick.ac.uk.

 

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A detailed encrusting sponge species. Photo by imagecache6.allposters.com.

 

 

Flow- Flow is key to the survival of sponges. Sponges are natural filter feeders. They get their food by catching phytoplankton in the flow. Sponges need high flow or else they will not survive. High flow gives the sponges more chances to feed.

"In the study of Wilkinson and Vancelet (1979) discussed above, growth and survival of all species tested was greatly reduced among sponges grown in low flow relative to high flow areas. This finding may presumably result from the sponges needing to spend much more energy on pumping water through their bodies when they get less help from the Bernoulli principle. To support this presumption, the researchers found that sponges tended to change their shape and size depending on where they were living; among the sponges that survived the transplant, sponge morphology differed dramatically between the individuals of each species grown under different light and flow regimes (Wilkinson and Vacelet 1979)." - Advanced Aquarist Online Magazine.

 

If you are worried that your have high flow, but your sponge isn't getting enough, sponges are actually capable of moving very slowly towards the highest flow area. It is best to put your sponge in the area with as much flow as possible to begin with though. Sponges use too much energy while moving and can make them unhealthy. Advanced Aquarist Online Magazine states that they can move 0.5 cm per day. Not much and all that time takes up way too much energy. Advanced Aquarist Online Magazine also states that they can only move and change shape if they were introduced well to the aquarium.

Selection- Selection is extremely important for the health of sponges.

 

You should make shure the Oscula (mouth like thing) is open. This indicates it is eating and breathing well.

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An Oscula on a sponge. Photo by www.eeob.iastate.edu.

 

Do not buy a sponge a sponge that has discolored areas. If a red sponge has greyish areas do not buy it. If a grey sponge has brownish areas do not buy it. These discolored areas are really dead tissue, ask the dealer to remove it and watch the sponge to see if the tissue is regenerating.

 

If there is some sort of rock or material at the bottom of the sponge, never remove it! This could kill the sponge. Make sure when purchasing the dealer doesn't take it off!

 

Do your research before buying a sponge. Study up on the species you are getting, some are terrible for aquariums, some are good.

 

Make sure the dealer does not take the sponge out of water! This will kill the sponge. Bring the bag underwater and put the sponge into the bag while submerged. Never take a sponge out of water!

 

Sponges have virtually no smell. If a sponge smells bad do not buy it.

 

Predators- There are many predators of sponges. Many cowries, nudibranches, large angelfish, triggerfish, some filefish, and worms will eat and kill sponges. It is important to make sure you do not buy a sponge if you have any of these.

 

Symiotic Relationships- Many gobies, basket starfish, brittle stars, copepods, amphipods, shrimp and crabs live symbiotically with sponges. Decorator crabs often choose sponges to decorate themselves with. Zoanthids will grow with certain species of spider sponges. This is very interesting behavior but is rare in aquariums. On a species of sponge in the Gulf Of Mexico, over 100 animals wehre found living on one sponge. Many sponges live symbiotically with bacteria. "A single specimen of Spheciospongia vesparium in Florida was found to contain over 16,000 pistol shrimps", Advanced Aquarist Online Magazine.

Sponge_Crab_Hawaii_Kona_Big_Island.jpg

A Hawaiian Sponge Crab. photo by www.bigislanddivers.com.

 

Consistent Maintenance- It is very important to blow off all algae, sand, detritus, and anything else if it gets on your sponge. This can prevent the sponge from feeding and breathing. This should be done consistently and as much as possible.

 

Placement- Placement is important to the survival of sponges. Do not place sponges near corals like SPS or LPS. In general, most corals can sting sponges. Encrusting species will continue to grow unless there is some sort of barrier. If there isn't any barrier it will continue growing into possibly, your corals.

sponge_encrust.jpg

A species of yellow encrusting sponge. Photo by www.falklands-underwater.com.

 

Keep Sponges In Established Sytems- Make sure to only add sponges if your system has been set up for a long time and is established. Your tank needs time for phytoplankton cultures to grow and multply. Without proper phytoplankton colonies your sponge will not have enough food.

 

Food- Sponges feed on phytoplankton and other micro-organisms. John Maloney's Filter Feeder Formula Food Mix is incredible! It is perfect for sponges and is very cheap.

 

Lighting- Lighting is very hard to figure out with sponges. Some sponges like high lighting and some sponges like low lighting. The best thing to do is to research the species of search you are interested in and find out it's lighting requirements.

 

Hitchhikers A common hitchhiker sponge is the Pineapple Sponge. This page contains most of the species of sponges you could find as a hitchhiker.

sponge02.jpg

The Pineapple Sponge is a common hitchhiker. Photo by www.pirx.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sponges were once thought impossible to keep but that is wrong. Under the right conditions and proper care you can keep sponges and make them thrive.

 

 

~ Animalmaster6

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Carloslekak

Carloslekak

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Awesome read AM!!! I saw a documentary on sponges not to long ago, it mentioned Copepods also lived and bred inside sponges...

 

P.S The pics you chose are amazing that spider sponge.....Drool....

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animalmaster6

animalmaster6

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Thank You!!! I'm really happy with what I wrote. I didn't think it would come out nearly as good lol. :happy:

 

What documentary was it?

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Carloslekak

Carloslekak

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Not too long ago, I think it was maybe Dhaut(i'm not sure) opened a thread about the best reef docs anyone has seen. someone posted links to a site that had a couple of documentaries streaming and I followed it and stumbled into an awesome reef doc with a huge section about sponges.

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Carloslekak

Carloslekak

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Here you go AM, some pics of my Hasha/Pistol Pair at feeding time, while they feed you can see a couple of pics where the Pistol shoves sand out further enlarging their humble abode. Use them at your leisure... B)

 

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d'Espresso

d'Espresso

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lol I like sponges, but gobies are my thing B)

 

Thanks Brent!

 

 

+1

 

Hey AM, Gobies is my thing too! i have about 6 gobies in my tank so far and all of them is doing good since the crash. lol :)

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