Has anyone ever tried keeping Caribbean sponges?

[MantisShrimpMan]

Coming from scuba, some of my favorite underwater structure happens to be the species of sponges that are native to the Caribbean. Sure, they might not be corals, but purple stove pipe sponges, and the big vase sponges in purple orange and yellow, offer fantastic contrast to a reef and make for cool hiding spots for small fish and inverts.

There are a number of species I like where after doing some research I’ve found ample cases of people having tried to keep them and failing miserably. With that being said, I cannot find any evidence that these sponges have proved too difficult for aquarists in past attempts.

Am I missing something? Why can’t I find any evidence of people attempting to keep them? They’re super cool!

 

[Big G]

Awhile ago I tried red tree sponges a couple of times in a relatively new tank. They did fine for awhile and then just slowly melted away. Don't think my tank has enough "quality" shaded places for them to thrive and the tank was too new. I'm adding to the tank this week to create a bit of a shelf with some under-shade areas. Really like sponges. KP Aquatics usually has some nice sponges.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Am I missing something? Why can’t I find any evidence of people attempting to keep them? They’re super cool!

People generally either 1 ) don't keep sponges (at least not on purpose), 2 ) only keep sponges that are commonly available for sale in the hobby, or 3 ) don't know what species of (typically hitchhiking) sponge they're keeping. Also, most people who purposefully try to keep sponges find they are unable to do so (this can largely be explained by my super long quote below, but basically most sponges in the Caribbean/ in the hobby are heterotrophic with extremely difficult feeding requirements), so many people just don't bother trying.

The info I’ve compiled on sponges so far:

Most sponges that I’ve looked into primarily consume Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM - sometimes called Dissolved Organic Carbon, or DOC, which is actually a component of DOM) and specific kinds of bacteria (which kinds vary at least a little from one sponge to another). Most of them seem to have no preference for where their DOC comes from, but they have a preference for algal-derived Dissolved Organic Nitrogen (i.e. DON produced by algae). Giant Barrel Sponges and some Boring Sponges have had their diets analyzed, and they primarily consume DOM (~80% of their total diet, with the remaining ~20% coming from Particulate Organic Matter (POM - primarily phytoplankton and bacteria, though, as mentioned above, bacteria is taken in much higher quantities than phyto). This ratio of approximately 80/20 seems to be pretty typical(though it can vary from what I've seen by +/-15% or so one way or another) for most sponges from what I can find.

Unfortunately, we don’t have an easy, hobbyist way to measure DOM, DOC, DON, or POM (or POC or PON) that I’m aware of, so we don't really have any way to determine if the sponges are getting enough food consistently to thrive (to say nothing of measuring the amounts of specific bacteria in our tanks), but there you have it.

If you do some reading on sponge keeping here on R2R, you'll probably find pretty quickly that most people recommend low lighting low flow for sponges (exceptions for photosynthetic sponges), but the truth is this also depends on the sponge species. The most common photosynthetic sponges in the hobby are the photosynthetic plating sponges (like you can find/buy on LiveAquaria's site), but there are quite a few other sponges that are photosynthetic too (such as Aplysina cauliformis, for example), and these would benefit from high lighting. Similarly, some species of sponge do best in very high flow areas, including high flow areas with laminar flow (a lot of people talk about random flow on the site, which would be called turbulent flow, as they're trying to get the water moving basically randomly throughout the tank - laminar flow is just a continuous flow that doesn't change, so the water keeps going the same direction nonstop and there's nothing random about it). If you're not sure if the sponge is photosynthetic or not, you can try starting it in one lighting (such as low lighting), see how it does and then compare it to a different lighting (moderate or high) and figure out its needs from that. Same with the flow. Light will probably be the most important part for photosynthetic species and the food/flow the most important for NPS species - some people have found stirring up their sand to be an effective food source for sponges, likely because it puts bacteria and DOM into the water column. It’s probably safest to start low light/flow and move up, rather than starting high and moving lower.

Some sponges do well in some tanks but not in others for no discernible reason, and some some sponges travel well while other sponges don't. Plus, sometimes a sponge will basically disintegrate into a ton of tiny pieces and look like it's dying, but it'll then proceed to grow and live on afterwards. Similarly, some sponges grow invasively while others grow incredibly slowly, so a lot of keeping these guys at this point really just depends on the luck of the draw (so to speak).

Just a note here, some species of sponge (such as some Sycon spp. - pineapple sponges) do in fact eat noteworthy (for the sponge, not necessarily for the tank they're in) levels of small phyto species.

To add to the above, knowing that bacteria and DOC are important, some people might recommend carbon dosing and/or turning off a UV if you have one running so as to encourage bacterial population growth (you may need to be careful if you try this though, as too big of a bacteria bloom could cause issues in your tank).

For general sponge health, I've heard good things from people dosing ChaetoGro, and some phyto dosing and/or macro in the tank may help encourage sponge health/growth too.

Also, a couple of things pertaining to sponges and silicates - most sponges do need them, so it may be a good idea (as mentioned) to dose silicates if you're trying to promote sponge growth.

All of that said, under the right conditions, sponges can be kept - it's just likely going to have some luck involved for us hobbyists at this point.

Should you decide to try and keep any of the sponges you're interested in, take note if you can of the sponge's surroundings and the flow it's in - if you can't do that, the link below may help you figure out sediment and flow preferences for any sponges you want to keep (the graphical abstract close to the top is a visual representation of the info presented).

No taxonomy needed: Sponge functional morphologies inform about environmental conditions

The need to study sponge communities in comparatively inaccessible habitats led to a sponge classification system that relies on the strictly function…

www.sciencedirect.com

 

[AydenLincoln]

I agree with the other comments. I’d like to add many species are very difficult to keep like tree sponges due to us being unable to replicate the ocean’s natural currents/amount of food available as all sponges are filter feeders. With many melting away in a matter of months and being unable to be kept longterm. Other reasons include:
1. They eat so much and need very high flow.
2. Diet they need things like silicates and plankton so much that it will often pollute the tank and other things we as hobbyists can’t buy or replicate.
3. Many sponges are found in deep water and receive little to no light something that can’t be replicated in a reef aquarium.
4. Mentioning flow again and food source because that’s an important one we just can’t seem to replicate because our tanks aren’t the ocean.
5. Many sponges like the blue sponge will nuke a tank when it dies and release toxins.
6. They ship terribly and is a big reason why sellers don’t bring them in.
If you would really like to try a sponge…I’d recommend a yellow ball sponge or elephant ear sponge as I’ve found them to be easier to keep. Many of the other sponges like the tree sponges are impossible to keep long term something myself and others have learned. Those beautiful species you see are better left in the ocean.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Coming from scuba, some of my favorite underwater structure happens to be the species of sponges that are native to the Caribbean. Sure, they might not be corals, but purple stove pipe sponges, and the big vase sponges in purple orange and yellow, offer fantastic contrast to a reef and make for cool hiding spots for small fish and inverts.

There are a number of species I like where after doing some research I’ve found ample cases of people having tried to keep them and failing miserably. With that being said, I cannot find any evidence that these sponges have proved too difficult for aquarists in past attempts.

Am I missing something? Why can’t I find any evidence of people attempting to keep them? They’re super cool!

I tried this and failed , First were ball from Jamaica and in a couple of days started to fall apart.
Then I tried some from Miami Beach and it looked good for about a week and melted which I concluded, best left in their habitat and to stick with aquacultured. I however was successful with mini blue leg hermits and seaweed until my tangs devoured it
It is near impossible to duplicate the light and flow requirements the sponge requires in a home system after removed from depths

 

[Big G]

People generally either 1 ) don't keep sponges (at least not on purpose), 2 ) only keep sponges that are commonly available for sale in the hobby, or 3 ) don't know what species of (typically hitchhiking) sponge they're keeping. Also, most people who purposefully try to keep sponges find they are unable to do so (this can largely be explained by my super long quote below, but basically most sponges in the Caribbean/ in the hobby are heterotrophic with extremely difficult feeding requirements), so many people just don't bother trying.

Just a note here, some species of sponge (such as some Sycon spp. - pineapple sponges) do in fact eat noteworthy (for the sponge, not necessarily for the tank they're in) levels of small phyto species.

All of that said, under the right conditions, sponges can be kept - it's just likely going to have some luck involved for us hobbyists at this point.

Should you decide to try and keep any of the sponges you're interested in, take note if you can of the sponge's surroundings and the flow it's in - if you can't do that, the link below may help you figure out sediment and flow preferences for any sponges you want to keep (the graphical abstract close to the top is a visual representation of the info presented).

No taxonomy needed: Sponge functional morphologies inform about environmental conditions

The need to study sponge communities in comparatively inaccessible habitats led to a sponge classification system that relies on the strictly function…

www.sciencedirect.com

Excellent info. Thanks so much for posting this.

 

[dennis romano]

I have kept several sponges for a while. My oldest is a blue that came in as a vase, died back to the size of a dime then encrusted a whole rock and gorgonian. Since then, it has shrunk to the size of a dime again. It is about ten years old. I have a trio of yellow elephant ears that are over three years old. I bought a spiny oyster that had red encrusting sponges. The oyster died but the sponges live on. Sponges need a very old tank. The tank that my sponges reside has been going for over twenty five years. Sponges basically live on the microfauna of an old tank. They don't have mouths but bring nutrients in with the water that passes through them. Mine are kept low in the tank, in darker areas but with moderate flow. Elephant ears are the easiest followed by ball, encrusting with trees very hard to keep.

 

[AydenLincoln]

I have kept several sponges for a while. My oldest is a blue that came in as a vase, died back to the size of a dime then encrusted a whole rock and gorgonian. Since then, it has shrunk to the size of a dime again. It is about ten years old. I have a trio of yellow elephant ears that are over three years old. I bought a spiny oyster that had red encrusting sponges. The oyster died but the sponges live on. Sponges need a very old tank. The tank that my sponges reside has been going for over twenty five years. Sponges basically live on the microfauna of an old tank. They don't have mouths but bring nutrients in with the water that passes through them. Mine are kept low in the tank, in darker areas but with moderate flow. Elephant ears are the easiest followed by ball, encrusting with trees very hard to keep.

I agree with this!