Sponge eating fish/critter

[Tom nhia]

Hey does anyone know of a fish/criiter that eats sponges but is either a slower grower or stays small (3 inches). I got some white sponges going rampant in the sump. I know they are "good" fauna but theres just too much, they are growing out of my marinepure block and every other surface

 

[bushdoc]

This question pops up every few weeks on this forum, suggest doing some search.
Some angelfish eat sponges, hawksbill turtle too, however the best biological method of controlling sponges overgrowth is to starve them by reducing suspended matter in water column and increasing general biodiversity of your tank.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

To quote another of my posts:

Manual removal is almost certainly your best option here (for why, see the first quote below, for manual removal control ideas, see the other two):

Just to put this out there - the problem with using biological controls (i.e. something that eats it) with sponges is that there are a ton of different sponges, some of which look indistinguishable from others. Some of these sponges are inedible or extremely undesirable foods to some species (either because of chemical defenses* or just because of taste preferences) while being highly desirable to other species. So, even if you pull in a known sponge-eating species of fish/starfish/whatever, there's no guarantee it will eat the sponge you want it to eat. Also, many of these sponge-eating species eat other things (like coral) that you might not want them eating.

Long story short, manual removal is probably your best option for sponges until more study has been on both specific sponges and specific sponge-eaters, but you can try it if you want.

*Just as a note on the chemical defenses of sponges, many sponges produce chemicals to avoid being eaten. Some of these chemicals are more generalized, some of them are specifically anti-fish, some are specifically anti-echinoderm (starfish, urchin, etc.), etc. So, again, some things might eat one sponge but not another, and because of the whole indistinguishable thing mentioned above, the sponges that are and are not being eaten may look pretty much identical (some may be distinguished/ID'ed under microscopic investigation, others may need to be DNA tested to be distinguished/ID'ed).

Just my two cents here.

The best way I've heard to control sponge growth at this point is to use a steel straw to scrape and siphon out the sponge you want to remove. Sometimes you can create bad conditions for them and kill them off that way, but that's typically much harder and not always effective.

Some other sponge removal methods:

Other suggestions include exposing the sponge to air (obviously not a guaranteed solution, and definitely not viable for this situation); hydrogen peroxide dipping the sponge (again, not viable here); injecting the sponge with hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, boiling water, or air; microbubbles in the display; and a few more. Predation is not usually a good solution for this issue

 

[Tom nhia]

This question pops up every few weeks on this forum, suggest doing some search.
Some angelfish eat sponges, hawksbill turtle too, however the best biological method of controlling sponges overgrowth is to starve them by reducing suspended matter in water column and increasing general biodiversity of your tank.

I am aware that starving them out would be the easiest for mass removal but i rather not risk underfeeding my acros with my elevated alk. Im close to riding the edge, hence why i was asking if anyone knew of a specific specie

To quote another of my posts:

Manual removal is almost certainly your best option here (for why, see the first quote below, for manual removal control ideas, see the other two):

I see thank you. I would still be willing to try a fish as long as it isn't an obligate sponge eater as I rather not be crawling under my desk to try and wean the fish on prepared food. I'll just have to do quarterly sump maintenance if there isnt anything that fits the bill