purple sponge

[mcgiver31]

Ok here we have a purple sponge with button polyps attached to it. I bought this about a month ago it is spreading very quickly and at this pace I'm concerned it may take up to mutch rock in the months to come. Can it be fraged?

 

[Tonyscoots84]

i would leave it alone.

 

[tomtoothdoc]

keep the sponge but get rid of the button polyps....they can spread very quickly and take too much real estate.

 

[KathyC]

If it is the typical type of sponge we usually find growing on the underside of rocks, it might die if you try and move it.
Is it out in the light?

I have a purple sponge of a different type that does grow in the light..sort of the way a cap grows out, and this type can be fragged.
Give yours some time and see what it does. If necessary, can you move the zoas away from it?

 

[kidninja]

pretty sure you bought the rock with bubble gum on it

 

[mcgiver31]

there is no difference whether the light is on or off its the same size, it just keeps encrusting. as far as the zoas they are physically attached to the sponge. cant they be removed from the sponge with out damaging it?

 

[mcgiver31]

it wasn't attached to a rock it was laying on the sand bed with polyps already attached to it.

 

[jcdeng]

I have a lime yellow one in the lights and it has grow more tubes from the main body since day 1.

 

[KathyC]

there is no difference whether the light is on or off its the same size, it just keeps encrusting. as far as the zoas they are physically attached to the sponge. cant they be removed from the sponge with out damaging it?

You can try and slice it off right next to the polyps with a sharp blade, but you do need to keep it submerged at all times. Sponges can be easily harmed/killed if exposed to air. Put a container in the tank to remove it and work on it in there, then return it to the tank.

 

[homegrowncichlid]

sponges are hard to kill except by air bubbles. I have plenty of sponges in my tank and they are not really "oh my gosh, they are taking over"
I have purple vase, plain white encrusting, a spiky pink encrusting, a soft velveting encrusting and yellow finger. Their growth is limited by food. Since I feed my tank a fixed about per week, their growth is static. Easy to cut and move, just need to physically hold it down somewhere until it sticks.

 

[Zuska]

donate the sponge to me

 

[homegrowncichlid]

my yellow finger sponge is the only one easy to frag. Started with a one inch piece last fall, now it's got 2 branches and total of about 4 inches. Once it get's massive, I guess I'll start trading. The pink one is nice though. It's strange, on the nights I feed phyto, the next morning it grows all these sharp looking needle-like spikes, but a few hours later, they all disappear, adsorbed back into the body.

 

[tangy84]

I can borrow it for my emperor.. He will eat the sponge and the zoo... Problem solved

 

[cowfish]

sponges are hard to kill except by air bubbles. I have plenty of sponges in my tank and they are not really "oh my gosh, they are taking over"
I have purple vase, plain white encrusting, a spiky pink encrusting, a soft velveting encrusting and yellow finger. Their growth is limited by food. Since I feed my tank a fixed about per week, their growth is static. Easy to cut and move, just need to physically hold it down somewhere until it sticks.

How long have you had the purple vase and what kind of set up is it in (lighting, tank size, etc.)?