blue sponge

what is every one take on blue sponges?
i went to my Lfs and i seer a blue sponge there, it about med size and it 40 dollar. i did a like research on it and it sound good , but i feel like am miss something on it so am asking my fellow reefer's

 

Depending on Genera, they can be a very easy sponge to keep (when compared to yellow, orange, and red). If it is from the Halichondria or Haliclona, (bread crumb sponges) they are photosynthetic and hardy. They require good lighting and good flow. (Like all sponges, you can kill them if you expose them to air....even air bubbles coming out of a pump or powerhead so watch your placement of them).

However, blue sponges from the Hymedesmia species are NOT photosynthetic and will surely die in most people's tanks.

 

k thank

 

I would think that if the LFS is keeping it then it may be photosynthetic. Even still lots of research is always recommended.

 

I wouldn't assume that at all. I've run a LFS. All sorts of things can go wrong;

You can be sent a mis-identified sponge
Sometimes you have partners, who say to themselves, "Wow.....this looks cool" and orders it and that partner doesn't realize it's a death sentence for that animal.
Not only that, as long as sponges aren't exposed to air, they don't just die....it happens over months and months while it slowly starves to death.

I found it funny that I went searching for a picture for you and the web-site recommended low light and said this was an 8 on a scale of 10 in terms of difficulty. They are easy to take care of.

 

yea that what i found to, that it requires low light which didnt make sense to me. then another site side it easy to take care of with lots of light and flow

 

I understand what your saying inwall75. That's why I said about the research because you never know if an LFS will unknowingly misrepresent themselves. That fact about them dieing over months is very interesting though. On a side note I also noticed both websites contradicting themselves on sponges and in almost every book i've read they said to only have sponges if your experienced (i know certain types are hard).

 

My sponges came on the rock. While the orange ones first appeared to grow and multiply, they all sort of disappeared within four months. The tank is nearly a year old now, and I still have a blue (lavender) and a white sponge. great stuff, have no idea if they will continue, but I'm hopeful.