jestep Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 Anyone know of something that will eat a yellow encrusting sponge? It's taken over a few zoa colonies and is now starting to take out some sps. It was pretty much benign for a long time but has recently started to take off. Would be very difficult to remove the entire rock that it's on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 I don't know of anything. Is it possible to take it out and expose to air for a while? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 Maybe you can hit it with a little peroxide while it's out. With a dropper or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted November 16, 2013 Author Share Posted November 16, 2013 It would require taking half my rock in the entire tank out which is why I don't think is a viable option since it's covered in coral. I've heard angels will eat sponges. Not sure I'd like to go the coin toss approach with one though. It would have to be a dwarf if I went that route. No way I'm trying a moorish idol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 there are some sponge eating nudis i believe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aqua-Dome Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 I've seen tiger cowries eat yellow sponge, but also zoanthids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 Several nudibranchs are dedicated sponge eaters. I have a pencil urchin I got at the Aquadome that has been clearing my tank of encrusting yellow sponge (the kind that makes small flutes). I like the sponge, so far he's been able to maintain it without decimating it, but a few of them should be able to make short work of it to get it under control. Easy to catch and remove when you're ready to pass them on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted November 18, 2013 Author Share Posted November 18, 2013 Several nudibranchs are dedicated sponge eaters. I have a pencil urchin I got at the Aquadome that has been clearing my tank of encrusting yellow sponge (the kind that makes small flutes). I like the sponge, so far he's been able to maintain it without decimating it, but a few of them should be able to make short work of it to get it under control. Easy to catch and remove when you're ready to pass them on. That might be a good idea. I didn't realize they ate sponges. Do you have problems with them eating coral at all? I wonder if I can find some really small ones that can fit in smaller spaces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 I haven't had any issues with them eating coral because I had a proliferation of sponge. They're slow moving enough (especially when eating) that you should have time to move either the corals or them to where you want to target them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Grog Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Can you post a picture of the encrusting sponge please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share Posted November 26, 2013 Here's one from a while back. I'll try to get one tomorrow when the lights are on. It has spread substantially from this size. That colony of fire skirt zoas is totally gone. Unfortunately my small Cali tort colony succumbed to the sponge this weekend. It must release some sort of toxin because the tort went really fast. Was just nipping at the base last week and toast over the weekend. Have never seen a non-seriatopora SPS go this fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 thats unbelievable! pencil urchin stat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted December 8, 2013 Author Share Posted December 8, 2013 Been trying to find one. The dome hasn't had any. Haven't had a chance to check aquatek or RCA. Here's a few cell phone picts. This thing is the sponge from hell. I've found it in several other places in the tank now. Possibly going to start trying active destruction. Maybe injecting H2O2 or kalk... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 I've got some aiptasia-x that would probably do the trick that you're welcome to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 I'm going to try injecting some kalk paste and H202 and hot fresh water, not all at the same time though. Maybe FW dip or lugols as well. If those don't work I'll give the apistasia-x a shot. From everything I've read, there isn't a documented method of getting rid of it unless some livestock ends up eating it. Still haven't seen a pencil urchin locally for awhile. There is one frag I can remove that's completely covered in it, so I should be able to experiment outside of the tank itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 i have what is probably a silly idea. i have always read that sponges can die if exposed to air... i'm not sure if this is all sponges, but is it possible to just take the thing out of the tank for a minute or two and see if it gets enough air to kill it? i mean, whatever else is on the rock may not like it, but it probably wont like kalk, H2O2, and hot water either. it definitely doesn't seem to like being encrusted over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted January 2, 2014 Author Share Posted January 2, 2014 I thought about it but the rock it's on is roughly half of my tank so it would be very difficult. Nothing is totally of the table though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 I thought about it but the rock it's on is roughly half of my tank so it would be very difficult. Nothing is totally of the table though. oh, yeah. that would make it a bit different. you'd be better off just draining the tank for a bit . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptJab Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Hey guys, I found this thread while doing a google search because I'm having the same issues. I've spoken with jestep through a PM or two about it, hopefully one of us can find a fix or someone else can chime in that has had this and won. The nudibranchs will have to be a last resort for me due to my wrasse. I'm going to try to post a few pics showing what I'm dealing with, please excuse my camera skills. These are taken with my phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 my sponge was picked off by either one of my urchins, or one of my crabs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted January 7, 2014 Author Share Posted January 7, 2014 I've been trying to find a pencil urchin but haven't been able to find any locally. Funny though since I gave mine to aquadome about 3 years ago after it destroyed the rockwork in my nano cube. Going to try some kalk this weekend. I'm fairly certain that will kill whatever's in direct contact with it. I'm usually more in favor of finding a natural approach, but not so much in favor of risking damage from a rogue urchin or angelfish. I did find a few other forum postings and it seems that this particular sponge doesn't give a s*** about air exposure. Read at least 1 example of it being injected and even fully exposed to air for several hours with no effect whatsoever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cambik Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I saw a urchin at the petco in the stone hill shopping center (Pflugerville) a couple days ago. Might check with them......I can't remember what kind it was but maybe worth calling to find out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptJab Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Last week I injected some of the sponge with lemon juice and really didn't notice much change. A few days ago I injected some vinegar in to a few spots of the sponge and those areas are turning black. I'll post back in a few days to post an update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 unless you can also pull off the dead stuff, i suppose you want to kill it back slowly so you don't get a lot of decay at once? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptJab Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Yep, that's why I'm only hitting a small area at a time. If I can kill a 2"x2" area every week or two, I should be able to get it under control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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