Keeping Sponges

[Hookup]

Normally I'm the type to go out and do some research, but admittedly, today I'm being lazy.

Anyone have any success stories on keeping sponges?  Ive seen some fantastic colors in sponges, reds, yellows, blues, etc... but I'm not interested in slowly watching something die...

Anyone?

[Funkmotor]

I've got lots of very nice pink sponge and I'm starting to get some good, bright, yellow sponge growing in my tank.

I didn't buy them...they just grew on their own.  I think my tank had been up for about a year by the time I saw first growth of the pink stuff.

One thing I can say with certainty, though, is that they very much prefer shaded places to grow.  If you put some out into the light (by moving something else that unshades it) it doesn't last.  But in the shadows, no problem.

[Vincenzo.]

mine i did not buy either. I have 2 reds and white. Q tips. And colonial tunicates that all grow on their own.

Im using the zeovit nano pack, and a sponge bottle comes with it.

[Aine]

I've been keeping blue sponges from Aqua Valley, they've been growing for a few months now!
It's the bluest invert I could find...

[nissannx]

i have a black one thats growing like made just showed up outta nowhere, and a whole bunch of yellows ones that came in from somewhere over a year ago. not feeding anything special

[dakrazyone]

i'm with funkmotor, i throw some empty shells under a shaded area (DIY Live rock of a Hand) and i have bright blue sponges encrusting the shell.  Starting to look like a blue tree.

[redbelly]

I think hookup is refering to some of the tree sponges, red sponges with white polyps from australia, red ball sponges with yellow polyps for the caribbean, paddle sponges, etc.
The larger, ornamental sponges.

I too have TONS of sponges with every color in the rainbow in my sump. The nicest color hitch hiker sponges have been coming in on the Aussie corals. and these I dont do anything for either.

With the larger sponges though one the big things for them is not to expose them to air and dont allow any algae to grow on them. The first is easy. The second requires VERY low light for most species.

As for feeding, Trina just setup a non-photo tank so we have been trying different products on them. With respect to the sponges, the only product that has made any visual difference is the Fauna Marin Sea Fan food. Technically its not the sponges that are responding to the food. There is a red ball sponge with yellow polyps in that tank and when we feed the SeaFan all the polyps on the sponge open almost instantly. Now is this food actually doing anything for the sponge itself.... no idea, but the polyps on it like the food!