Sponge-mania

Richard and I discovered something cool this morning. 

We saw this 3 fingered tenticle thing...

Looking around for the source we had a theory.  Maybe it is branching from this near by sponge...

So we moved a rock out of the way and look what was behind it!

Holy branching sponge batman! Here is the whole thing...

Is that cool or what?!  Who can tell us more about this?

We have two theories.

It looks like the branching tissue is like a probe that reaches out then attaches to an new rock and then starts a new colony.

and/or

Maybe these are branching out just for water intake.  Is this tissue reaching out so that more surface area is created and the sponge can process more water? Maybe it is wushing water all the way from the tips of the branches down long tunnels and out the big exit holes.

Anyway.  Cool! and in our own little eco-system.

I have that sponge growing out of control for me.  For me, it is much lighter in color under the rocks, but when it grows out, it has a dark blue color.  Actually mine is now a dark green color.  This pic isn't that good but you can see all the dozens of projections on it.  Mark and I have had this stuff in our tanks forever...

Adam

Here is an interesting tid-bit of information.  I love the commentary at the end

http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/images/sponges.htm wrote: Venus'-flower-basket (Euplectella) is an interesting specimen. Inside, two shrimp can be found (one is male, the other female). Numerous larval shrimp entered the sponge through the sieve plate at the top. The first pair to reach sexual maturity killed off other immature shrimp that had entered with them. In Japan Venus'-flower-baskets are given as wedding presents to symbolize lifelong devotion and fidelity (this tradition ignores, of course, the carnage as they reached maturity and the fact that the shrimp are trapped and can't escape).

So, based on Jared's last post is it reasonable to think that if we were trying to make a sponge refugium section for our sump we could:

    gather about half a cubic foot of rubble,

    blend up some of our sponge,

    pour it in a bucket with the rubble for a week,

   place the rubble in our sponge refugium section,

   watch it grow and begin filtering our water . . .

Richard,

I know someone who studies sponges and tunicates for that exact reason.  She and I are both interested in this stuff, but for different reasons. There is a problem (I don't think it is a problem but...) in some places where sponges are growing out of control and since they contain heavy metals wildlife officials are looking for ways to kill them off.

However, my take is that those sponges are removing the metals from the water and we should be happy to have them. Also, according to Linda Nelson at Seabase, these sponges and tunicates are thriving in metal laden water, and are actually helping to clear up the water.  Supposidly the water is clearing up, and these guys are reproducing at an incredible rate. 

So to me, yes, they are a silicate/phosphate/iron/copper/etc sink. But I wouldn't worry about them crashing.

Adam

Here are a couple sponges I discovered today when moving my tank...