Blue sponge turned white

[Recife]

Hi everyone,
I got a blue sponge yesterday and placed it in an area of strong flow and light in my tank.
This morning it looked white. I'm just wondering if it's dead or if this can happen when the lights are off.
Is there anything I can do about it?

 

[spongebob lover]

hmmm that's a tough one dood.
I seriously don't know to much about sponges.
Did you make sure it didn't have any contact with air?

 

[Recife]

Yes, I was VERY careful in that regard.
I know these animals can starve if you don't feed them properly, but 1 day would rule this option out.

I'm so anxious to go back home after work and see if it reacted to the lights after they came on.

 

[DonW]

Did it at any pont in time during the move leave water?

Don

 

[Recife]

Well, I bought it online, so it's always a possibility. Having said that, it was really well packed and I wouldn't think it was exposed to air at any time, but you never know.
This seems to be the only explanation, I suppose.

It's such a shame though if it's dead. It was such a beautiful specimen. Sigh...

 

[spongebob lover]

don't give up on it yet, may be there's still a chance.

 

[DonW]

Well, I bought it online, so it's always a possibility. Having said that, it was really well packed and I wouldn't think it was exposed to air at any time, but you never know.
This seems to be the only explanation, I suppose.

It's such a shame though if it's dead. It was such a beautiful specimen. Sigh...

Picking it up out of the tank putting in a bag or viseversa is enough to kill it. You are supposed to bag and release sponges under water only.

Don

 

[Recife]

I understand, but if that had been the case, wouldn't it have died by the time it arrived here? It came all the way from Florida and looked very emmm... blue when it arrived.

By the way, they offer stay alive guarantee, so I would expect them to be careful packing their animals. If they were not, then I guess they will be paying for it now

 

[DonW]

I understand, but if that had been the case, wouldn't it have died by the time it arrived here? It came all the way from Florida and looked very emmm... blue when it arrived.

By the way, they offer stay alive guarantee, so I would expect them to be careful packing their animals. If they were not, then I guess they will be paying for it now

Not really usually takes two or three days for them to die. I assume they were shipped overnight. How did you get the sponge from the bag to your tank?

Don

 

[Recife]

I did it as you said.
I put the bag in the tank, opened it under the water and took the sponge out, never moving it above the surface.
That obviously made the bag water get into my tank which I wasn't very happy about, but couldn't think of a better way of doing it at the time.
Before opening the bag,

I did wait for the temperature to equalize, but I didn't add any tank water to the bag to acclimate the sponge before releasing it. Could that be a factor?

 

[spongebob lover]

how about bubbles?
i believe one time i heard (not sure though) that bubbles can affect a sponge? is that truth? .... may be a thought.
I would have aclimated it to your tank though hehe but we're all like that .

 

[Little Luey]

Sponges really do not need to be exposed to light since they are filter feeders so maybe move it lower in the tank, I would imagine it may have a hard time adjusting to light?! maybe?! what kind of light do you have?I would also call the on-line store to tell them about it, some even require a picture of the animal. Do that as soon as you can. Good luck.

 

[Recife]

Thanks, but blue sponges are different from other sponges. They are photosynthetic and require strong light to thrive.
The online store requires a picture alright. I will take one when I get home.

 

[Little Luey]

Oh, I did not know that!
Can you post a link or a picture from the e-store for us to check it out?

 

[Recife]

It was a WYSIWYG sponge. The pic is no longer available unfortunately.

The site is extremecorals.com. I got other stuff from them as well and it's all looking great. They have great customer service too and seem very careful with their livestock. If the sponge is dying I would consider it to be an unfortunate incident rather than unproper handling.

 

[steve-s]

Thanks, but blue sponges are different from other sponges. They are photosynthetic and require strong light to thrive.

True which is most likely related to what happend to your sponge. Being photosynthetic, they are no different than corals and can bleach just the same if not acclimated to both light and chemistry. The sponge has bleached out and will most likely not recover. All is not lost though, they are commonly a hitchicker/parasite on other corals and usually grow on top of them. Inspect the rock the sponge is on underwater, you may find something.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Recife]

So you're saying it's alive but just bleaches out? Is there a way I can be sure of that?
It should start to decompose if it were dead, right?

 

[Curtswearing]

So you're saying it's alive but just bleaches out? Is there a way I can be sure of that?
It should start to decompose if it were dead, right?

Bleached photosynthetic sponges are at high risk of death. You'll want to give it some time in the tank though because sometimes you get lucky.

The decomposition will not be very visible. Most sponges absorb silicates from your tank although a few absorb Calcium carbonate instead. That structure will remain even if the proteins are dissolving.

BTW, this is why the disappearance of diatoms in a newly cycling tank is matched with growth of Scypha sponges under rocks, in overflows etc. The sponges are outcompeting the diatoms for the Silica in the water.

 

[Recife]

So is there anything other than perhaps moving it to a lower light area in the tank?

 

[steve-s]

You can try moving it lower in the tank but don't be too hopeful. I almost never see this type of sponge acclimate well. Believe it or not, more than half will do this at the LFS within the first week of arrival. Sometimes you get lucky but most times this is the result.

Cheers
Steve