# Freshwater sponge.



## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

The pond I was fishing in yesterday was loaded with freshwater sponges, I pulled on out and took a pic for people who have never seen one. In fast water they grow flat on rocks, but in slow water they grow into a branched shape .


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## Ibn (Nov 19, 2003)

Dang, very nice looking sponges there...have you ever tried to keep them before?


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## Crs2fr (Sep 22, 2004)

yeah no fooling. you gonna try to keep them alive.. man i'd toss some in tha ol tank!!... if you get em establised...let us know.. i've never seen that around were i live..<Texas>

chris


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## Crs2fr (Sep 22, 2004)

FYI.. just found this on sponges

http://www.zoo.utoronto.ca/able/news/fall2000/page2-f00.htm

chris


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

I never tried keeping them in my tank, they had a slime coat on them that I don't think would look nice in the tank. There were some that looked really interesting attached to tree branches.


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## Ibn (Nov 19, 2003)

Have you ever tried keeping them in your filter and use those as a natural filter bed? It'll be interesting to see the results (I think it'll work and the slime coat is just a natural extruant that they produced?).


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## Mori (Jul 23, 2003)

hey! this is the plant section! get your sponges into the...uh...maybe that proposed shrimp form should be a general invertbrate forum.

Those are really neat! I want some.


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## fedge (Mar 4, 2004)

Really .. man cultivate them.. find out if you can or whatever. I am sure others have tried, but maybe laws or etc stopped them. I would LOVE to have some of them..


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## creepingdeath086 (Aug 21, 2004)

wow, i have been into saltwater for a little while, but i never knew there was a such thing as a freshwater sponge, thats awesome roud:


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## kzr750r1 (Jun 8, 2004)

Very cool you learn somthing every day.

The live filter idea dosn't have to be in the filter just being alive in the tank would do it.

Just wonder if they are like Wood Shrimp in that they need particulates for food. My guess is probably.


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

I think they might be able to live in a tank, it looks to me like the sponge is photosynthetic or has a symbiotic relationship with an algae. If they rely solely on filtering water I don't think they would last long in a tank. I haven't found much info on them anywhere. They are pretty common if you know what to look for.


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## tombsc (Nov 24, 2003)

They feed on bacteria from filtering the water. They also obtain nutrients through symbiosis with algae. It's the algae that gives them the green colour, so I guess if you provide enough light and nutrients to keep the algae alive, and they don't depend too heavily on bacteria levels they should do fine in a tank. If they need the bacteria more than they need the algae, then they won't do too well. I would leave them out of the filter as they filter the water through themselves by their own means (beating of flagella).
Apparently they can remove 90% of all bacteria from the water.....I don't know whether this would have the effect of cleaning the water nicely or the removal of all your 'good' bacteria. Maybe someone else can clarify this.


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## Mori (Jul 23, 2003)

I'd guess that they'd not bother the "good" tank bacteria because it's attached to the substrate in the tank and filter and the sponge would have to rely on bacteria in the water column. 

I wonder if sponges would also consume small eukaryotic organisms...could you use them to reduce infectious agents in tanks? fungi, protozoans, fish fry, etc...


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## Ibn (Nov 19, 2003)

As they're filtering (and polishing) the water, they'll consume some organisms in the tank. 

I'm very interested in seeing how it does in the tank. Urk, care to test it out in one of your tanks to see how it does? If not, send some my way. :wink:


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## MentaldisordeR (Sep 30, 2004)

might want to put it at the part closest to where the water enters before the sponges(media type)


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## George Willms (Jul 25, 2003)

I don't think that you'd be able to support a sizeable sponge in a freshwater aquarium. It is unlikely that there will be enough food for them. Although they could be an interesting fix for a tank with greenwater!


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

The pond I found those sponges in is pretty far away from where I live, but if I find them somewhere else I might give them a try. I am just worried that since water temperatures around here are starting to drop that they are going to beginning to die off for the season. I found some in the pond at work when it was drained last year, I will take a look to see if I can find some growing there.


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## aquatic-store.com (May 24, 2003)

Quite intersting. I remember seeing something about some in antartica as a coldwater sponge but never something in the us. Let us know the status of how these turn out


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## janee333 (Apr 20, 2012)

How deep in the water where they?


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## Rev_jim_jones (Sep 25, 2011)

I have a yellowish Freshwater Sponge that I got as a hitchhiker on some Moss it does Pretty well in a planted tank. Well I have kept it alive for over a year so far but mine is a pure filter feeder type. As long as it is a well established tank you should be fine with them.


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