Natural sponges in shrimp tanks

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 7:55 pm

Better safe than sorry I say

I agree when it comes to our shrimp

Terran · Post by **Terran** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:35 pm

Little Update:

The really old sponge that I had in that one shrimp tank(Ten gallon).....(For maybe 6months now)....It accumulated a ton of algae to the point where it looked like a moss ball (or someone tore off a piece of the HULKs scalp).... The Red Cherry Shrimp seemed uninterested in eating this string and hair algae.... They tended to pick at the areas where this "moss" was absent....

Instead of throwing it away I put it in my Dwarf Cajun Crayfish tank (the sponge is still close to softball sized demonstrating its slow decay rate)....

I figure Ill let them clean off the sponge of the hair and string algae because they seem to love the stuff...then Ill place it back in the shrimp tank.....

So far the three biggest Dwarf Cajun's are monopolizing the prime spots on the sponge....playing king of the mountain occasionally...

The smaller ones pick at the sponge from the base.....

I figure in three days or so the sponge should be picked clean on the surface of all the string and hair algae that the crayfish can get at ....

When they finish cleaning the outside of the sponge I will put it back in the shrimp tank....checking in occasionally to nap up any baby crayfish hitchhikers....

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:51 pm

it looked like a moss ball (or someone tore off a piece of the HULKs scalp)....

Great analogy

!

When they finish cleaning the outside of the sponge I will put it back in the shrimp tank....checking in occasionally to nap up any baby crayfish hitchhikers....

Very nice and efficient system, thanks for the tips and update

TurtleBoyPW5 · Post by **TurtleBoyPW5** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 9:21 am

Added two more sponges today from fish tank, shrimp went crazy for them and immediately began searching for food off of them. Had one unexplainable death of one of my adult cherries, but it was several days after I had put the first sponge in. Im thinking there was a water quality issue as i did a 40 percent or so water change and have yet to have any additional deaths. All shrimp look as happy as can be.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 9:32 am

Thanks for the update, I am still aging my sponge and would like to see a little more color/buildup on it before I move it.

ToddnBecka · Post by **ToddnBecka** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 9:54 am

I picked up a bag of sponges at Wallyworld in the craft section. There were 12 separate chunks in it. I rinsed 2 in aquarium water while doing partials. then dropped them into the 10 gallon shrimp tank. They're still pretty clean, and the shrimp don't seem interested yet.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 10:47 am

My wally-world doesn't carry them. I went to Lowes in the paint section and paid twices as much. They are soaking in my sump.

Debi · Post by **Debi** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 11:06 am

Hi Everyone,

I purchased my sponge from the paint section in Walmart, I had to cut it to size because it was too big.

When I brought it home I rinsed it out under our well water. I placed it in my guppy tank for one week and then placed it into my shrimp tank - they loved it!! The sponge did not contain any smells. If you buy a sponge, make sure that it states that it is all natural, I think that is very important.

I just had to put the sponge back into the guppy tank to collect more goodies because when I added my sponge filter to their tank, it turned the whole tank milky white, and I lost a few of my shrimp. So I ripped the tank apart and started it all over, I also had to wash the sponge to make sure that it didn't contain any of the milky substance. What ever the milky stuff was, it was also stuck to the sides of the tank and I had to scrub it with baking soda. I want to mention that the sponge was in there for weeks before this happened, I think the sponge filter may have caused this reaction in the tank, even though I followed the same process before putting the sponge filter in the shrimp tank.

The shrimp are safe in my emergency tank, I will give it a while before putting the shrimp back into their original tank.

Just wanted to share my expirence with the sponge - bottom line is my shrimp loved it!!

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 11:13 am

Thanks for sharing the experience with us. Let's hope the results stay positive

bjar · Post by **bjar** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 12:11 pm

All natural sponges I have seen for sale here in sweden have had the same colour as the one pictured here which are chemicaly treated to get that pale colour .When I have been on holiday in greece I have seen natural colored ones for sale they are much darker in colour and would look much more natrual in a tank and probably safer to use

CanadianCray · Post by **CanadianCray** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 1:08 pm

WOW this is a great idea. Can't believe I missed this topic for so long. How many people are using this for crayfish yet?? Do you find they are tearing it to bits or just cleaning it?

Debi · Post by **Debi** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 1:17 pm

My guppy tank has a small lobster (guess you can call it a cray) and he stands on top of the sponge, but I have yet to see him pick at it. I'll keep watching him and let you know.

Terran · Post by **Terran** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 1:50 pm

CanadianCray wrote:WOW this is a great idea. Can't believe I missed this topic for so long. How many people are using this for crayfish yet?? Do you find they are tearing it to bits or just cleaning it?

Well like I mentioned earlier I am keeping them in both shrimp and crayfish tanks see here....

Little Update:

The really old sponge that I had in that one shrimp tank(Ten gallon).....(For maybe 6months now)....It accumulated a ton of algae to the point where it looked like a moss ball (or someone tore off a piece of the HULKs scalp).... The Red Cherry Shrimp seemed uninterested in eating this string and hair algae.... They tended to pick at the areas where this "moss" was absent....

Instead of throwing it away I put it in my Dwarf Cajun Crayfish tank (the sponge is still close to softball sized demonstrating its slow decay rate)....

I figure Ill let them clean off the sponge of the hair and string algae because they seem to love the stuff...then Ill place it back in the shrimp tank.....

So far the three biggest Dwarf Cajun's are monopolizing the prime spots on the sponge....playing king of the mountain occasionally...

The smaller ones pick at the sponge from the base.....

I figure in three days or so the sponge should be picked clean on the surface of all the string and hair algae that the crayfish can get at ....

When they finish cleaning the outside of the sponge I will put it back in the shrimp tank....checking in occasionally to nap up any baby crayfish hitchhikers....

This picture was taken today....I wish I had a picture of what It looked like before but this is a good deal cleanier than it used to be...

The one on the left is the older one obviouslly....it has been cleaned a ton from my Dwarf Cajuns....Im considering on placing it back into my shrimp tank now...

The cleaner sponge is staying in the tank...I just put the dirty one in there to get cleaned by the crayfish....

I also use a sponge with a tank filled with Mamorkrebs and they seem to be reproducing fine.

Both my Mamorkrebs and my Dwarf Cajuns do not tear at the sponges....
The Cajuns clean it rather efficiently and the Mamorkrebs for the most part seem uninterested in the sponge with the exception of the babies...(who crawl through the tunnels and pick at the surface)

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 2:17 pm

Both my Mamorkrebs and my Dwarf Cajuns do not tear at the sponges....

Terran- just wondering. Are you keeping both of these species together?

RCSGuy · Post by **RCSGuy** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 4:27 pm

Glad to hear more positive replies!!