I found it difficult finding information about these freshwater species of sponge. I could hardly find anything about people keeping them in home aquaria (one or two pictures, brief stories).
I dont think they have ever come up in conversation here. Does anyone know of any place that offers information about Spongilla?
Has anyone ever kept freshwater species of sponge?
Any information would be appreciated
There are at least 9 species in lake Tanganyika. They have a symbiotic relationship with green algea, the older ones are greener. I have been keeping my eye out for freshwater sponges, but no one is collecting them or selling them. I like to raise fish from lake Tanganyika and love to watch saltwater tanks, thus my interest in freshwater sponges. If there are other species from different lakes I would definately like to hear about them!
I read something about fw sponges some time ago on another forum. Unfortunately, that forum is no longer open, so I can't go back and find the info now. However, it was posted by someone who had cultured fw sponges in a laboratory. Apparently the requirements of the simple critters are quite complex, and it's really impractical to try to keep them in an aquarium.
The problem with keeping freshwater sponges in providing enough food for them without comprimising water quality, they need water with low nutrients, high oxygen levels and good chaotic flow. They can also be difficult to acclimatise. Depending on what type of spicules the sponge has will determine whether they require a source of calcium carbonate or silicate for growth. Some sponges prefer shaded areas whilst sponges of the same species can prefer higher light levels depending on the type and amount of symbiotic algal cells associated with it.
I have kept them in a small tank before and they were doing okay for about 6 months fed on phytoplankton and a yeast solution. As soon as I added fish the nutrient increase from the fish waste killed the sponge within about a month.
I would assume "from the field" since this sponge occurs naturally in the US and other places. It would be interesting to see what the upper temperature tolerance of this species is as it appears to be a temperate zone organism in the wild.
I live near Lake Erie and the Great Lakes are known to have endemic sponges. I've been around the lake but never saw any till I was at an algae enumerication class last year for CEUs to keep my WO license at in Put-In-Bay. We went out in small boats to a shallow area with a lot of aquatic vegetation and someone found a floating log 3" diameter by four feet long covered with large encructing sponges. It was rather impressive as I had expected a far less robust, 'slime' sponge like many of those commonly found in salwater aquaria. I considered grabbing one/some but had no good way to transport it and figured it would probably just starve if I brought it home.
It is an interesting challenge though to establish a tank just with sponges. I've seen some amazingly colored sponges in saltwater, but even freshwater has some nice sponge species. It seems like most freshwater habitats in the world, both tropical and temperate, have species of sponges that could potentially be "kept" (or rather cultured) in the aquarium. I can see a whole new hobby developing from this (kinda like planted tanks or reef tanks...just with sponges).
