[youtube width=”680″ height=”400″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFaa88KUARE[/youtube]
A beautiful specimen of Caribbean rose sponge has appeared at Aquarium Outfitters in Athens GA and it’s so cool and neat it makes you wonder why we don’t see more of them in the average reef tank. If there is any group of reef animals which are iconic in the wild yet under represented in the aquarium hobby it’s got to be sponges.
In the Caribbean Sea sponges are very diverse and abundant, sometimes outnumbering corals yet we rarely see drool-worthy specimens of these awesome sponges show up in the trade. As with corals, unless it’s photosynthetic or downright hardy we have no concrete understanding of the captive needs of sponges in aquaria except maybe for the need for a little silicate. If this gorgeous Caribbean rose sponge can settle in to captive life into the average NPS/Azoox reef tank then we may yet see more of these gorgeous sponges living in growing in our aquariums, let’s hope!
