Description
Yellow tree sponges are most likely a color morph of the more common red tree sponge, which can be in the genus Amphimedon or Ptilocaulis depending on where it is collected. This particular one is Ptilocaulis, and is called an Orange Branching Sponge in Humann’s “Reef Creatures” book.
This type of sponge is more of an offshore, reef sponge and is usually found in deeper waters. Due to high shipping cost associated with sponges, we sell mostly smaller specimens that are in the 6 to 8″
Because of the depth these come from, I seriously doubt that there is any photosynthetic activity in this sponge, so they are entirely filter feeders. This will mean that you’ll need to feed the sponge regularly, much like you would a coral or any other filter feeder. Sponges seem to do best in well-established tanks, so if you have a brand new tank, you might want to wait a few months.
Great care is taken handling these sponges and we only ship healthy sponges that have been in our system for a couple weeks. We’ve been handling live sponges for over 25 years and have learned how to insure that you get a healthy, vibrant colony every time. Contrary to what most Internet chat says about sponges dying if they are ever removed from the water, most of the popular sponges that we sell can be removed from the shipping bag and transferred to the aquarium without any harm. The exception to this would be the blue vase sponges that we occasionally offer, but all of the tree sponges, ball sponges, and frilly sponges can be exposed to air for brief periods without any problems. After any kind of transfer, turn the sponge over and over in the water to remove any bubbles that may get trapped in crevices.
Most of our sponges have a minimal amount of substrate on their bases, which can be glued or epoxied to rocks in your aquarium. Most of the sponges we sell come from deeper water so they will probably do best if they are not in the brightest part of the tank. All of our sponges are from Florida waters.
Elwood R (verified owner) –
Nice size bright yellow-orange sponge adds pizazz to that corner of my aquarium. It came healthy and well-packaged–thanks KP Aquatics!
shornik (verified owner) –
The sponge I received was really large (tall) and it great condition. I would say it’s a a lot more orange then “yellow”, but that’s also what the picture looks like. It was packaged very well and is doing well in my tank. The color is truly amazing.