I have very limited experience of the hobby in the US since I have only visited on salt water shop there (in Manhattan). Unfortunately (for us!), prices are much higher in Switzerland than in the US. Apart from that, it seems fairly similar. I think that RC and other internet forums have had a great impact here. The different "cultures" on the two continents are not as different any longer. "The Global Village...."


Just got a message from a friend (that has been plagued by red slime for an extended time period) that I provided with a Collospongia frag. The frag has started growing and he has observed a significant reduction in the amount of slime in his tank.

this sponge can outcompete cyanobacteria HOWEVER the sponge itself is (in most cases) more of a nuisance problem than cyano itself and should be avoided.

Still no cyanos! The sponge is behaving. No signs of overgrowth. Actually, I observe quite the opposite. Soft corals seem to grow on the sponge.

I have had colospongia auris and cyano in my tank at the same time. Give me cyano any day, the sponge was indestructible and I ended up replacing over a 100kg of liverock to get rid of it.

You can see it on the rock in this picture.
http://www.homdens.co.uk/tony/tony4.jpg
A complete strip-down and rebuild was necessary.

Have just encountered a red slime infestation in my new tank. Added collospongia and the slime was gone in 2 days. In my experience collospongia is very easy to control. If it get to much, just cut away the excess. High nutrients may however lead to fast growth but I have never had the problem.

Just found a short but informative article on the subject

http://************.com/2010/12/15/b...spongia-auris/

Sorry to reply to an old post but I think it's better to keep experienceces all together

Yesterday I've received a collospongia. I put it in a small picoreef.
Then looking for infos I've read this discussion and decided to try to put the collospongia in my other aquarium that have red slime (cyano) growing in a corner and ciano+dino on the back and side glass.
Made this yesterday evening, and no other changes.

This morning the red slime patch is disappeared! O.o
And the walls seems more clean without cyano bubbles.

What makes me sad is that yesterday I didn't took a picture because, to be honest, I didn't think it could be true and effective. :(

I want to try to remove the sponge and see if the slime grows back again.

Has anyone tried to put the sponge in their fuge instead of the DT? If it's releasing something that kills the cyano then it shouldn't necessarily need to be in the DT right?

As above, I'll add this here for information. I added this sponge to my DT and all cyano disappeared and us not reappeared since. The sponge is starting to grow onto other rocks but slowly and is easily peeled away.

I might give it a try since I have a very small patch of cyano.

If you plan to put the collospongia in the fuge, remember that it needs pretty intense light.

CAREFUL HERE
I have this sponge & it has taken over, ALL OVER.
I have to manually remove it by taking the rockwork apart & removing it from the tank to get all of it.

Are you sure that it is collospongia? Mine did not grow like that. Do you have pics?

Looks just like the pictures.