Orange Ball Sponge
Axinella sp.
| Difficulty | Medium - Hard |
| Lighting | N/A |
| Water Flow | Medium |
| Temperament | Peaceful |
| Placement | N/A |
AXINELLA
Axinella, or sea sponges, are a mixed bag of reviews when it comes to how hard their care is. They do require some flow and feedings but, aside from that they generally are easy to care for.
Axinella have 189 direct children and are typically a yellow/orangey colour. They are filter feeders who take in and strain water through a mucus trap within its body similar to sea squirts(Polycarpa). They are not known to get very large, only up to (at the most) ~20cm.
WATER CHEMISTRY
Axinella is not particularly finicky when it comes to water chemistry. Their focus is mainly on feeding and gaining nutrients that way. While we have our preferred parameters for Alkalinity, Phosphate, and Nitrate, Axinella will do far better in your system if you just focus on keeping the water chemistry stable. If your Alkalinity, Phosphate, or Nitrate is out of line, our recommendation is to get it back to your target levels as slowly as possible.
The parameters we aim for are:
|
Alkalinity |
8.3 dKH |
|
Phosphate |
0.05 - 0.15 ppm |
|
Nitrate |
5.0 - 15.0 ppm |
It's important to understand that these are the levels that we aim for in our systems. However, that doesn't mean they are the right levels for your system. All aquariums are different and your system may naturally fall on a different balance. You're better off working with the balance your system tends towards than trying to force the same levels that we run.
FLOW
In terms of flow Axinella will need to be kept in a moderate flow area. With too much flow the siphon holes will close and no food will be allowed in. With too little flow the sponges will not meet their required nutrients for their diet and disintegrate. This makes flow extremely important for Axinella as the food in the water column is what these animals depend on for the majority of their diet.
We typically feed our Axinella once a day with our general tank feedings. But for smaller tanks we do recommend phytoplankton or copepods in order to maintain a stable water chemistry.
LIGHTING
Lighting is not applicable to sea sponges as their diet consists of what is filtered throughout the water column. Thus, they can be placed at any location within your tank so long as they have adequate flow.