sponges for liverock??

Twan013 · 08-15-2007, 09:04 PM

hey guys, call me crazy, retarded, stupid, genius, or whatever.... but has anyone ever thought about using some sort of sponge for liverock?? yes, i'm talking about the soft, mushy kind of sponge that you can get almost anywhere (the ones used for regular household cleaning)... told ya it sounded stupid, but here's my thinking...

superglue, epoxy, etc. is safe for saltwater correct? i've heard of all kinds of people using it for fragging and attaching pieces of liverock together... but i'm wondering if there's some sort of spray that could make the sponge rock-hard and is safe for the aquarium... either a spray of some sort, or something to dip the sponge into... either way, something that won't clog up the holes in the sponge... and either before or after you used this stuff, you could tear out openings for caves, make arches, anything you could imagine!

in my opinion, there are tons of benefits to this method
cheaper, probably tons more spaces for beneficial bacteria than your typical liverock, lightweight (no real benefit in the aquarium full of water, but if you ever have to relocate, it makes it a lot easier), aquascaping to your heart's content, etc..

the only downside i can think is the weight of the corals may end up crushing some of the sponge, but that's why i mentioned the spray or dip to make it harder... ooooh, but what if you got a hold of a crab that likes to pick at the liverock and ends up tearing it to pieces? that could end up being a pain in the butt...

any thoughts or advice? what should i use to make the sponge hard?

amcarrig · 08-16-2007, 05:27 AM

Household sponges usually contain germicides.

glampka · 08-16-2007, 05:40 AM

Anything you spray on the sponge to make it hard WILL clog the pores of the sponge. As you mentioned a crab could pick away at it you'd end up with pieces of sponges breaking off. Most sponges tend to break down with time & exposure to light. Doesn't sound feasible.

mattgeezer · 08-16-2007, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amcarrig

Household sponges usually contain germicides.

which i wouldnt imagine being good tucker for ya critters when they decide to take a bite ! karma for imagination though dude!!

Diver_1298 · 08-16-2007, 07:38 AM

It sounds like a good idea to me. Don't let these people tell you what you cant do

joke (no offense to the cat lady)
So you use natural sponges instead of household ones, so you spray the top and the sides only.....
Keep thinking when you get older it gets much harder to do so

From what I understand you are trying to simulate the properties of live rock without the expense and weight of the rock, right? Take a ten or twenty gallon tank and experiment with it. Try using different materials, and use your imagination. Enjoy,
Jim

P.S. read Tangster's Tag line (signature)

Twan013 · 08-17-2007, 09:04 AM

well, i try to cover every aspect when i think of a new idea... as in, what could go wrong, how i could prevent problems.. i thought about the sponge breaking down, but didn't think it would be that much of a problem, since the sponge would be protected from the light, since it would be covered with corals/coralline... plus, i thought that the spray/dip would help prevent that too...
i read somewhere (someone's quote), it goes something like "geniuses are created when someone does something that everyone else thinks is impossible"
"what, put a piece of wire in a glass ball and use it to light a room in the house? how stupid are you?"
"You say you can communicate with someone a hundred miles away with only a few strands of copper?! now THAT'S just rediculous!"
"turning sponges into liverock?"

Twan013 · 08-17-2007, 09:08 AM

aw geez, now i do feel stupid, just now looked at tangster's signature, and realized that's where i got that from.....

a1amap · 08-17-2007, 10:00 AM

You could coat the sponge in concrete it would give you a hard surface and concrete wicks water.

Tangster · 08-17-2007, 10:55 AM

I'm not totally sure of what the point is to this or what you are trying to accomplish with the sponge ? Now if its caves you want ? if you tck some 4 inch ABS pipe smaller for smaller aquariums and use 90's and 45's and short lengths of pipe you can hide these tunnels with in the rock work and make to opening look very natural then there will be raceways in and out from end to end back to front for critters to hide habia-trails for aquariums

djnzlab1 · 08-26-2007, 06:19 AM

HI,
Many of those beauty supply stores carry those wild collected sponges from florida, when I lived near tarpon springs they were pretty cheep.
Many people like the natural sponges for bathing and rubbing their skin to defolate, Geeze I am embarrasing my self.
I also saw on a web page where they used that spray gap sealing foam to build a wall in a tank cause its filled wit holes and even used ballons to make cave and such aftere it dries it can be carved or adjusted once coated with coraline it look pretty normal.
My only concern would be chemicals leaching out of the foam.
that stuff is pretty rigid when dry.
Its pretty sticky to once dry,
Doug