learning about conches

[corbin_101]

Hello all
I just bought a conch from the LFS and I am trying to figure out what kind it is. It is about 3" long and 1" wide on the spiral side of the shell,down the ridge it spikes. To me it looks like one of the large conch shells only in mini.
The foot color is brown and the shell is covered in alge, but i think it is also brown. any help will come in handy.
Thank you
Dale C.

 

[1journeyman]

I believe the two most often encountered conch in the hobby are Fighting conches and Queen Conches. Search google images for those and see what you get.

 

[hatessushi]

If it's brown (brown and white) it's probably a Fighting Conch

 

[surfinusa]

i hope your tank is large because the conches get large and aggressive

 

[sebae09]

and you should have alot of open sand for them to forage on because at that size they cant climb on the glass or rocks.

 

[nick76]

What u have is most likely a 3inch wild fighting conch. I have the same. Right now im keeping it in a 55g with the whole sandbed to himself. They need alot of sand, because they will only eat detris. So don't keep it with any other sand dewlling inverts because they will rob him of the food he needs. The Rule of Thumb for this is 100g or more tank, but mine has been doing well for 3 months and seems fine. Although I wouldnt go any smaller in size. If u need anymore info let me know.

 

[corbin_101]

The conch in the picture is ident. as mine. Thank you all for all the info. I did not know that you needed a 100g or bigger tank right now I have him in a 55g and he seems to be doing fine. The few blue leg hermits that I have in there haven't been doing there job very well so for now he has a lot to eat.
Does yours move around very much? As of today mine has only moved about 2 to 3 inches a day, the LFS told me that was becouse there is a lot of food for him so he does not need to forage yet. There are 10 astrea snails and a pair of bumble bee snails in there as well. I was told that they wont bother the conch or compete for food with him either, as I am new to all the inverts. and what they all eat, this made sense to me. any other info on fighting conches will be help full.
Thank you all for answering my questions and making this hobby a way of life.

 

[corbin_101]

sorry for the second post but I thought of asking this after I already posted.
My questions are.
1. For my other tank which is a 50g tall what is the best snails for it. I would like to do a varity (few certh, nerite, and astrea) of snails.
2. Why do they call it a fighting conch? are they aggresive or is it just a name.
Thank you
Dale C.

 

[bang guy]

1 - Cerith, Collonista, Stomatella.
2 - The males are aggressive to each other, other than that they are extremely docile.

 

[nick76]

Originally Posted by corbin_101
The conch in the picture is ident. as mine. Thank you all for all the info. I did not know that you needed a 100g or bigger tank right now I have him in a 55g and he seems to be doing fine. The few blue leg hermits that I have in there haven't been doing there job very well so for now he has a lot to eat.
Does yours move around very much? As of today mine has only moved about 2 to 3 inches a day, the LFS told me that was becouse there is a lot of food for him so he does not need to forage yet. There are 10 astrea snails and a pair of bumble bee snails in there as well. I was told that they wont bother the conch or compete for food with him either, as I am new to all the inverts. and what they all eat, this made sense to me. any other info on fighting conches will be help full.
Thank you all for answering my questions and making this hobby a way of life.
NP pal, I enjoy helping out when I know alot about the subject. My conch does more around and forage, But I knows hes being fed because he leaves droppings, and my shrimp clean that up. Just make sure u dont get any sand sifting inverts so he dosnt need to compete for food. Other than that I think he should be fine.

 

[psusocr1]

conchs ARE NOT REEF SAFE, they LOVE to eat clams! a matter of fact i feed my conchs clams i have 6 conchs in my tank 2 fighting, 2 queen and 2 crown

 

[bang guy]

Queen Conch and Fighting Conch cannot eat clams.

 

[chutneyjh]

I was thinking about getting one to help with the brown diatoms in my tank. I have two questions:
1. SWF has wild and aquacultured. Is there a benefit to getting a wild one? I like to buy aquacultured when I can.
2. I have cleaner clams in my sand bed. I know they are filter feeders, but would there be an issue with keeping both the clams and a conch? I have a 55 gallon with a 3-4 inch DSB.

 

[nick76]

Your better of with the Aquaculted one, its half the size and can easily move around the tank.

 

[psusocr1]

Bang Guy Queen Conch and Fighting Conch cannot eat clams.
the crown conch's can! sorry bang i just figured iw ould never take the chance with any of them if my crown conchs ate the clams,,,

 

[bang guy]

Yep. Many Conch are predators. Just pointing out that there are beneficial Conch. Queens need a really big sandbed though because they can only eat algae. Fighting Conch can also eat detritus and don't get nearly as big so they can be kept in average sized tanks.

 

[fishgeek01]

What size tank do you have, or are you putting this conch in? The reason I ask is that I bought a queen conch about a year and a half ago and it was only about half to 3/4 inch when i bought it. It now measures over 6 inches long, and when he sticks his mouth out it is easily as long as his/her shell. My conch sucks in the top layer of sand each day eating what ever it can find. I also keep hair algae on 2 or 3 rocks in my system at a time. When I notice that it appears to be roaming for food, i simply drop one of the rocks covered in hair algae down there and it consumes it in less than 24 hours. I am talking a 1-2 pound rock completely covered in algae. Great addition if you can give them what they need. I will be keeping mine until i am 100 % sure it will have a good home, and i would rather not ship, so please dont ask me too, but i thought i would be able to answer any questions yo might have so please dont hesitate to ask