I I got a pretty nasty bloom on diatoms on my sand bed, so I got a Tongan Fighting Conch to help clean it up... except I think it may be too much for just the one guy.

How many Tongan Fighting Conchs can you safely have in a 24g nano? The one I have currently is about 1" long.

Thanks

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I'm sure you've heard this before... but you need to figure out why you are getting the diatoms, run some phosphate removers, increase flow in your tank, and reduce bio-load/feeding.

I wouldn't have more than one, if you have it on your rocks you could consider getting a tuxedo urchin, i wouldn't recommend a pin cushion since they get very big and will know stuff over often. The tuxedo however eats almost any algae and is small enough to not mess things up.

The risk you take is "a male Fighting Conch can be territorial towards other males of its own kind" taken from liveaquaria website.

less than 1, they get pretty good size and eat alot. if the tank is new the diatoms will prolly go away if you don't over feed and do regular water changes

thanks, but tank = not new.

I got another one... 2 in there now 1" and 1 1/2" we'll see if they can keep up on the cleaning.

when they get too big trade em in!

Fighting conchs need substrate area measured in the square yards in order to survive long term - it probably won't make it more than a few months in a nano.

ORA says 1-2 for each square foot of sand bed.

I have a Florida Fighting Conch Strombus alatus in my 29 biocube. Been in there almost a year now. Took it a while to really get the sandbed where he wanted it and now he just does his normal maintenance on it.

Same as Henry, I have one in my 29 Biocube and one in my 39 CADLights as well. It's been in there for several months and is a great member of the CUC in both tanks.

0 - they get way too big for a nano - 40 gallon min. (with a good deal of substrate exposed) sure you can fit a horse in a walk in closet, but it is generally not recommended.

of course they do, they breed them lol


my opinion is along the same lines as mike and john. one per tank, 40-50g+, lots of open sand.

i originally thought it was a florida fighting conch...the tongans are smaller...get the same length but not as much girth...could probably get away with a dirty 40 gallon

I added a fighting conch in my 40br, and eventually another added another one. They both lasted in there about 6-10 months, but eventually one died from what I assume was starvation. The other one is still going strong, but I wouldn't add another one. Flow directed across the sand does wonders.

I'm not lying to you. Keep in mind virtually all reef inverts can slowly starve over a period of months/years. A "mystery death" after a few months to eighteen months can usually be attributed to slow attrition, of which the hobbyist was unaware.

I use the adage "if it's not growing, it's starving" myself, and feed heavily!

Oh, and what jeremai said...

Had one in my 55years ago when I bought it to combat a bad cyano outbreak. Conch at all the Cyano - then slowly died - then cyano all came back.


Then I grew up, became a real reefer and learned about proper nutrient exporting.