Fighting Conch questions....

[slowngreen]

How many would I want for a 75g?

 

Do they leave ALL coral alone?

 

Would they be safe with hermits in the tank? Meaning, would they not get eaten? My hermits eat all other snails Ive had.

 

Are they good for glass cleaning?

 

How well do they ship?

[gena]

How many would I want for a 75g?

 

Do they leave ALL coral alone?

 

Would they be safe with hermits in the tank? Meaning, would they not get eaten? My hermits eat all other snails Ive had.

 

Are they good for glass cleaning?

 

How well do they ship?

I have one in my 45g and it's plenty. I would say 2 at the most for your tank size.

 

Mine doesn't mess with any coral. He moves around them.

 

I don't have hermits so can't answer that one.

 

They will clean the glass as far up as they can reach from the sand. They don't climb glass or rocks...at least mine doesn't.

 

Mine did fine with next day shipping. They are awesome critters . If you have any other questions, let me know. I've had mine for a couple of months now.

[khriistian]

I had hermits kill mine. But I had her for like 8 months before that even happened, I believe she flipped over somehow and they got her or thats my theory. I believe you will be okay as long as they don't find her bad spotted.

[slowngreen]

Ok thanks for the quick answers. Think I'll start off with one. I only have two blue leg hermits so I'll watch them, if anything I can move them to my fuge.

[hey]

yeh definitely only 1, its not about gallonage with them its about the footprint of the tank and how much sand you have for them. Mine sifts around enough to where I have to feed more to make sure its getting what it needs. Lb for lb they really aren't the most efficient compared to other snails but you get something cool with one atleast.

[slowngreen]

Actually I should have asked, I have a mix of half and half CC and sand and its under an inch probably on average. Would this maybe be not enough for one? I dont really have algae problems but am hoping to add a few more fish in the future and figured a cool snail like a conch would be a nice addition...

[jedimasterben]

yeh definitely only 1, its not about gallonage with them its about the footprint of the tank and how much sand you have for them. Mine sifts around enough to where I have to feed more to make sure its getting what it needs. Lb for lb they really aren't the most efficient compared to other snails but you get something cool with one atleast.

They are algaevores, not scavengers or detrivores, so feeding more doesn't help unless you are forcing an algae bloom.

 

Actually I should have asked, I have a mix of half and half CC and sand and its under an inch probably on average. Would this maybe be not enough for one? I dont really have algae problems but am hoping to add a few more fish in the future and figured a cool snail like a conch would be a nice addition...

It'll be fine as long as you have some algae growth low on your rocks (doesn't have to be hair algae, though they love that, as well, mine actually hurled itself onto my rocks when I had some hair algae growing on them that it wanted).

[hey]

They are algaevores, not scavengers or detrivores, so feeding more doesn't help unless you are forcing an algae bloom.

 

I grow algae very efficiently with my feeding methods The glass turns green with a nice combo of daily dosing kz pohl vitalizer, feeding mysis, and reef roids when I am feelin like a water change.

 

edit: also realized I may have thrown you off when I said sifting, they tend to stay semi submerged in the sand and move their snouts along the sand band to pick algae aswell as up the glass walls which I find to be great kuz I am always missing the low area of the tank with the mag cleaner for fear of picking up sand.

[jedimasterben]

I had hermits kill mine. But I had her for like 8 months before that even happened, I believe she flipped over somehow and they got her or thats my theory. I believe you will be okay as long as they don't find her bad spotted.

It would have been dead before they ever got to it. Their pedal foot protects them when they draw up into their shells.

 

I grow algae very efficiently with my feeding methods The glass turns green with a nice combo of daily dosing kz pohl vitalizer, feeding mysis, and reef roids when I am feelin like a water change.

I'll bet it's fat n happy then

[hey]

It would have been dead before they ever got to it. Their pedal foot protects them when they draw up into their shells.

 

I'll bet it's fat n happy then

I adjusted feeding specifically for it when I heard they tend to die off from lack of vegetation. And yeh I would laugh if my hermit tried to go at my conch, he would DOMINATE those little punks.

[khriistian]

It would have been dead before they ever got to it. Their pedal foot protects them when they draw up into their shells.

 

I'll bet it's fat n happy then

Thanks for the info buddy.

[Havok_9]

I have a medium sized fighting conch and I caught my tiniest blue legged hermit on top of it furiously digging at it trying to murder it. Of course the thing laughed him right off. If you get a formidably sized one, crabs shouldn't pose a threat.

 

I thought they were scavangers, though, and ate detritus, etc? I swear mine un-burrows itself and becomes active when I start feeding meaty treats.

[hey]

I have a medium sized fighting conch and I caught my tiniest blue legged hermit on top of it furiously digging at it trying to murder it. Of course the thing laughed him right off. If you get a formidably sized one, crabs shouldn't pose a threat.

 

I thought they were scavangers, though, and ate detritus, etc? I swear mine un-burrows itself and becomes active when I start feeding meaty treats.

 

I do wonder how much algae comes off the sand aswell, i mean i guess it can be micro but the only green i see is on the tank walls that hes eating.

[jestep]

I've got 1 in my 90 and I don't think I could support another one. He's the only CUC I have other than asterina stars and colonista snails. I would say my tank is on the low nutrient side, but definitely not ULNS like a zeo tank or anything.

 

Really cool snail though. Just cruises around all day and night. Sandbed has been noticeably cleaner since I got him which was over a year ago now.

 

The do not care about corals and will not clean glass. Basically they will stay on/in the sandbed. Wont climb on any rock or non sand surface. Mine might be a bit confused because it wont submerge at all. Always right on top of the sandbed, never in it no matter the time of day.

 

Basically like this 24/7.

 

[Havok_9]

I've watched mine for minutes on end, because I'm a dork and engrossed with every creature I put in my tank, and from what I can tell it never really messed with algae but it seemed to search for leftover food on the sand bed with its trunk.

 

I'm sure it's a noobish thing to quote liveaquaria, but it has it listed as being omnivorous and eating detritus? Pretty much the main reason I got mine. The LFS I got to, which is extremely reliable (wont sell you certain things if they know your tank, level of expertise, etc.) also said they eat a lot of garbage and are true work horses in a CUC.

 

Mine definitely helped me with a diatom bloom, but not sure if its because he was eating it or because he kept the sand churned so it couldnt settle.

[clownfitch]

How many would I want for a 75g?

I have a Tiger Conch in a 65 and he does a great job of keeping my sand bed clean. After he was in there for a month the amount of detritus I removed through vacuuming greatly decreased due to his keeping the bed constantly agitated.

Do they leave ALL coral alone?

Absolutely.

Would they be safe with hermits in the tank? Meaning, would they not get eaten? My hermits eat all other snails I've had.

During the daylight hours mine buries himself about halfway down in the sand bed but a hermit wouldn't stand a chance against one of these guys in my opinion. They can be very fast and sporadic. As one of the above posters stated, I have seen him pole vault himself up on the rocks to get at algae.

Are they good for glass cleaning?

The lower inch or so maybe but mine concentrates on the bed mostly.

How well do they ship?

Don't know, I bought mine locally.

[Tamberav]

How many would I want for a 75g? 1 or 2

 

Do they leave ALL coral alone? Yes, but mine knocks over anything on the sand bed

 

Would they be safe with hermits in the tank? Meaning, would they not get eaten? My hermits eat all other snails Ive had. My hermits don't touch them.

 

Are they good for glass cleaning? No

 

How well do they ship? Do fine overnight, never tried priority

 

 

I have no visible algae and mine is still alive a year later. So either it eats something else too or maybe he is living off micro-algae.

[cal3v]

I have a related species, the sand tiger conch, that is pretty much the same in behavior except it does climb u p into the rockwork on occasion. Great cleaners just make sure not to get too many as others have already stated.