Fighting Conch Care??

[Catspa]

Ok, got a conch the other day, but it doesn't look to be doing to well. Actually it wasn't doing to well at the place that i bought it from either.. At the store, it had been doing well a couple weeks before, but in the last two weeks leading up to me buying it, it had not been doing well. My aquarium is much more established then the thing they had him in at the store, so i figured he start doing a lot better with me, anyway its been a couple of days now and he still isn't moving much, he is alive, just not moving much ie in the same place every day.. if i move him (wich i've done twice) he ends up in the very same place, wedged up between some LR and the glass....so whats amis here? i've got lots of algea growth etc... as i understand it they are herbavors..so what do you thing??? just give him time?? any clues?

Its about 1" long

 

any info appreciated, thxs

[Physh1]

Conch are usually very hardy. I hate to say it but the little guy probably got sick (lack of food, bad water, who knows!!!) at the store before you got him. They are herbivore/dertrivore critters and can live many years.

 

You can try putting a piece of nori near him and see if it stimulates his appetite but I think it may be too late.

 

If he is stressed the moving won't do much good for him. Try the nori and let him stay in a spot where he seems to be happy and see where it goes.

 

Cameron

[tinyreef]

maybe the conch is looking for shelter during its acclimation, even inverts need a transition period (more so sometimes). physh1 has a very good thought in trying to encourage it to eat.

 

i wouldn't move it anymore though. stress may push the animal into shock. i'd make sure the tank parameters are stable and nothing else bothers the conch. it should show some movement in a day or two.

 

is there a food supply available for it? (nori, detritus, plant matter, etc.)

[printerdown01]

If the fighting conch's diet is similar to the queen he will consume all of the diatoms in your tank first... Thus, is it possible that he has found a patch of diatoms or something else that he likes in that corner? Is there anything special about it?? I wouldn't recommend buying sick animals from the LFS, but I have to admit that I have done it a few times... It often takes time for these guys to come out of it... Snails sometimes have a long dieing process, I'm not quite sure why. But often they will stop moving/feeding for quite some time before they pass away (sometimes even weeks!!). However, the fact that yours keeps moving to one particular spot would suggest that he is in fact moving, but is rather particular as to where he is moving too... Could I, just for curiosity's sake, get a picture of the spot that he is gravitating towards??

-good luck,

Tony

[Kapelakin]

Do you have plenty of sand/open sand area? The fighting conch's like to stay on the sand. Mine just mows through eating detritus all day. Make sure he's got lots of room to move around. Otherwise, I'd go with the suggestion of giving it a piece of food to see if it will eat. This should be pretty obvious. They have sort of a "trunk" that they move around looking for/eating food, so you can tell when they're actively seeking.

[joh]

My is actually moving around on top of the sand all day and some days (like 4/5 days) s/he just disappear under the sand behide the tank, and then come back walking around the sand and eat stuff after those few days (mostly same spot s/he eat -- in front of the tank)...

 

Just watch him closely, if he still moving, see if he eat anything (from his long mouth), if he does, then i think he likely to just like that spot or have food he likes..

 

if he stop moving, for very very long time, it's time to really look at him.

[Catspa]

Ok, thanks for the responses

To answer some of the questions you brought up.

- Yes i've got plenty of sand bed, about 1.5' square... should be plenty for him as he is just under 1".

- No there doesn't appear to be anything special about the corner he tended to gravitate towards..

** BUT he does seem to be doing better now. The last time I moved him, i placed him on the other side of the tank.. and since then he seems to move about like normal... BUT i should mention that he doesn't move around as much as i would have expected him to do.. he will just sit in a spot for hours at a time. during wich he may have his trunk very slowly poking around, or he may not be visible... then after 3-4 hours he might move off a couple of inches away(tiny hopping)... then repeat., or he might not, and he'll stay there for half the day or longer.. soooo i guess he is doing better..but i still thought i would have seen more movement and such from him.. my turbo snails can run circle around him. - perhaps thats why they call them turbo .

So what do you thing? is he acting normal

[joh]

LOL

"my turbo snails can run circle around him. - perhaps thats why they call them turbo ."

got a good lough from me.

 

No, actually that isn't sounds so normal to me. sounds more like he is tired or lazy. My moving all the time "if he show up", but once he got the spot he like, he may be stand there for good 10-20 mins and just eatting (depending on how much food around there), sometime even try to go on the side glass (like 2" from the sand) and just try to eat.

 

Anyway, from what you said, look like he is eatting well (his trunk is actuallyl his mouth and if you look closer, it look just like turbo's mouth, except that it is way longer).