Queen Conch

[Devilishturtles]

An experience to share, and a question.

First, these guys rock at getting rid of cyanobacteria! They munch any small area that comes up on my sandbed, particularly in the back corner of the tank. These are 2 bad pictures, but you get the point, and they are so comical to watch! I was sorta apprehnsive about getting them in the first place because I heard they were sometimes senstive and were easily predated by hermits. I love them and I reccomend anyone that has cyano problems and wants to add a diverse cleaner to their tank should look into the queen conch.

Second, I heard these were perfect for aquariums then just this morning I was browing the ORA website and it says they can grow up to 12 inches long. 8O

Is that true, even in aquariums?

Thanks.

 

[ReefRaff]

I am not sure if captivity stunts there growth or not, But they do become huge in the ocean.

 

[Squado]

Are queen conch's simliar in the size aspect to a tiger conch? My lfs has a tiger in and I was skeptical about picking it up due to their growth. Cool looking animals though...

 

[produceb]

Queens do become large in the wild. They are the type of conch that you eat at a resturant. I caught a pink shelled red footed conch the other day about a inch long does great in my sandbed. Dont know what type it is.

 

[roka64]

I have a queen in my 55 but I may have to move it if it gets too big. The tigers don't get as big. As for hermits, I saw my hermit try to get the conch and you would be surprised on how far they can "jump". Mine spends most if the time under the sand.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Wouldn't it be funny if the conch was my main need for a larger tank?

"But, it can barely crawl anymore it's so big" hehehe.

Thanks everyone, now I know.

Oh and Scott, I saw mine jump for the first time last night when as astrea decided to crawl over it. Big mistake for the astrea, haha.

 

[roka64]

LOL! Yeah, they have a very sharp "foot". I actually saw mine hanging on the glass one morning.

 

[chizzle]

I have a queen conch that I absolutely love. We've had her for about 4 months and she has grown about an inch. I think. The new growth on her shell is about an inch out from the older so I'll assume. I can't tell that she's gotten any bigger, but thats just because I look at her every day . Over all she is probably about 4 inches. She will definitely be the reason that I upgrade to a larger tank.

We did at one point have a large electric blue hermit & the first night that we put "Queenie" in the tank, he did try to attack her & take her shell, but with the jumping & the slime, the hermit wasn't successful. But it really did scare the daylights out of me. Needless to say, no more hermit.

I absolutely love having a queen conch. I don't think I would recommend her to anyone that doesn't have a large tank, but other than that, she's everything that I could expect from a snail. My sand is gorgeous now that she is in the tank, and she will even eat off of the rocks sometimes. Best of luck with yours, hope that gives you a little more insight!

 

[Devilishturtles]

chizzle, thanks for the story. I can definiltey identify! I love my queens. I have a 45 gallon and so far the conchs are still small (~ 1"). I hope they'll be good in there for atleast 1-2 years. I don't suppose anyone know their growth rate do they?

 

[chizzle]

When I first got mine, she was on the "larger" side already, about 3 inches or so. So she has grown about an inch in four months. Maybe a little more. I'll try posting a picture tomorrow, because you can really see the growth in her shell. It's a little more brown than the rest.

But as long as the water conditions are right & there is plenty of food, I would definitely say they are fast growers. Other than what she finds in the sand & rock, we do occasionally through in a nori sheet for her. Sometimes our other inverts find their way to it, but she will sometimes eat an entire sheet by herself. Maybe its over kill but I couldn't really find any info for people keeping them in aquariums. HTH!

 

[MT79]

Are queen conch's simliar in the size aspect to a tiger conch? My lfs has a tiger in and I was skeptical about picking it up due to their growth. Cool looking animals though...

Tiger conchs only grow to about 3-4", so they are smaller than queen conchs. I have a tiger conch, and it does a great job at keeping the sand bed stirred and clean due to it's behavior of burying itself and feeding habits. I've yet to see it leave the sand. It's a model citizen, I really like them. HTH

 

[Devilishturtles]

Thanks chizzle, I'd love to see a picture(s).

Mike, thanks. Mine go occasionally on the rocks and I found one of mine stuck in a colony of GSP, haha. But I agree, model citizens, they rock.