Fighting Conch

[v320]

I just bought some of these guys the other day....
not sure if anyone has experienced this, but I did read a thread a while ago where someone mentioned that their conch would not go under the sand...

Well I placed one in my 10gal, and it immediately burrowed under the sand. No problems there...

The other one went into my 40 - it never burrowed... I purchased it because I wanted something to help stir up the sand a bit and thought one of these guys would do the trick.

I noticed that a few of my cleaner shrimp immediately went over to investigate it when I first placed it into the tank... BAD OMEN right...!?

Well a few days go by and still it hadn't burrowed. But I didn’t see anything bothering it, so I think everything is fine.
Well this afternoon, I go over to check it out, and the shell is in the exact same spot it was in previously, but up-side down. I don't give it too much thought, just assume it is resting or fell of the glass while climbing. I come back a few hours later, and notice that one of my cleaner shrimp is eating a piece of meat - it must have yanked the conch out of its shell.

So the question is - do I risk another one? Anyone else have a cleaner shrimp that decided to eat something that big? How has you luck been with conch?

Perhaps connected to this incident… I originally placed about 6 nassarius snails in the tank, and noticed that some of my blue leg crabs were wearing new nassarius shells, (even though there were plenty of other real estate in the tank – about 30 shells, various sizes). I have since given the blue legs all away.

Now that I have seen this, I am wondering, if it wasn't the shrimp that were picking off the snails, or perhaps a combination of both!?

 

[Ashlar]

How did you acclimate them? Slooooow acclimation is called for.

 

[v320]

I drip acclimated both of them over a two hour period.

The one I placed in the ten is doing great. Saw him this morning; moving the sand around... kinda reminded me of the scene from the Wrath of Khan (when they were getting those ear worm things... the sand kinda bulges a bit and then stops moving...lol)

The one that was eaten was going around cleaning the glass, but just didn't feel like getting under the sand.

 

[Ashlar]

Hrmm, weird! Maybe he wasn't well acclimated at the LFS, or the wholesaler before that..

 

[DaveJ]

Conchs are like any snail... they are rather sensitive, but when you get one to take well and thrive, they generally last a long time in the tank provided nothing major happens to the tank itself.

Fighting Conchs do burrow and are great for the sandbed, but they don't have to burrow to be beneficial as they do the same things cukes do, eat sand and leave piles of clean sand behind them.

Queen conchs tend to stay above sand more time than not.

Fighting conchs will also disappear for days/weeks on end. Mine happens to get stuck behind the rock work every now and again but it has also just buried itself for days. The tank tour, he buried himself about a week before and didn't make an appearance until about a week after that.

I am pretty sure the burying is part of their growth process.....

I doubt the shrimp contributed in any manner to the death, but I am sure they liked their conch fritter once it had passed.

I would feel comfortable getting another one in your shoes.

If you ever see a conch ON the glass, not just pressed up or stuck in a corner or something, but seriously on the glass or rock you have issues in the tank because they are sand dwellers.

 

[v320]

Scott, you may be right... an unfortunate loss.

Dave, I was running late the day of the tour and missed your tank, but saw some pics washington and matt took... very nice.

lol... yeah not "on" the glass... the other conch I placed in the smaller tank is doing fine and burrowed almost as soon as it hit the sand, so I was surprised the other one just stayed up top and cleaned the glass.

The only reason I suspect the cleaner shrimp (2 of them) is - as soon as I placed the conch in the tank, they came up to it and started poking and prodding it (as if they were trying to attck it). They then left it alone for as long as I was watching. I don't know if they have the strength to pull a conch out of its shell (its shell was only about 1" long).

 

[DaveJ]

@v320 wrote:

Thanks... and you're welcome to come by anytime to take a look.

I've never heard of a cleaner shrimp actively hunting down something. Its quite possible it was struggling when you got it though. Nothing like hermits or nassarius snails... hermits will go after things and nassarius (especially tongan) will be all over something at the first sign of it going under.

 

[gmax]

I would echo this. When I was in college, I went on breaks down to Key West and we occasionally snorkeled and collected conchs. We asked around at the marinas and found folks that had lived there for years and inquired about how to get the conchs out of the shells. The answer lies in knowing where to poke a hole in the shell and then scraping inside to break the suction so that the conch can be pried out. If you do not break the suction you will never get the conch out, even with vice grips, so no crab or shrimp is going to be able to either. Once it has died, it may make up a tasty meal for all of your scavengers. But then that is why you put them in the tank isn't it? Think of it this way, no chance of the dead conch decaying and causing an ammonia spike.

 

[v320]

@DaveJ wrote:

Thanks Dave, that would be great.
And thanks gmax for that insight...

That confirms what everyone has said... I guess I don't have conch killing cleaner shrimp... lol

But you should have seen these things pawing at it when I first put it in, wish I had taken a quick video clip of it. Maybe I'll do that when I put the next one in.

Oh, the other one is doing great, by the way... it just grabbed my attention as I was typing, it surfaced and decided to travel up top on the sand a bit before going back down on the other side of the tank. It was using this brownish claw like appendage to kick itself forward. It that what they use to “fight” with? Fascinating creatures!

 

[DaveJ]

@v320 wrote:

Thanks Dave, that would be great.
And thanks gmax for that insight...

That confirms what everyone has said... I guess I don't have conch killing cleaner shrimp... lol

But you should have seen these things pawning at it when I first put it in, wish I had taken a quick video clip of it. Maybe I'll do that when I put the next one in.

Oh, the other one is doing great, by the way... it just grabbed my attention as I was typing, it surfaced and decided to travel up top on the sand a bit before going back down on the other side of the tank. It was using this brownish claw like appendage to kick itself forward. It that what they use to “fight” with? Fascinating creatures!"]

Yeah I don't remember what that is called but is part of their foot. Its boney and they use it for propulsion and to scare away predators that flip them over. If you take it and hold it upside down in the water, it will flip out and swipe it around. They don't actually fight... but it is used to move around and for defense if needed. Careful, the one on my conch is about 3" long and they are sharp.

 

[v320]

@DaveJ wrote:

Ok, I will be extremely careful!
The one on mine is about 1/4"...
lol...!!!!
Can't wait to see a large one though...


gmax: how large were the ones you would see out there...!?

 

[SumpDiver]

@gmax wrote:

I would echo this. When I was in college, I went on breaks down to Key West and we occasionally snorkeled and collected conchs. We asked around at the marinas and found folks that had lived there for years and inquired about how to get the conchs out of the shells. The answer lies in knowing where to poke a hole in the shell and then scraping inside to break the suction so that the conch can be pried out. If you do not break the suction you will never get the conch out, even with vice grips, so no crab or shrimp is going to be able to either. Once it has died, it may make up a tasty meal for all of your scavengers. But then that is why you put them in the tank isn't it? Think of it this way, no chance of the dead conch decaying and causing an ammonia spike."]


The best way to remove a conch from its shell is to make a hole in the spiral front of the shell in the third row from the center with a flat screwdriver. You can move the screwdriver around inside the hold to detach the muscle, and then pry the conch out using a knife underneath the operculum.

I've seen folks down in the keys that were so good at this once the hole was tapped in with a hammer in just the right spot, all they had to do was shake the shell and the conch would just fall out. I always had to do a lot of scrapping myself. If you are going to eat the conch this method ruins the shell. If you want the shell in tact you boil the animal out. They are very tough, but with a little tenderizing make excellent fritters. Also makes good chowder. I don't see any critter in an aquarium removing one easily unless it was dead.

 

[v320]

Just an update...

I picked up another conch for the larger tank...
It's been in there for about 5 days now, and it is doing very well.
It is not going under the sand much, but it has been climbing the glass and live rock.
Nothing seems to bothering it at all (fingers crossed). The first one much have been ill.
It is definitely an interesting creature.

 

[v320]

Ok, I'm done with em...
Not sure what is going on, but I found the conch shell upside down, and picked it up to inspect it, while I was completing a water change. It was very light, needless to say, another loss. I guess it just was not ment to be for that tank... still not sure what is going on.

The last I saw it, it was cleaning the glass at the top of the tank. I can't imagine they were both sick, there has to be something in there killing them...!?

 

[DaveJ]

Have any hermits or crabs??? Thats really the only thing that would go after a conch. To them its just meat in a nice container that they can move into when they are done with their chow.

Keep trying The smaller they are the harder they are to get established but once they are they last a long time.

You mention that it was up on the glass.... that is VERY unusual behavior for a conch and everytime I have heard it mentioned, it was due to a very unhappy or ill conch.

 

[v320]

Yes I do have some hermits... some blue legs and about 2 scarlets...

I just can't think of anything else doing it.
Not sure why it was on the glass, I thought perhaps there was not enough food available for it...!?

I will try again, but I am going to wait for my 90 to be up and running for awhile before I put one in.
I think in the 90, I will be limiting the number of hermits (definitely no blue legs or zebras), and using more snails... unnecessary losses bother me....