Fighting conch care

[zachfishman]

Anyone have experience keeping these? I understand they are the smaller of the few conchs available in the hobby; getting 6" or so compared to the much larger queen and horse conchs. I have a 120gal with sand (in desperate need of stirring) and about 1/2 exposure so about four square feet of open sand. The sand is very debris laden so I don't think that food supply will be a problem. Has anyone found these conchs to require any special care that I should know about? Will they crawl around on rocks and knock down my corals? Can I fit two in this setup? They would be a special order and I want two in case one doesn't make it.

 

[rharr21]

I have a Tonga fighting conch in a 24 gal nano cube with a deep sand bed. It spends most of its time under the sand with its snorkle sticking out. When I feed the tank it comes out in a wild frenzy looking for food. It can only crawl up the glass about two or three inches before it falls off. It doesn't handle itself very well on the rock and usually falls off of it before it can get anywhere. The way its foot looks, I think it is made for life in the sand and not on rocks. If it falls on its back on the rocks it has a hard time turning itself over because it doesn't seem to be able to grip the rock like other snails do. It is very interesting to watch and has grow a little over the past year, so I assume it is getting all it needs in the nano cube. I do nothing special for it. Hope this info helps.

 

[zachfishman]

Great to know that it wont crawl on the rocks and knock my corals over. did you order yours online or buy local?

 

[rharr21]

I purchased mine at the LFS.