Growing coral on snail shells

[FishNDip]

Has anyone grown coral on top of snail shells? I have a conch with a large shell that would be nice to put some zoanthids on it. As far as I know, there's no negative effects to doing this?

 

[mcgyvr]

Go right ahead and go for it..
I've certainly had some snails with some punk rock hair algae growing on them and my urchin has certainly carried corals around with it but I've never tried to get corals to grow on snail shells..
Nothing really wrong with it at all though..

 

[ReefsandGeeks]

+1, go ahead and go for it.

 

[Crooked Reef]

A live conch? Mine generally bury themselves in the sand which could aggravate the zoanthids or disappear for a few days behind rocks. I would go for it though. It sounds awesome.

 

[journeyman]

I've done it by accident.

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[ReefWreak]

I don't think the corals would ultimately be hardy enough to go through the bumping, scraping, and shadowing that the live animal puts their shell through, but sure, why not give it a shot.

I've seen some beautiful Cyphastria-encrusted ceramic pieces in tanks online and in person (a millenium falcon and an easter island head come to mind), so that part is definitely doable. The question is the movement.

 

[Constantine]

I had a crab that picked a shell with a Discosoma on it. Saw it right around the Kentucky Derby and it looked like a Derby hat to me. So, we named the crab Mint Julep. It picked a different shell only a few weeks later.

 

[FishNDip]

Another coral that might be easier are Xenia, or Mushrooms which grow like crazy. But I'll give it a try.

 

[syngraves]

Ive had a snail end up with a mushroom polyp on its shell. Looked in the tank one day to see a new mushroom and was confused why it was moving through my live rock. then I noticed the snail... Grew there for a few months until either the snail knocked it off or it detached to find a more permanent home.

 

[ChronicReefH2o]

I say be careful what you wish for, sometimes gluing corals on snails that move or bury under sand may not always be the best idea. As they move around, the corals can pop off and grow in places you don't want them to.