QUESTION about queen conch !!!

[fasturtle30]

i have a qs what you think about QUEEN CONCH? i have this look :
"Queen Conchs are similar in behavior to that of Turbo Snails, but will also eat detritus from live sand beds. At this size Saltwaterfish.com recommends 1 Queen Conch per every 20 gallons" i ask you because the president of my local forum said turbo snails are good glass cleaners but knock over frags...do queen conch knock frags then? or do you know about ANY OTHER option that keep your glass off algae and dont do that as well?

 

[drummereef]

My fighting conch never climbed anything. If you are looking for glass cleaners get Astrea or Turbo snails. Your buddy was probably referring to mexican turbos which can get quite large. I've personally never had any problems with any of my snails knocking over corals.

 

[Stanton]

My favorite is the banded trocha snails. They clean everything and do a great job. You just don't see them mentioned to often.
Ditto on what Drummereef said about mexican turbos.
I've seen my queen on the glass two times here recently.

 

[nctommy]

I have a queen conch and it is quite large about 3.5 inches long. It is like a bull in a china shop, but it doesn't climb really. Mine stay in the sand. It only reaches up as high as the shell and its long neck allow on glass and rock. I also have turbos and they do knock over my sps. Conch doesn't because they are high up. Best glass cleaners I have are astrea snails.
The breakdown of my snails are:
Astrea - glass
turbo - rock and hair algae
Queen conch - sand bed surface

 

[reefshadow]

Mine never leaves the sand bed, though it will stretch up its "trunk" to graze on the rocks and glass.

1 per 20 gallons is crazy, IMO. I would only put 1 per 50-100 gallons (depending on amount of open sand) or they will eventually starve.

 

[Nano Chris]

I have one also in my 90 gallon read it will grow up to 12" its about 2 1/2" now.

 

[Sepeku]

2 Fighting Conchs in my 210... they never climb. They certainly don't have the foot like a "normal snail" to do it.

As NCtommy said, "It is like a bull in a china shop".

Which pretty much sums mine up too. They jump and bulldoze things, even try to push over most everything in the aquarium and lodge themselve in between rocks.
Despite that, they take care of themselves mostly.

 

[papagimp]

A fighting conch will only get about 4-6" long, not to bad, and is harmless and doesn't "fight" . A queen conch (Strombus Gigas) however can reach sizes around 16" long and will require MASSIVE amounts of open sandbed for proper feeding, otherwise supplemental feeding will be required. If all you have is that 55g, stick with a Fighting conch unless you plan to upgrade to a much larger tank in the future.

 

[pinniger]

I had two queen conchs. Both got stuck between rocks within a few weeks and died, pretty much the stupidest snails I've ever owned. make sure you keep an eye on them so you can rescue them if need be.

To answer your question. mine were always on the sand.

 

[papagimp]

LOL, sorry, don'tm ean to laugh, my last Queen (died when I loaned him to a friend to help him with his algae problem) would be all over my entire tank and never got himself stuck or even knocked anything over. He was suprisingly gentle for such a large juvinile (about 3.5") . BTW, you can tell a queen is a juvi cause once they reach sexual maturity there shells take on a large flare and they really start to put on size. Up to 4" of shell per month (keeping in mind the shell grows in a sprial, not straight horizontal)

 

[wooz29]

I have two Queens right now & they are just juvies and they do climb on the rock. I was suprised to see them on top of the rock but they do it quite often.