Tiger Conch

[Joe-ness]

About two weeks ago, I purchased a tiger conch from lfs. Last night when i got home from work, there was this strange looking thing coming from the conch. The conch seemed to let go of it, so i removed it from the tank and sat it in a bucket of water while i did some research.
What i found was that this was actually a strand of eggs. i found that the eggs will hatch in about a week and become planktonic, feeding on phyto for a month before falling to the sandbed and feeding on macro algae.
So, i decided to set up a phyto culture and learvae tank, and attempt to grow the larvae. I figure, since i only have one tiger conch, and this is more than likely the only time this will happen, might as well try this out. Plus, im always looking to learn more about the hobby...what a great oppertunity!

 

["Umm fish?"]

Cool! Good luck! Do you know what type of phyto they need?

A lot of oceanic life will store sperm for a long period of time, keeping it viable inside their bodies. I guess it makes sense since a lot of them might only see members of their own species rarely. I don't know if conchs are one of the species that do this, but there's some hope you'll see more than one set of eggs.

Also, you could always get another.

 

[Joe-ness]

The Phyto ill be using is nannochloropsis Oculata. Hopefully this will do.
Im not sure if they store sperm...ill look into that.
Thanks for the info!

 

["Umm fish?"]

Again ... good luck! Please let us know how it goes. I know that conch have been aquacultured, so a search on Google scholar might give you a whole lot more info, too.

 

[rkelman]

Very cool thanks for posting. Please keep us updated!

 

[Joe-ness]

Well, they hatched on sunday, and she also laid another batch, which hatched last night. Guess you were right about storing sperm Andy. Nice Call!
So i fed them some nanno. and they are eating it because it keeps getting lighter and lighter. So i add more, and same thing happens.
I was reading on Google scholar that i need to induce metamorphosis. From what i gather, i need to add a substrate, red algae, and sea grass. The article also mentions adding detritus from the natural nurseries. But, i dont think ill be able to get a hold of that. Theres not too big of a market for detritus.
I think this will be my next move, adding a substrate, sea grass, and red macro. Should i go ahead and do this? if so, should i use sand or mud? I would figure mud, but im asking just to be sure.

Thanks again

 

["Umm fish?"]

Oh shucks....

Congratulations and I'm glad that it sounds like they are eating the nanno. If you could find a mixed species phyto product I'd probably add a little of that, too. Maybe on the next set of eggs, if they seem to have problems this round. Nanno is only high in half of the essential fatty acids, so getting something in the mix like T-Iso might be good.

If the larvae are looking for sea grass then I would assume more mud than sand (especially since the article talked about detritus). Do you have a tank with a sand bed that's been up for a while? Or, can someone in your local club or LFS help you out with a cup of sand?

Reed's sells jars of live gracillaria (a red algae). That might help. Or, maybe something like this:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=490

Good luck! (We want pictures!!! )

 

["Umm fish?"]

Looks like ORA sells algaes, too. Maybe your LFS could order some in?

http://www.orafarm.com/algae.html

And here's a link to the Reef Nutrition:

http://www.reefnutrition.com/macrofeast/index.htm

 

["Umm fish?"]

And now I can't stop typing....

Information from Project DIBS on conchs:

http://www.projectdibs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=843&highlight=conch+research

And a direct link to the abstracts on the page mentioned at DIBS:

http://www.hboi.edu/aqua/science_pubs.html

 

[FB]

This is pretty cool. Do you have any pics?