Queen conchs

[Pisces]

There's a lfs in Boca Raton that sells small (about 1-2") Queen conch snails. Supposedly they prefer to stay on the sand and help to keep it clean. Has anyone here tried keeping Queen conchs in their tank and have you had any luck with them?
I'm also concerned about how large they would eventually be if they did survive for a long time. Then what do you do with them?

[BrianH]

How about eat them :D
I do not have any direct experience with queen conchs but I am under the impression that they do not stay on the sand bed. I have fighting conchs which do stay in the sand bed and do not get as large. They also seem to eat any algae on the sand bed.
Brian

[Satchmo]

I have a fighter too, and he stays in the sand. It's my understanding as well that the queens venture out of the sandbed more so than fighters. The queens also grow quicker, I've been told.

[Pisces]

Well conch fritters are a big thing around here Brian...;)
I finally found some info about them in a book I've got. It says they can grow to 10 inches or more and that they're found on the sand and in sea-grass fields where they eat algae and detritus. Sounds great as an algae eater but it'll get too big for my tank!

I guess I'm not familiar with fighting conchs, I don't recall seeing them anywhere here, not in my book either. Do they look similar to the queen conchs?

[JiveDog]

I picked up a Queen Conch (after snacking on them on Cayman Island) about 6 months ago. Since then it has doubled its size to a 2 inch shell and she cruises all over my reef tank, on the glass, although it does seem she prefers the sand.

[Water World]

Queens can grow at least 6 inches in one year, if not more. Fighting Conch's grow slowly. So for a tank a fighting conch is better because of its slow growth... Unless you don't mind eating your pets. Then you can get a queen and when it gets too big.. Just eat him. :rolleyes:

This site sell both:
http://www.etropicals.com/

[fishr]

tho i didnt notice when i got my LR..they must have been in the cravices cause i never noticed them..

anyway, mine seem to be in love with my diatom algea. since my tank is young i have little burts of diatom algea here and there and the little buggers crawl all over my glass and dig through my sand and eat everything in site that has a vegatable material to it.

kinda cute in a way....:p

[JustPhish]

The fighting max out at about 3-4 inches. Much more suitable for our smaller tanks.