lightning whelk.....safe???

[skiflyer]

Hi,

Is it safe to put a lightning whelk into an aquarium??? I heared that some snails, or others can break the glass of an aquarium due to them eating clams and stuff like that.
Thanks in advance

[mogurnda]

What is a lightning whelk?

[becky_e]

Oh, I was wondering what that was, too. I thought it was just cuz I'm such a newbie!

[Dale W.]

Sounds like something from the Keltic days :D

Can you explain to us what it is or is it a typo?

[becky_e]

Hey check this out. I googled it. They get big!

http://www.assateague.com/lt-whelk.html

http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpeciesSH.asp?curGroupID=9&shapeID=1095&curPageNum=14&recnum=SS0034

[skiflyer]

its a seashell....a snail just bigger, i guess it could be somewhat compared to the florida fighting conch. I find a bunch of these every time i go to the beach. Just not sure if it is safe to put in the aquarium. anybody any ideas or educated guesses.
thanks

[becky_e]

Personally, I'd be worried about putting a tank in my tank! Haha! That was terrible, huh?

Probably too big and strong for the typical SW tank. I bet it would need a HUGE tank!

[mogurnda]

Well, it looks like it will be fairly easy to feed, and can stand tropical temperatures. The big question is what you want to keep with it. As a predator, it's likely to eat much of your cleaning crew, and may go after other interesting pets as well. Is this for a fish-only setup?

[Dale W.]

I should have known about these as I have worked with the giant Triton snails, arrrrggghhh.

If they are anything like the tritons, they will really move things around and they are fairly agrressive predators. If it is a small one, they will eat all the other snails and some fish if they can overcome them at night. Of course this is if they are anything the same as the Triton.