Conch ID

[Sregnar35]

I was at my lfs and they had small fighting conch 3 for $15, and then I spotted these snails in with the mexican turbos 3 for $9. They look very similar to fighting conch's, but could anyone id them for me? In the last picture, the shell in the background is not what I bought, it's the shell that my shrimp is messing with. Also, the snail shells are approx. 3 inches long.

 

[Max]

Stregnar, they MIGHT be queen conches. I'm not 100% sure though more like 80%. If they are queens keep an eye on them they have been known to eat other snails ,"every chance they get." They are pretty good detriovours ,"sp", and will clean up a lot of algae though to. They need quite a bit of surface space per critter ,"sand bed mostly", and you'll probably have to feed them sooner or later. These guys will get pretty big to 1ft + .
hth
chris

 

[Sregnar35]

Alright, I've got 3 now in my 75 gallon, obvioulsy they will outgrow my tank if your hunch is correct. If so, I'll bring them back to my lfs and get store credit hopefully. My current snails stay out of the sand usually, so they should be safe for the most part.

 

[caz]

they are queens. i bought one a while back, and it wiped out about 6 or 7 turbos. thought my water quality was poor till i watched it devour a turbo

 

[Sregnar35]

SO I should probably get rid of them right?

 

[Max]

Well, it would depend on how many snails you have and how attached you are to them. Queens ," if that's what they are", will clear out you other snails over a period of time. Just to let you know fighting conches don't get quite so big and I've never heard of them eating other snails. That doesn't mean that it can't happen though. If you can I'd take them back probably not too many lfs want a 2 foot long snails. They do look pretty neat though.
chris

 

[Sregnar35]

Thanks Chris, I actually took them all out and brought them back today. They were neat but I couldn't stand worrying about my tank so much.

 

[caz]

they are probably good for someone who cannot keep turbos b/c of hermits.

 

[Gealcath]

Those snails do real good in their own set ups due to thier size, the larger ones need to be fed alot, since having a 1-2' will eat alot more then just snails and algae. However when the larger ones die they do leave neat shells that you can blow into like a horn similar to a Triton(same type of shells you often see used in movies and such, although Triton snails have the highly valuable and expensive shells)

 

[Sregnar35]

Thanks everyone, I just now hope that my lfs sells them by their correct name, and not as reef safe conch's.