NewtoReef Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 I added 25 snails to my tank yesterday. before that the only clean up crew was 3 hermits and a conch. A couple hours after the lights were out i spot lit my tank to see how the snails were adjusting and if they were grazing. The conch had one of the Astreas against the glass and was enveloping its shell. the conch seemed to be constricting itself to suck the snail out. This morning 5 of the 25 snails are simple empty shells lying on the sand. is it normal for conchs to act that way?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma13 Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 I have never had a conch go predatory on snails before. It is usually my larger hermit crabs who will take out the weaker snails or those that find themselves upside down. Even having seen what you did, I would still place the blame on the crabs for some of the snail death. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chatfouz Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 yes. conch eat snails as a big part of diet. why if you see oone eating in the ocean watch and you will sea an army of hermit crabs behind it trying just to fight over the shells that come out. tough realestate market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Just curious ... what type of conch is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewtoReef Posted January 24, 2008 Author Share Posted January 24, 2008 Just curious ... what type of conch is it? Im not sure what species of conch it is. i got it from aqua-tek. its body is a very dark blue/black covered in white speckles, looks alot like a starry sky. I did see one of the hermits messing with the snails when i put them in, but he is very small. I am sure that the conch was eating one of the astreas, the only thing i will never know is if it was dead when it did so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Several yrs. ago we thought we got a fighting conch and instead it was a whelk (predator to snails. Personally, I've never seen a reef safe conch attacking other snails or eating them, except that whelk we got by mistake. -Cindy- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenM Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 I've had the same problem. I've got maybe 10 of my 50 snails left. I suspect my large hermit is partly to blame, though I see the tiny hermits all over the snails, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewtoReef Posted January 28, 2008 Author Share Posted January 28, 2008 Just for closure. I took my "Conch" which some of you met at the meeting back to aqua-tek. Indeed the associate i spoke with confirmed that around the same time i had purchased it they had gotten in a "bad batch" of what they thought were conchies but were in actuality some species of predatory whelk. so the carnivorous conch, the man-eating mullosk, the wicked whelk has been replaced with some turbos. all is well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 That's great! They're usually mistaken w/conch, until you see them in action. Good to hear you save the rest of your cleaning crew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entropy Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I just put in a conch from Aquatek. Fortunately I know what they look like and this one is just a standard Tonga fighting conch. Glad you got yours sorted out and beware of mismarker critters! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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