fighting conchs - how big do they get?

[t-byrd]

got 2 of these guys last night, shell's are about an inch long.
how big do they get?
are they slow or fast growers?
will they climb around on the rocks, or do they stay on the sand?

 

[Anonymous]

I think around 3-4 inches. I have a couple and they have doubled in size in a few months. I was just looking at pictures and am wondering if mine might be queen conchs...? They are supposed to stay on the sand, but mine have cleaned it so well they now cruise around feeding on the glass like the other snails- so they can do that if they want to. They are about 1.5 inches long and the tank is a 120, so they do a good job on sand!

 

[Anonymous]

I just got fighting in and they are maxed out at 3 inches or so. Some are a hair bigger. I also have never seen any fighting conch I've ever had go on the glass while the queens I have usually venture up there for a while.

Anything could happen though.

Here's a pic of the big conch.

 

[Anonymous]

Pretty sure mine are queens....

 

[cmc1]

Where did you'll get yours? I purchased some raised ones, Queen conchas and it doesn't do jack for my sand bed. Any pics of your sand bed, maybe they sent me the wrong ones,hmmm.

 

[t-byrd]

i got mine at an lfs in grand rapids, mi.
i think etropicals.com has some, they did last time i looked.
the fighting conchs have a dark colored shell, dark brown
with lighter spots. the queens i believe have a much lighter shell.
i think the animal inside is almost red on the queens, the fighting conchs are a light tan, almost cream color
the queens i believe get bigger too. huge actually.

 

[teevee]

assuming these are the same things that produced the shells i have sitting on my shelves, they get over a foot long in the wild. unlikely that they'd reach that size in captivity though :?

 

[Anonymous]

TeeVee.....if those shells are a foot long, they are Queen Conches and not Fighting Conches.

 

[Keeping_it_real]

You can also differentiate the conches by their spiked shells. The Queen Conch has a much more pronounced spikes therefore the "Queen" was derived.