Conches

[Ben1]

Cukes won't eat the cyno or anyother problem algeas for you. They will stir the bed, they digest the bacteria that grows on the sand and leave clean sand pellets behind. They help keep the bed fresh by turning the sand over for you. I have a 150 and 3 queens and 2 cukes will do plenty for my bed.

 

[Anonymous]

for those of you who think conchs are always 'slow'
:wink:

ever see a conch 'hop' ?

 

[Rlumenator]

No, the hermits ate the turbos, and the turbos were good sized, in a few days. What is a pod poulation? I have lots of tiny feather dusters on the bottom who are not bothered by the stars.

 

[Anonymous]

No, the hermits ate the turbos, and the turbos were good sized, in a few days. What is a pod poulation? I have lots of tiny feather dusters on the bottom who are not bothered by the stars.

it's a term used to describe the amount of pods in your tank































pods refers to copepods, amphipods.....

little teeny 'bugs' you'll see scurrying around in the tank, and on the glass

ranging in size from small specks, to 1/4" 'scooters'

you'll usually see more out at nite

 

[Unarce]

No, the hermits ate the turbos, and the turbos were good sized, in a few days. What is a pod poulation? I have lots of tiny feather dusters on the bottom who are not bothered by the stars.

Hmm, a large electric blue hermit ate a small astrea in my son's nano once. None of the scarlets or blue legs ever bother the snails in my reef.

I was refering to the meiofauna that populate LR and LS. The reason I never added a sand sifting star was because they feed on these creatures.

My favorite sand stirrer has to be cucumbers.

 

[Rlumenator]

Okay, but the stars have been here a number of months, and all seems well. I'm wondering what kind of "bad thing" happens with the sifters cleaning up.

 

[Fishtales]

Non stop cleaners , both the cucumber & conch
8O

:wink:

 

[Unarce]

Okay, but the stars have been here a number of months, and all seems well. I'm wondering what kind of "bad thing" happens with the sifters cleaning up.

There's nothing bad about not having any. They're great scavengers and sand stirrers as well. They also are a food source for fish, inverts, and corals.

 

[Anonymous]

hehe neat pics

 

[Rlumenator]

How big are the conches? Do they grow fast, or stay small? What type is best to have?

 

[Anonymous]

The pic's look like queen's. I bought 6 3/4" queens abotu 1.5 years ago. All 6 are still alive and have grown to about 3". They are too big to climb very high onto the rocks or the glass.

And yes, they can still do a bad a** hop.

 

[Rlumenator]

"And yes, they can still do a bad a** hop"- what does that mean??

 

[Anonymous]

A conch's defense is to jump backwards. If they feel threatened it's there way of getting out of the situation.
~wings~

 

[Rlumenator]

OOH, that sounds scary-how often has it landed in one of your corals?

 

[Anonymous]

From my experience, it was only an inch backwards (mine are only 2 inches). They did this when I first introduced them to the reef, and now, they are actually very peaceful, and eat sand bed like crazy. To answer, no harm done at all.
~wings~

 

[Rlumenator]

With (3) sand sifters in a 155 gal. tank- would I be pushing it by adding a conch; would there be enough food?

 

[Anonymous]

Go for it... get a small one.. they will grow too! It won't hurt.
All the best,
~wings~

 

[Rlumenator]

Okay, thanks, I'll look for one!

 

[Unarce]

wings8888,

Do all conchs exhibit this hopping behavior?

Dawn,

Should be no problem since the sand sifting stars have a much different diet than conchs.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know. The two that I have do. They were labeled Fighting Tonga Conch at the LFS. I'll see if I can sneak in a picture later on tonight when they come out and feed so you can identify them.
~wings~