Where to get conches?
 

I'd like to add a Queen or Fighting conch. I don't see any on J&L's website. Where do you think I could get one in Lower Mainland BC?

J&L doesn't have them listed on their site but I did get my Queen there. I have not seen any at other stores in the lower mainland. A quick call to John or Allen should get you a conch.

Jeff

I got my queen from J&L.

Tim @ Seacare often gets them in, try contacting him to see when his next order will come in. I'm looking to add a couple Fighting Conchs to my tank as well.

I have sent both Seacare and J&L email messages last night. Hopefully, someone will have them.

You could try Jayson at saltwater connetion. I got a couple from him. Remember, the queen gets huge. If you do decide to go with Jayson, you might want to try get a few people in on an order as shipping is expensive. I might be interested in getting something.

J&L's don't have them. I was in there today.

Petlovers out here has a bunch of Crowns in. I'm waiting on the Fighting Conch's myself.

i got mine from aquariumpros.ca

Mak, does Petlover's regularly carry fighting conches? I just read that Crowns will eat bivalves so I assume that means my clams could be at risk if I got a Crown.

Never seen the FC's there but they do have a Horse Conch...HEHehe :twisted: . I'll get him to order some in. I could use 2-4 of of dem guys myself. Maybe I'll pop in this week I gotta few Frags for him as well.

Re: Where to get conches?
 

you might want to stick with fighting conches and forget about the queen, for one the queens get real big.. and second they spend a lot of time on the rocks (climbing) fighting conches are smaller and tend to stay in the sand.. I have never seen mine anywhare other than the sand in the 3 months I have had them.. and I have not heard of anyone seeing "True" fighting conches anywhare other than the sand bed.

another thing to keep in mind is that they clean a lot of sand fairly fast. it took two of them about 2 weeks to make my sand bed look brand new again after it was totaly covered with Cyno and diatoms.. I have about 3 square feet of sand exposed. if you only have about 2 square feet or less of sand exposed I would only get 1.

I got mine from Sea Care as J&L only had a queen and they were not bringing in fighting conches untill the fall (so maybe ask them as it is now fall)

I would also watch whare you buy them from and look at them your self there seams to be a lot of places passing of a species of Welk off as fighting conch. the shell is very simular but you can tell if you see the critter.. the fighting conch will have a black elefant like trunk and two eyes on stalks, cute littl guys.

this is one of mine when I first got him
http://members.shaw.ca/stircrazy/critters/conch1.jpg

and now 3 months later and almost 3 times the size
http://members.shaw.ca/crystalk/conch.jpg

hope this has helped..

Steve

Cool. There are a few people with Queens so I would like to hear how fast they are growing in everyone's tank. If they grow about as fast as snails then I probably won't worry too much because my snails don't grow all that fast. I could probably even give them away once they reach a large size.

J&L isn't planning to get fighting conchs in from the Email that I got. I wonder why not and why don't more stores carry them?

Hi,

I have a queen conch and it has grown from 3/4" to about 1.5 inches in 3 months. Queen conches tend to be more productive than fighting conches. Fighting conches will tend to feed during the night and sleep during the day -- they don't need as much food as a Queen. Both conches will stay on the sand and eat diatoms for lunch. If they don't stay on the sand, then they could be a Welk. Also, conches leap or jump when the move...Welk's do not.

All in all, I am happy with my queen. It is a something unique in the tank. If it gets too big...then I will donate her to the local aquarium or it will be an excuse for my dream tank....

- Victor.

My fighting conches are active during the day. Two of them keep the sand bed clean in a 155gal.

hmm you better talk to mine then LOL they eat 24 hours a day then they burry themselves for 2 days to 7 days and do what ever.. when the emerge after a long time they are visabley bigger. the fighting conch can be deciving in its movement.. I have seen mine move along smothly and slowly, I have sean them lerch along.. and I have seen them use there "Claw" to jump over a rock or a hermit that was trying to pester it.
myne were 3/4" long when I got them about 3 months ago and like I said they have pretty much trippled in size.. I would say 2.5" easy.. they are both fast growers.

and if it doesent stay one the sand it could be a queen also.. they are climbers (yours might not climb and it might not ever climb, but the queens are knowen for there habit of climbing as aposed to the fighting's normal habit of not climbing) .. but it would be easyer to tell a large queen from a welk.

Steve

Hi,

I read some stuff on conches before I bought my queen. I had the impression that fighting conches stayed small (4-5 inches), so they don't need to eat or graze as much as a queen...that grow to 12 inches. I guess there may be other conches that look like fighting conches but they don't sleep during the day. Sorry about the generalization.

- Victor.

my understanding on it was they stay 4 to 5 " but they get there rather quickly if you have the food for them.. at full size a fighting conch will need about 2 square feet of sand bed to keep it alive.. I think this is with out suplamental feeding.. the queen does get even larger (I have a 13" shell from a queen) but it is its ability to become a bulldozer that I made the desision not to get one on.. I don't belive in the " I will give it to a zoo/fish store/ect when it gets to big" idea.. so I chose the size that I would be able to maintain in my tank..

Steve

ORA is working on fighting conchs right now. Apparantly they are on the small side and are subject to harrasment from hermit crabs who are jealous of their shells. They are at about 15mm now and will sell when they are at about 25mm (about 6 more weeks). As soon as they are ready you should be able to find them in stores in Western Canada.

Steve,

The aquarium thing was a back up plan, but I am serious planning a bigger tank to keep the conch and a few other spacing loving creatures (like my yellow tang).

Hmmm...I seem to recall that you have several fighting conches. If all of them were 4 inches in length, wouldn't you have the same problem as my single queen conch ?

- Victor.

if you call 2 conches several :roll: .. sure.. but I have the required amount of space in my main tank for 2 fighting conch.. if I decide to add more rock.. I will move one to the bottom tank..

Steve

If you try to pick them up with your hand, could it get cut?

I don't think so.. i pick mine up once and a while as sometimes I put on in the bottom tank for a week

Steve

I was asking because of this thread I read:

http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin...ing+conch+gash


quote:
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Originally posted by rshimek

The name comes from their escape response....If picked up on the beach, they will attempt to escape. In doing so, the foot will swing out with a fair bit of force and swing in an arc. The operculum (trap door) on the foot is curved and sharp, and they can inflict a wound on the person that picks them up.

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ya i read that.. mine have never tried to "escape" but then again I only handle them long enuf to move them to a different tank.

I guess if you sat there with him in the palm of your hand for about 10 min he might try something :roll:

Steve

FYI. I talked to J&L yesterday about getting Fighting Conchs and they told me that the reason they don't stock them is because there is no demand for them. In their last order, they would stay in their tanks for months and no one wanted to buy them. They told me that if they were to get 10 preordered, then they would bring them in. Just FYI.

Put me down for 2 please.

I am interested in a couple of fighting conches too.

2 for me too. Rachel

bringing back a "old" post ;)

Anyone know who has any fighting conches?

JL HAD some.

You can still get some from saltwaterconnection too.

hidden reef has them right now

What?!?! I was just there! ARgg...

What about best place to buy them online?