Turbos at Big Als

[reefphish]

Dropped by BigAls on the way home today and had a chance to pick up a half dozen Turbos for 2.65...

and two Queen Conches for $2.65.. dont know much about the counches.. one burried itself under the gravel and submarines around with only its probiscus(?) periscoping out.. the other is just cruising around the glass bumping into the turbos.

All-in-all an entertaining purchase. Anybody keep these conches? are they reef safe?? :rolleyes: I know I should have researched first.. but

let me know...

[spikehs]

queen conches ARE reef safe, except they get HUGE - I heard 10+ inches!!! also heard they sometimes climb on the rocks so make sure everything is secure.

[Canadian Man]

6 turbo's for $2.65 total?

If so WOW! How come so cheep?

[reefphish]

:confused: Yikes, that would be a deal. Actually 2.65 a piece.

[Quinn]

Queen conches reportedly do not do the under-the-sand thing. Also I have heard that you cannot import them anymore. Lastly, I doubt they would be that cheap. So I would doubt that what Big Al's is selling is truly a queen. I can confirm they get large, I have a shell of one that is over a foot in length.

I mentioned to Tony at Jon's that I doubt that any of the conches we buy as queen/fighting/whatever are truly that species.

I wonder if Big Al's is selling nassarius snails as conches. I can see it happening.

Queen conch: http://www.gastropods.com/7/Shell_217.html

Other conches: http://www.gastropods.com/Taxon_pages/Common_Names.html

[Buccaneer]

The fighting Conches that I got at the same time as you Quinn has NEVER left the sand ... they seem to be just as advertised ... you however got strawberry ? conches and not sure what they are supposed to do but they were sold to you as a replacement to the fighting conch is'nt that right ?

Cheers

[Quinn]

Correct Steve.

http://www.gastropods.com/5/Shell_205.html

Mine also never leaves the sand. He spends about 2/3 of his time under the sand and the rest on top.

The URL in my first post was wrong regarding all conches species. It should have been http://www.gastropods.com/Taxon_pages/Group_Conch.html.

[Buccaneer]

Correct Steve.

http://www.gastropods.com/5/Shell_205.html

Mine also never leaves the sand. He spends about 2/3 of his time under the sand and the rest on top.

The URL in my first post was wrong regarding all conches species. It should have been http://www.gastropods.com/Taxon_pages/Group_Conch.html.

Mine spends most of the time on top of the sand ... go figure ?

btw there are TOO many conches in the henhouse on that link LOL


Cheers

[Quinn]

I've been through them all and I still can't figure out which type Jon has. But I am positive I have a strawberry. Interestingly, I also have two shells in my tank which are also Strombus luhuanus (mom collected them in Florida back in the 70s). All mine, dead or alvie, look like the second one down.

[reefphish]

TeeVee thanks for the links.. did some poking around and these conches are certainly NOT Strombus Gigas. Searched around some of the other reef boards, and was able to id these conches as Melonga Corona. A species of Carnivorus snails :eek:

They have'nt done anything yet... but Im watching em! still not a bad deal for $ 2.65.. but I think they are destined for the DSB sump!

[Quinn]

If I were you I would call Big Al's and let them know what they really have, regardless of whether you keep them or not. I expect that the staff there figures that any mollusc with a spined shell is a queen conch, when in reality there are a huge number of similar animals. A perfect example of why scientific names are so important.

[reefphish]

Called'em.... I'll stop by later today and see if they actually made the change.