Conch Snails and Band-Aids

[TANGOMAN]

What does one have to do with the other you're asking...uuuh, nothin'.
I posted a question yesterday on the reef board regarding Lionfish and the chance of survival for snails. Well 39 people viewed but only one response. Thanks Mak ! Surely this is an indication you people are to busy in Western Canada to assist a fellow enthusiast...
Seriously though, I've never seen a Conch Snail and it sounds like "all the kids" got one for Christmas. Might this species be an option in a "predator tank" ? In "snail-terms". are they fast/active ? Large antannae,foot etc...? Undesirable qualities for a "critter" hoping to elude the fish on the prowl...
What does the Band-Aid have to do with this ? Well, yesterday I decided it was time to "prune" the beautiful growth of hair algae in my 90g. Sorry, I guess I should have asked if anyone wanted some . I was pulling rocks to scrub and as I felt one slip I quickly re-gripped because the condition of that new front glass is much more important than my fingers. I felt a sensation similar to a rusty old thumb-tack being inserted into my body :shock: A small hole but I bled like a pig...many choice words that aren't listed in your average dictionary changed the cats' curiosity to panic...Now I have done a lot of damage to my hands over the years being a mechanic and my pain tolerance has grown with my "clumsyness" but todays pain is similar to the fan blade episode I prefer not to mention. ops: Infected I'm sure. Any home remedies you know of would be great because now I'm typing with only one finger and that creates a lot of fatigue...

[Delphinus]

I don't know what to suggest other than the usual care of cuts and stuff. Iodine, polysporin, bandaids, and grumbling for a couple of days.

I gave myself conjuctivitis (sp?) on the weekend. Working in the tank grabbing rocks and stuff to send to Winnipeg, at one point I felt like I had some dust or something in my eye, I went to wipe it out, and apparently a person should wash their hands prior to doing something like this. My eye was so badly infected Saturday night I was watching Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets with one eye open, and another eye covered in napkin because otherwise it was tearing up and it looked like I was just so moved by the movie that I was bawling all the way through. Ok, I admit it, I am a fan of Harry Potter, but maybe not that big of fan! Sunday was a two hour visit to the walkin clinic to get ... gamarasolasole (I can never remember these dang medication names), that I now have to put in there 3x a day for the next week. What a fun weekend it has been. And I am still frightening people here at work with my eyes. Do you remember that South Park episode with the zombies? "Hey Bill you look awful, what's wrong" "UUURRRRRGGGG PINK EYE ..... UUURRRRRGGGG NEED ... BRAINS..... URRRG"

Um .... I forget if I had anything useful to reply with. I regret that all I have to offer are fellow stories from the trench..

[Delphinus]

Oh! Conchs! Um .... I don't know how they'd fare in a predator tank. Someone with experience with both might offer some advice. Fighting conchs are basically the flavour of the month right now. As soon as Shimek says something like "< insert name here > is good for cleaning sand" then suddenly that thing becomes all the rage. Before it was nassarius snails.

Basically, they are these little-ish conch snails that bury themselves in the sand bed and eat diatoms so they keep the sand beds clean. Just another useful sand-stirrer basically...

[Canadian Man]

I cant offer you any advice on the conch as this is my first one but I did cut 75%through my right ring finger tendon this summer. Yes it was from my tank
Stupid Sump!
Anyway had to wear a cast for a month and no playing with the tank :x

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

Salt is actually a good disinfectant. However, there have been cases where people are allergic or sensitive to saltwater mixes. So, as long as you don't feel sick or look sick, then you should be okay.

As for the snails in a predators tank, I am not too sure. Personally, I would just run UV in such a tank. We tend not to run UV in our regular reef tanks since we want to keep all those macro and micro organisms that are suspended in water. They are there to feed our special fish and corals. In a predators tank...we don't have to keep those organisms and it makes things much easier. It will also help control your algae problem.

- Victor.

[TANGOMAN]

Hey Tony, I love stories from the trench. That's why I come here. Sometimes for help but I'm usually beyond that ! Besides, I can run into the other room and say, "Hon, I'm not the only jackass. Listen to what so-and-so did..." Conjuvictivus ? Sounds bad, or a good excuse just to cry during a Harry Potter movie
Jonny, no details on the sump vs. finger ? I'll bet the tank wasn't the only thing you couldn't play with for a couple of weeks... , not that I would know about that. Or want to...
Victor, I've considered transfering my unused UV to the 90g to combat the algae but I'm still hoping this tank will "settle in" and different bulbs next month will help...? I shouldn't mention this but I will, I'd like to try some corals in with the Lionfish as the tank has superior lighting compared to my 60g. I'd like to overcome my current problem before I create the next one. I was going to ask opinions on that in the future...but now will do.

[Canadian Man]

Jonny, no details on the sump vs. finger ? I'll bet the tank wasn't the only thing you couldn't play with for a couple of weeks... , not that I would know about that. Or want to...

You sly guy!

Well It was about 10:00 in the morning and my wife was home that day, Luckily!
I was trying to jam some pieces of acrylic in the sump to eliminate bubbles and such.
In the midst of jamming a piece in place it slipped and I felt my hand rub against a piece of glass with a sharp corner that is siliconed in the tank.
I didnt think much of it untill I noticed the sump filling with blood. :shock:

I pulled my hand out and wrapped the fish towel around it and walked upstairs and said to my wife " I cut my self,,,,,,I think I cut myself pretty bad." I took off the towel and took the first look and You could see the bone,tendon and extras.
It was quite neet. So off to the hospital we went and of course I had to wait! Well they put a few stiches in the tendon, a few in my skin, then got a cast put on and off to work I went.

Then I was bored for the next month and had to rely on my wife to do things for me 8)

[EmilyB]

IMO, you would be better to attack the source of the algae problem, rather than "bandaid" it with a "conch snail"

RO/DI water and frequent water changes, coupled with high quality skimming is something that works very well for tanks without cleanup crews.

[TANGOMAN]

I agree 100 % on treating the cause, not the problem, but the damndest thing is my 60g is in great shape. Same water source, maintenance etc. Different lighting and bio-load. You must have been readin' my mind on the skimmer though. I want to upgrade but yikes :shock: they cost more than most vehicles I've owned. The bio-load though has been reduced dramatically as there are only two fish in there now and the algae war started just after I replaced the bulbs(10,000K PC's) a year and a half ago.

Thanks for sharing that experience with me Jon ! The "operative" word there was "JAM". What's that saying ? "Chicks dig scars..." If that's true we're NOT fish geeks, we're cool...

[reefburnaby]

Tango,

How often do you feed your lionfish ? Since these are predators, they do tend to eat more than a large clown and they will produce more wastes that a normal large fish. So, your tank may have more algae problems due to the excess wastes.

Lionfish are treated as reef safe and it should be okay. I would try to put some calerpa or macroalgae in the tank and see how that works out. Some feather or halimeda algae might make the tank rather interesting looking and help control the nutrient levels. I am sure local reefers around your area will have some of these algae strains. You can add some some mangroves too

Conches are only really good for diatoms and cyano. They don't touch the green hairy stuff.

- Victor.