Normal conch behavior???

[BuddyBonButt]

I purchased 2 strawberry conch. For a week after purchase they were SUPER active and exploratory.

One still is 2 weeks later but for the last 3 days the other one hasn't moved. Is it stuck? When you see the picture you'll understand why I'm concerned about it being stuck.

 

[Jeffcb]

I purchased 2 strawberry conch. For a week after purchase they were SUPER active and exploratory.

One still is 2 weeks later but for the last 3 days the other one hasn't moved. Is it stuck? When you see the picture you'll understand why I'm concerned about it being stuck.

May un stick it.

 

[BuddyBonButt]

May un stick it.

Dang you think it's stuck? The tank is really tall and very hard to reach that spot. It'll be really tricky to get it out

 

[ilikefish69]

I have two conchs and I have rarely seen them idle for more than 12 hours. Always out sticking their little tongues out. You may have figured it out, try and move it and see if that helps.

 

[ilikefish69]

Try taping a few plastic coat hangers together, I have done that and left the hook on the end to stir up the sand bed without getting my hands in the water

 

[BuddyBonButt]

I have two conchs and I have rarely seen them idle for more than 12 hours. Always out sticking their little tongues out. You may have figured it out, try and move it and see if that helps.

Ok, I gotta rig up like a metal hanger, maybe use some hot glue to soften the end, to hook it out. How do I prevent this?

 

[BuddyBonButt]

Try taping a few plastic coat hangers together, I have done that and left the hook on the end to stir up the sand bed without getting my hands in the water

It's under an arch, I need a bendable object to get in there.

 

[sp1187]

mine go idle for days.
burrow under.
i figure they are deep cleaning.

 

[ilikefish69]

Ok, I gotta rig up like a metal hanger, maybe use some hot glue to soften the end, to hook it out. How do I prevent this?

If it continues to happen you might just have to let natural selection and Darwinism take control and prevent that conch's genepool to continue. LOL j/k but I have no idea other than moving your rocks so there aren't any conch-sized gaps

 

[BuddyBonButt]

If it continues to happen you might just have to let natural selection and Darwinism take control and prevent that conch's genepool to continue. LOL j/k but I have no idea other than moving your rocks so there aren't any conch-sized gaps

Rocks are all balanced on each other. Moving isn't an option. I didn't originally plan to have a conch so I didn't try to make it conch friendly

 

[ilikefish69]

If that perspective is from the front of the tank, just drop something in J- shaped and push it from the narrow end . Maybe put a little ball of filter floss or a cotton ball on the end so it doesn't hurt the conch by pushing on it.

The other option is to just wait it out. I know mine have made it to some miraculous places that I couldn't explain, being able to move forward and backwards while doing it

 

[sp1187]

don't do anything.
it's doing what it's supposed to.
vacuum cleaning the substrate.

 

[ilikefish69]

don't do anything.
it's doing what it's supposed to.
vacuum cleaning the substrate.

This advice is definitely better

 

[BuddyBonButt]

If that perspective is from the front of the tank, just drop something in J- shaped and push it from the narrow end . Maybe put a little ball of filter floss or a cotton ball on the end so it doesn't hurt the conch by pushing on it.

The other option is to just wait it out. I know mine have made it to some miraculous places that I couldn't explain, being able to move forward and backwards while doing it

Got it our. 100% stuck. As I was wiggling it out I could see its arm didn't have room to push it. I had to completely lower the sand in there and use a hanger to wiggle it out. It's back to roaming. So glad I noticed it

 

[BuddyBonButt]

don't do anything.
it's doing what it's supposed to.
vacuum cleaning the substrate.

Sorry, I couldn't help it. I don't like the idea of possibly letting it die. I looked under the tank and saw that to top of the shell was touching the rocks and its inner flesh was touching the bottom, leaving no room to wiggle. 3 days of not moving just really worried me.

If it goes back, next time I won't help it and let nature take its course. But still it'll be hard to let that happen.

But I will probably try to modify the rocks the best I can to accommodate the shells size.

 

[Karen00]

Got it our. 100% stuck. As I was wiggling it out I could see its arm didn't have room to push it. I had to completely lower the sand in there and use a hanger to wiggle it out. It's back to roaming. So glad I noticed it

I'm glad you were able to get it unstuck! I was also going to say it looked stuck. I'm sure it happens in the wild but hopefully we can rescue them in our tanks. The poor little guy was probably like "Dangit this isn't good. I hope my human rescues me." ;-)

 

[BuddyBonButt]

I'm glad you were able to get it unstuck! I was also going to say it looked stuck. I'm sure it happens in the wild but hopefully we can rescue them in our tanks. The poor little guy was probably like "Dangit this isn't good. I hope my human rescues me." ;-)

Yeah I saw the shell touching the rocks up top and the flesh on the bottom glass. So couldn't go lower. No room to wiggle. I don't want to let it die. So I'm probably gonna buy broken liverock to fill that gap on both ends or just move my rocks. But it's all balanced together so I don't think moving is an option unfortunately.

Until I freed it, I was putting algae wafers in front of it so I knew it had eaten. Where it was stuck was spotless from it being there

 

[Karen00]

Yeah I saw the shell touching the rocks up top and the flesh on the bottom glass. So couldn't go lower. No room to wiggle. I don't want to let it die. So I'm probably gonna buy broken liverock to fill that gap on both ends or just move my rocks. But it's all balanced together so I don't think moving is an option unfortunately.

Until I freed it, I was putting algae wafers in front of it so I knew it had eaten. Where it was stuck was spotless from it being there

At least he was doing his job while he was stuck there! After reading a few posts where people had to rip apart their rocks for various reasons (like a situation such as yours or removing a pest) I am so happy I just plopped in two rocks so if I need to remove them it's easy enough to do. It's only a 5g but had I done an intricate rockscape I could be in the same some day. I'm glad your conch is doing well and I'm glad he was eating for you while he was stuck.

 

[BuddyBonButt]

At least he was doing his job while he was stuck there! After reading a few posts where people had to rip apart their rocks for various reasons (like a situation such as yours or removing a pest) I am so happy I just plopped in two rocks so if I need to remove them it's easy enough to do. It's only a 5g but had I done an intricate rockscape I could be in the same some day. I'm glad your conch is doing well and I'm glad he was eating for you while he was stuck.

Hah, I got 90 gallons of hassle. I hate I have so much rock but corals will look AMAZING! I don't have any yet. Here's what I got. (Ignore the cloudy water, I sturred a lot up trying to remove it.

I used a powerhead to blow the sand away, hook to wiggle it out, and pincher to pick up and move it over.

 

[ilikefish69]

Sorry, I couldn't help it. I don't like the idea of possibly letting it die. I looked under the tank and saw that to top of the shell was touching the rocks and its inner flesh was touching the bottom, leaving no room to wiggle. 3 days of not moving just really worried me.

If it goes back, next time I won't help it and let nature take its course. But still it'll be hard to let that happen.

But I will probably try to modify the rocks the best I can to accommodate the shells size.

I am very glad you got him unstuck. I was 100% being tongue-in-cheek about the nature taking it's course LOL. I have 2 conchs and they are so fun and gross to watch