Should I clean my Conch??

[Krzydmnd]

No, that isn't code for anything. My fighting Conch is covered in algae and a spot or two of coralline. Occasionally one of the turban Snails will give him a partial cleaning which he hates. It's fun to watch him try to flick it off with his foot lol.

Question is should I clean or scrape him off occasionally? Is it hurting his shell growth to be covered? I'd probably have to scrape him with a blade, just wiping him off doesn't work.

Thoughts? He certainly seems happy enough as-is.

 

[Claus84]

No, that isn't code for anything. My fighting Conch is covered in algae and a spot or two of coralline. Occasionally one of the turban Snails will give him a partial cleaning which he hates. It's fun to watch him try to flick it off with his foot lol.

Question is should I clean or scrape him off occasionally? Is it hurting his shell growth to be covered? I'd probably have to scrape him with a blade, just wiping him off doesn't work.

Thoughts? He certainly seems happy enough as-is.

Haha I did wonder!

I doubt its impeding its growth so I wouldn't worry about cleaning. I was thinking about using a razor blade on one of mine as it has a colony of hydroids growing off the back of its shell, I don't think some gentle scraping whilst leaving it submerged would do any harm but haven't tried it yet.

My tuxedo urchins occasionally give the conch an aggressive clean so I'm hoping they will deal with the hydroids too at some point!

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

I don't think it's hurting him, while a cleaner shell would look better, in the wild I find big ones that look like moving balls of turf algae (mostly because Florida can't get it's act together with the agricultural runoff control :mad:) but I also find clean ones and they both act healthy.