How many fighting conch for 210 6’ tank?

[crazyfishmom]

Hello all,

I have a 210 gallon tank that I am keeping fallow but with tons of coral for 3 months (I had an ich outbreak in my 75 gallon display tank and transferred lots of coral from that tank into this one as well as some rock and I’m trying to be careful and eliminate the possibility of any eggs that may have lingered on the rock or coral from the outbreak). Some hair algae is starting to show up on my sand bed as well as some rock. I have added 3 emerald crabs and have more on the way as well as ~100 astrea snails. I also have 6 more emeralds on the way along with 20 Mexican turbo snails. My question: how many conch should I add for a tank this size? I have approximately 2 inches of live sand (from TBS) that were added at startup and did an amazing job of cycling the tank almost instantly and have allowed for incredible stability early on so I think there’s more than enough food for the critters.

Parameters for those that will ask:

Phosphate: 0.03 (Hannah), Nitrate: 2-6 depending on the day (Hannah) and picture below for remaining parameters.

 

[TX_REEF]

I'd think 3-4 would do the trick, I'd lean towards 3. Nassarius can help with sand bed stirring as well. Take care with the emeralds, I caught mine feasting on a healthy micromussa and had to banish them to the refugium.

 

[zoomonster]

I have roughly the same size tank and the conchs don't "fight". They do however bulldoze anything on the sand bed. I keep 2-3 in my 200 and have 2 in my 32 which has nothing on sand bed. If you want nondestructive sand cleaning action, use the small and larger Nassarius and Marginella.

Unless you have a serious algae problem go lighter on the Mexican Turbos as they can get golf ball size and wreak havoc knocking over everything. Go more for Astrea, Trochus, Nerite or some of the larger Ceriths. Many of these will lay eggs and reproduce. Avoid any of the dwarf snails as they will get into anything and everything and trash pumps.

 

[crazyfishmom]

I'd think 3-4 would do the trick, I'd lean towards 3. Nassarius can help with sand bed stirring as well. Take care with the emeralds, I caught mine feasting on a healthy micromussa and had to banish them to the refugium.

I am watching them like a hawk! These are still little bitty ones very much on purpose. I haven’t had any Nassarius but will look into getting some. The more biodiversity the better! Thank you for the response!

 

[crazyfishmom]

I have roughly the same size tank and the conchs don't "fight". They do however bulldoze anything on the sand bed. I keep 2-3 in my 200 and have 2 in my 32 which has nothing on sand bed. If you want nondestructive sand cleaning action, use the small and larger Nassarius and Marginella.

Thanks for the response! Will look into both Nassarius and Marginella. Would you be concerned with them flipping over Acans and cynarina etc? I don’t have a ton of animals on the sand bed but I do have some. Great to hear from first hand experience!

 

[Dbichler]

I have 3 in my 210

 

[jhadaway]

Hello all,

I have a 210 gallon tank that I am keeping fallow but with tons of coral for 3 months (I had an ich outbreak in my 75 gallon display tank and transferred lots of coral from that tank into this one as well as some rock and I’m trying to be careful and eliminate the possibility of any eggs that may have lingered on the rock or coral from the outbreak). Some hair algae is starting to show up on my sand bed as well as some rock. I have added 3 emerald crabs and have more on the way as well as ~100 astrea snails. I also have 6 more emeralds on the way along with 20 Mexican turbo snails. My question: how many conch should I add for a tank this size? I have approximately 2 inches of live sand (from TBS) that were added at startup and did an amazing job of cycling the tank almost instantly and have allowed for incredible stability early on so I think there’s more than enough food for the critters.

Parameters for those that will ask:

Phosphate: 0.03 (Hannah), Nitrate: 2-6 depending on the day (Hannah) and picture below for remaining parameters.

They snails you have aren't the submarines you need. They will take care of your glass and rockwork. Nassarius are the way to go. They constantly stir the sand bed and come up when you feed the fish, They are number 1 in my tank for the substrate. The emeralds are good for bubble algae and detritus and they can get very aggressive, especially the males. I have 2 conch in my 100.3 so I would say 4. They take care of the top of the sand bed but don't burrow much. Blue legged hermits will also pick up uneaten food and detritus from everywhere. They can get in the nooks and crannies. I would think you need 25-30 Nassarius.