fighting conch disappeared and other stupid questions

Janh · 07/21/2011, 09:52 PM

Water parameters:
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0
salinity: 1.025
temp: 79
alk:8.72
calcium: 400

my fighting conch disappeared two or three days ago. Normally, even when he goes underground I can still see the hump under the sand. I have looked everywhere I can see, should I be concerned or do they normally disappear for a few days? I would sure hate to have to tear apart the tank to find this thing.

I cannot get my fish to eat anything other than brine shrimp. I was told by the lfs that brine shrimp has no nutritional value and I should feed mysis. I can get the fish to eat one or two pieces of mysis if I soak it in garlic, but as soon as I stop soaking it they stop eating it They will not eat pellets either. I have a high fin cardinal and a royal gramma. Are brine shrimp really that bad for them to eat, is there anything else I can try to feed them that does have nutritional value?

There is a clicking noise in the tank at night that seems to be getting more frequent. I used to hear it once in a while, now it is almost every night when the lights go out. I have not seen anything in there yet, and except for the conch, have not lost anything. Aside from seeing what it is, is there any way to tell if it is a mantis or pistol shrimp? I did see a molting from a small shrimp some time ago, and I did not add any small shrimp so it must have been in the rock. The molt was very small about 6 weeks ago, how fast do these things grow and how soon would it become a problem if it was a mantis shrimp? How do I catch it?

Brwestern · 07/21/2011, 09:58 PM

The conch is just burrowed deep...he'll turn up in a few days.
As far as feeding, don't feed a day or 2, then feed mysis or other...they'll set it if there is nothing else for them to eat.

No real way to tell difference between mantis and pistol when they are small. Chances are it's a pistol, and it'll be a pain to catch. Sorry, no suggestions.

C0rp · 07/21/2011, 10:19 PM

My fighting conch will vanish for WEEKS and then surface again. I have a DSB and I suppose he likes to be down there. He's gone missing for 6-8 weeks and always comes back.

lagatbezan · 07/21/2011, 11:04 PM

Do a search here, there are a lot of good threads on how to set up a trap and catch a mantis or shrimp.

Janh · 07/21/2011, 11:06 PM

Ok so I won't worry about the fighting conch he has never disappeared before but sounds like it is a natural thing for them to do.

As for the feeding, the fish went 4 days without eating, the only way I got them to eat anything was by soaking it in garlic otherwise they were on a hunger strike. It is a bit of a pain to soak their food in garlic everyday, must be an easier way to get them to eat. Waiting them out does not seem to be working.

RiffRaff · 07/22/2011, 12:08 AM

Have you tried Rod's food? Theres a little bit of everything in there

C0rp · 07/22/2011, 05:48 AM

How old are these fish? What are they? Were they quarantined? More info

Janh · 07/22/2011, 08:48 AM

I have no idea how old the fish are, they are not babies if that is what you mean. They were quarantined, the eat fine as long as I feed brine shrimp. They seem very healthy with no apparent issues other than not wanting to eat other foods.

Chris27 · 07/22/2011, 09:52 AM

If they are eating with the garlic soak, then keep it up. It's ok to defrost enough food to last you a few days, that way you don't have to worry about the garlic soak every day...just once at the beginning. Store it in the fridge in a small Tupperware, and feed with a pair of tongs...they'll come around.

reefcleaners · 07/22/2011, 05:34 PM

If you cant get them to eat anything else than brine, (what fish are you feeding? you can try chopped scallops or shrimp from the supermarket), you may want to try gut loading the brine. Gut loading refers to feeding adult brine shrimp protein rich (selco enriched usually) diets. Feeding your fish newly hatched brine shrimp will give them additional nutrition too. Adult brine do tend to have lower nutrition value, but you can usually find enriched options. (You can also soak brine in Selco to enrich it.)

Angel*Fish · 07/22/2011, 08:09 PM

Just keep trying. Maybe they don't like the brand of mysis you have.

Visually a mantis is easily distinguished from other crustaceans. The usually way to find what it is is to hunt at night with a flashlight. A red light will help keep the animals from running from the light. A mantis will be fast and lithe/agile, they can swim some and they are aware of you. They move around the tank, but have a burrow in the rock that they close up with a piece of sand or rubble. Google for pics. The little greenish ones are common on Florida rock.

DonRW2007 · 09/18/2011, 03:24 PM

The tapping may be your conch hitting the glass. I have a hawk wing conch (about 2 inches long) and he can make quite a racket bumping against the glass.

Sk8r · 09/18/2011, 04:07 PM

Never take a tank apart to look for any snail. The tank can handle it. OTOH, they may disappear for a month on end and not surface during the 10 minutes you are looking.

SushiGirl · 09/18/2011, 06:12 PM

Try a mix of brine and mysis, that's what I had to do.

07/21/2011, 09:52 PM	#1
Janh Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: BC Posts: 109	fighting conch disappeared and other stupid questions Water parameters: ammonia: 0 nitrite: 0 nitrate: 0 salinity: 1.025 temp: 79 alk:8.72 calcium: 400 my fighting conch disappeared two or three days ago. Normally, even when he goes underground I can still see the hump under the sand. I have looked everywhere I can see, should I be concerned or do they normally disappear for a few days? I would sure hate to have to tear apart the tank to find this thing. I cannot get my fish to eat anything other than brine shrimp. I was told by the lfs that brine shrimp has no nutritional value and I should feed mysis. I can get the fish to eat one or two pieces of mysis if I soak it in garlic, but as soon as I stop soaking it they stop eating it They will not eat pellets either. I have a high fin cardinal and a royal gramma. Are brine shrimp really that bad for them to eat, is there anything else I can try to feed them that does have nutritional value? There is a clicking noise in the tank at night that seems to be getting more frequent. I used to hear it once in a while, now it is almost every night when the lights go out. I have not seen anything in there yet, and except for the conch, have not lost anything. Aside from seeing what it is, is there any way to tell if it is a mantis or pistol shrimp? I did see a molting from a small shrimp some time ago, and I did not add any small shrimp so it must have been in the rock. The molt was very small about 6 weeks ago, how fast do these things grow and how soon would it become a problem if it was a mantis shrimp? How do I catch it?

07/21/2011, 09:58 PM	#2
Brwestern Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Celebration, Fl Posts: 600	The conch is just burrowed deep...he'll turn up in a few days. As far as feeding, don't feed a day or 2, then feed mysis or other...they'll set it if there is nothing else for them to eat. No real way to tell difference between mantis and pistol when they are small. Chances are it's a pistol, and it'll be a pain to catch. Sorry, no suggestions. __________________ 112g rimless 45x24\| pacific sun metis led \| SRO 2000int skimmer \| 2x mp40 \| 2 brs media reactors, gfo + carbon \| eheim 1262 \| Reef Keeper lite w/ NET

07/21/2011, 10:19 PM	#3
C0rp Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: West Lafayette, IN Posts: 431	My fighting conch will vanish for WEEKS and then surface again. I have a DSB and I suppose he likes to be down there. He's gone missing for 6-8 weeks and always comes back. __________________ 75RR, 4" DSB, 29G AE Tech Sump/fuge/ETSS skimmer w Mag9.5, Mag5 Return, RKE w Net, Tunze Osmolator, Tradewind 1/5HP Chiller, 6x54 ATI T5HO, Vortech MP40WES/MP10WES w/Battery Backup, Sarcophyton, Clavularia, Capnella, Briareum, Lobophytum, Nepthea, Sinularia Flexibilis, Ricordia, Discosoma, Rhodactis, Zoanthus, Caulastrea, Blastomussa Wellsi, Isaurus Tuberculatus, Seriatopora Hystrix, Plerogyra Sinuosa, Euphyllia Paradivisia, Tubipora Musica, Ecsenius Midas, Paracheilinus Carpenteri Current Tank Info: pH 8.0-8.2, Temp 78-80, Salinity 1.026, Alk 9dKH, Ca 400, Red Sea Coral Pro Salt

07/22/2011, 12:08 AM	#6
RiffRaff Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: St. Louis Posts: 1,120	Have you tried Rod's food? Theres a little bit of everything in there __________________ reefin ain't cheatin Current Tank Info: 72 gal bowfront

07/22/2011, 05:48 AM	#7
C0rp Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: West Lafayette, IN Posts: 431	How old are these fish? What are they? Were they quarantined? More info __________________ 75RR, 4" DSB, 29G AE Tech Sump/fuge/ETSS skimmer w Mag9.5, Mag5 Return, RKE w Net, Tunze Osmolator, Tradewind 1/5HP Chiller, 6x54 ATI T5HO, Vortech MP40WES/MP10WES w/Battery Backup, Sarcophyton, Clavularia, Capnella, Briareum, Lobophytum, Nepthea, Sinularia Flexibilis, Ricordia, Discosoma, Rhodactis, Zoanthus, Caulastrea, Blastomussa Wellsi, Isaurus Tuberculatus, Seriatopora Hystrix, Plerogyra Sinuosa, Euphyllia Paradivisia, Tubipora Musica, Ecsenius Midas, Paracheilinus Carpenteri Current Tank Info: pH 8.0-8.2, Temp 78-80, Salinity 1.026, Alk 9dKH, Ca 400, Red Sea Coral Pro Salt

07/21/2011, 11:04 PM	#4
lagatbezan Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 1,109	Do a search here, there are a lot of good threads on how to set up a trap and catch a mantis or shrimp.

07/21/2011, 11:06 PM	#5
Janh Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: BC Posts: 109	Ok so I won't worry about the fighting conch he has never disappeared before but sounds like it is a natural thing for them to do. As for the feeding, the fish went 4 days without eating, the only way I got them to eat anything was by soaking it in garlic otherwise they were on a hunger strike. It is a bit of a pain to soak their food in garlic everyday, must be an easier way to get them to eat. Waiting them out does not seem to be working.

07/22/2011, 08:48 AM	#8
Janh Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: BC Posts: 109	I have no idea how old the fish are, they are not babies if that is what you mean. They were quarantined, the eat fine as long as I feed brine shrimp. They seem very healthy with no apparent issues other than not wanting to eat other foods.

07/22/2011, 09:52 AM	#9
Chris27 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 4,452	If they are eating with the garlic soak, then keep it up. It's ok to defrost enough food to last you a few days, that way you don't have to worry about the garlic soak every day...just once at the beginning. Store it in the fridge in a small Tupperware, and feed with a pair of tongs...they'll come around. __________________ Fill your tank with $5 bills, add gasoline and light it on fire.....only then will you know the real cost of reefing. Current Tank Info: 180 Mixed Reef

07/22/2011, 05:34 PM	#10
reefcleaners .Registered Member Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 87	If you cant get them to eat anything else than brine, (what fish are you feeding? you can try chopped scallops or shrimp from the supermarket), you may want to try gut loading the brine. Gut loading refers to feeding adult brine shrimp protein rich (selco enriched usually) diets. Feeding your fish newly hatched brine shrimp will give them additional nutrition too. Adult brine do tend to have lower nutrition value, but you can usually find enriched options. (You can also soak brine in Selco to enrich it.)

07/22/2011, 08:09 PM	#11
Angel*Fish cats and large squashes Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Houston Posts: 5,951 Blog Entries: 1	Just keep trying. Maybe they don't like the brand of mysis you have. Visually a mantis is easily distinguished from other crustaceans. The usually way to find what it is is to hunt at night with a flashlight. A red light will help keep the animals from running from the light. A mantis will be fast and lithe/agile, they can swim some and they are aware of you. They move around the tank, but have a burrow in the rock that they close up with a piece of sand or rubble. Google for pics. The little greenish ones are common on Florida rock. __________________ Marie So long, & thanks for all the fish! __________________________ Current Tank Info: Pairs: flame angels, cherub angels, Red Sea mimic blennies, yellow fin fairy wrasses, clowns, mandarins, blackcap basslets, shrimp gobies, damsels, dispar anthias, yellow clown gobies, threadfin cardinals --- Tanks: 100g reef, 2 x 30g refugiums

09/18/2011, 03:24 PM	#12
DonRW2007 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Forest, VA Posts: 21	The tapping may be your conch hitting the glass. I have a hawk wing conch (about 2 inches long) and he can make quite a racket bumping against the glass.

09/18/2011, 04:07 PM	#13
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Never take a tank apart to look for any snail. The tank can handle it. OTOH, they may disappear for a month on end and not surface during the 10 minutes you are looking. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

09/18/2011, 06:12 PM	#14
SushiGirl Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Fort Worth, TX USA Posts: 8,267	Try a mix of brine and mysis, that's what I had to do. __________________ Visit my Homepage or "My Albums" (via Profile) for hitchhiker pics. Current Tank Info: 55g softy/LPS tank & 20L reef tank

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