Found a conch, how do I keep it alive?

[Sandlotje]

I found it in the Gulf of Mexico. Im kind of worried because I'm sure by the time someone replies here it'll be too late. Any suggestions? I have him in warm freshwater because I have no marine aquarium setup. Should I add table salt?? I'm clueless; please help.

[Ninong]

I don't understand what you mean by "found it?" Why wouldn't you leave it alone? As you should know if you live in Florida, it's illegal to collect queen conchs, so if that's what it is, I wouldn't be talking about it if I were you.

[Parrothead]

Ninong,

It probably doesn't matter, if he "found it" in the Gulf, and put it in freshwater, it's dead by now anyway, people need to leave things like this alone

[Sandlotje]

No, I had no clue it was illegal to collect a conch, and no, it is not a queen. I stepped on it (in 3.5 foot deep water) and decided to pick it up with my feet and found that it was more than the empty shells I always find. I live three hours north or where I found it in the middle of the state so conches are not relevant to my area. It is alive, I took it to a local store called "Aquatropics", and I plan on keeping him as my first marine animal. I was just in there last week asking how much it would cost to build a 46 gallon marine aquarium and the equipment needed; so I find it very ironic that this occured. I think it's really cool and I'm sorry if it offends anyone. At least he's alive and roaming around his tank.

Now that I know he's indeed alive I'm going to go get the proper setup to keep him alive and happy. Any suggestions are more than welcome.

[Parrothead]

Take it back over to the Gulf of Mexico and put it back, a 46 gallon is not of the app. size for that conch, sorry. JMHO

[twisted]

i agree. take it back to where it came from. there is no irony in stepping on a conch in the gulf, regardless of what you were thinking about at the time. sorry, thats just a reckless and careless thing to do, taking something you know nothing about from the SALT water and putting it in FRESH...thats just a common sense thing....if you want to set up a salt tank, thats great. welcome to the world of salt water. before you make any purchases, including a tank, do ALOT of research, learn about the things you are interested in and then ask questions about them. take your time and follow the proper procedures and you will be happy with your tank for years to come. if not you will just be another statistic and there are enough of them around

[leebca]

I would suggest you read this linked post so you get the feel for what you'll need to do and how you need to proceed if you still want to start getting into the hobby: Setting Up a FOWLR Aquarium

Good luck!

[Dargol]

That looks more like a whelk than a conch. And conch or whelk, I'm amazed it is moving at all if it is in freshwater! Assuming you have fixed the freshwater issue, it will be dead very shortly regardless for a variety of reasons. For one, you currently have no system to recycle it's waste products. Secondly, even if you did magically get a saltwater tank set up and cycled in a matter of hours (impossible) the thing would probably starve to death in a matter of weeks. Conchs graze algae and detritus, but whelks are specialized carnivores and I doubt you will be feeding it snails and clams or whatever that particular species of whelk eats.

If it is still alive, please take it back to where you found it. Then read, read, and read some more about saltwater tanks and set one up! It's an amazing hobby/addiction, but it requires a sense of responsibility for the animals you keep.

[Parrothead]

Dargol,

Thanks for agreeing with me

And welcome to reeflands, it's always a pleasure to met someone who exercises common sense, I hope you enjoy your stay here