[ CONCH ]

ORA™ is the only aquaculture hatchery exclusively serving the aquarium industry that grows mollusks in the family Strombidae. Scientists at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution developed the technique of culturing these valuable mollusks.

Building on the work done for food culture, ORA™ has introduced conch to the marine aquarium hobby, where they fill a critical niche as algae controlling snails.

CONCH SPECIES AVAILABLE FORM ORA™

Florida Fighting Conch - Strombus alatus

The Florida Fighting Conch (pronounced "konk") is one of the most significant new items to be cultured for marine aquariums in years. This is due to the nature of this mollusk. It lives in the coral sand beds and eats algae such as diatoms. This makes the Fighting Conch the best live sand bed stirrer and cleaner on the market today. Fighting Conch are bred exclusively at ORA™ and their culture techniques were developed here.

Fighting Conch do not fight with anything in the aquarium, so it's a bit of a misleading name. The name derives from the fact that they partake in a ritualistic mating fight between males to determine sexual dominance. They do not disturb any reef tank inhabitants such as corals, clams, or other invertebrates. S. alatus only grow to about 3 inch size, so they will not "out-grow" the tank. ORA™ sells Fighting Conch at 1-1 1/2 inches. At this size they are "hermit crab proof", so small hermits cannot eat them and steal their shells.

Fighting Conch are known as herbivorous detritivores because they will eat both live and decaying vegetable matter. They will eat all algae growing on the surface of the live sand bed, and other detritus on the bottom. They prefer to stay in the sand and will slightly burrow, although not deep enough to disturb anaerobic areas deep in the sand.

Fighting Conch are more active at night, so they are less visible during the daytime. They can be additionally fed any algae derived food such as algae tabs, Tang diet and even sinking Koi sticks. If they are observed climbing up the glass of aquariums, this usually means they are hungry and should be fed.

ORA™ recommends that Fighting Conch be kept at a density of no more than 1 or 2 animals per square foot of sand bed. Higher densities may result in the conch out-competing each other for available food and some may starve.

Queen Conch - Strombus gigas

Queen Conch are the commonly associated with Florida and the Caribbean. These animals have a pink color inside the large flared shell lip in adults. They are found in shallow water grass flats and are herbivorous. They are protected in the State of Florida and are listed as Appendix II protected species in the CITES treaty.

The scientists at Harbor Branch were the first to develop the means of culturing this conch. They became endangered through over-collecting for food and the efforts of aquaculture are helping to preserve this species.

In aquariums they are good algae grazers that will climb up onto the rock and glass to find algae to eat. They will help control macroalgae growth that can be problematic in well lit reef tanks. The growth rate is relatively slow, however Queen Conch do reach a size of about 12 inches and can out-grow an aquarium.

Queen Conch have been found to be very helpful in controlling algaes such as cyanobacteria (Blue-green algae). They can help fill an aquarium niche that very few other herbivorous mollusks will. ORA™ markets the Queen Conch at about 1 inch size, so they are perfectly suited to aquarium life.