Strawberry Conch MIA

[Ziggy17]

So I have a Conch which has been living his best life for awhile. I decided to increase the sand bed to 2.5” to accommodate a Melanarus wrasse. In doing so, I must have buried the Conch with some sand and now it’s MIA. I’ve tried to find it in the sand bed but can’t seem to locate it, which is odd, as it’s a couple inches in length. Anyhow, I’m hoping this is normal behaviour in general as my guy typically surfaces every night to forage. Whose long can it live without surfacing to eat and this this common?

Thanks all.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

How long has it been MIA? They definitely will hide in the sand, and it can be for extended periods of time.

 

[Ziggy17]

How long has it been MIA? They definitely will hide in the sand, and it can be for extended periods of time.

almost a week.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

almost a week.

Allright, that's pretty long. Does it have enough to eat? Also, they are decent escape artists. Have you check the outdid of the tank, or have yoy noticed any unpleasant smell? You should also check the overflow/sump area if you have one, but pretty unlikely it would end up there.

 

[Ziggy17]

I think he’s had enough to eat. But none of the usual suspects that go along with an invert death.
No bumble bee snails all in the same area eating a corpse
No phosphate spikes
Nothing foul smelling

Hoping it reappears, it was a cool little invert.

 

[EricR]

I highly doubt the conch would be affected by being buried in deeper sand.
My tiger sand conch has disappeared several times for 2-3 weeks and has always reappeared.
I've had mine for about 3 years (across 2 tanks) and think mine just gets full and takes a rest for a while every so often.
*if it happens to burry itself in front, you can likely find an eyeball popping up but if it's in the back of the tank, no chance

 

[Ziggy17]

Haha, so after 3 weeks of hiatus, last night I saw a track across the sand that was surely the conch’s. And this morning I saw his all watching eye popped out of the sand. I guess everyone and everything needs a vacation.

 

[Joseph_Joe]

Haha, so after 3 weeks of hiatus, last night I saw a track across the sand that was surely the conch’s. And this morning I saw his all watching eye popped out of the sand. I guess everyone and everything needs a vacation.

I confirm that they will do it often. I have 2 conches that I didn't see for a whole month. As I am New reefer and having a newly cycled tank, I thought they died and bought a 3rd one. Then all of the sudden the 2 resurfaced out if nowhere. I read that they have low metabolism, they Can last long without eating and they have a strong single leg that allow them to break most Sand aggregates, so that 2.5" Sand is a piece of cake for him.

 

[GARRIGA]

Buried alive not like an issue for conchs or snails for that matter. Most fish would also find themselves out. Assuming we are talking sand to gravel such as Florida crush coral.