The conch lives.

[N1Husker]

So, I bought this fighting conch about two months ago from Barrier Reef and put him in my tank to keep the sand stirred up. I had to arrange my rock and corals to give him room to move. After fiddling around with my rocks and getting them where I wanted them I noticed that several days afterwards I couldn't find the conch. So I moved a couple of rocks to see if he was there to no avail. Several days ago, one of my purple mushroom fell down into the rocks. Well I didn't want to lose it so I started moving away rocks away and viola, there is my conch, one month later, I gave him up for dead and I thought he was, being trapped for a hare over a month. I his shell on the sand and started arranging the rocks after finding the mushroom. All of a sudden the shell moved and off he went, and started cruising the tank again. I was so excited I just wanted to tell you guys, it made my day.

 

[poulsbomsc.org]

i had a fish that went missing for 2 years once. a little goby. i found him alive and well when i upgraded from a 120g to a 180g. then, it was over a year before i saw him again. once again an upgrade. i gave him to a friend when i broke the tank down. he has never been seen again. we are pretty sure he is still alive and well. who knows. my buddy has no plans to upgrade, so it could be a very long while before he is seen again.
jon

 

[N1Husker]

Somebody needs to sit down with these animals an explain the relationship between them and their owners. I tried to do this with my animals but they don't seem to listen nor care. LOL

 

[eartaker]

I also bought a conch from BR. I see him about once every 3 weeks.... he will be out eating for awhile and then go hide in the sand. Might be normal for them?

 

[N1Husker]

He wasn't lost, he was definitely trapped. When I lifted the rock he was under he was between a bottom rock and a top rock. It was right at 5 weeks I hadn't seen him, when I recovered that mushroom he was definitely trapped. I have sinced blocked off the hole he was crawling into where he was getting himself in trouble. Dragging that big shell around has to be a big detriment.

 

[Chichas01]

Must be what they do. Mine goes MIA every once in a while and then I have to go looking to find him. When I do, I push him out of the sand to make sure he hasn't croaked on me.

 

[aaron1987]

Similar experience on my end. They bury themselves for an indeterminate amount of time and then suddenly decide to cruise the tank and bulldoze anything on the sand bed...

 

[N1Husker]

He wasn't in the sand, I was rearranging some rock and after that is when he went missing. I thought maybe he was in the back or in the sand in one of the passageways through the rocks and that he would eventually pop out. It was only after I moved some rock to retrieve a mushroom, did I find him on top of a rock, trapped under another rock. Now he is bulldozing through the substrate and burying himself on ce again.