Fighting Conch

[chatyak]

Is a conch snail "safe" to have? Are they poisonous or am I thinking of the cone snail?

Don't want to buy anything that shoots venom;)

[Sugar Magnolia]

Fighting conchs are reef safe. Cone snails are not. Whelks are also not reef safe. Be sure that the conch you are buying is actually a conch. Sometimes the occasional whelk gets tossed in with the conchs and are sold as conch only to be discovered later that they are predatory whelks.

[greenbean36191]

Look at the eyes of the snail you want to buy. If it has an iris and a pupil like a human eye then it's a real conch. If the eyes are just dots then it's not a real conch and may not be reef safe.

Don't go by the name alone though because predatory animals like horse conchs and crown conchs are sometimes sold to unsuspecting hobbyists. Some vendors also don't seem to know how to tell the difference between a true conch and a whelk either, so they mistakenly sell whelks when they think they're selling conchs.