Cowries in Reef Tanks? Are They Safe?

[Tosh_Auer]

I have a person willing to give me a huge cowrie(im not sure on spelling) but want to make sure its safe to have in a reef tank before i take it?

Anyone?

Tosh

 

[Tosh_Auer]

Bump!! ANyone ????????? This thing is in my tank and i need to now weither or not to take it out before i go to bed and it eats all my coral!! Even thought tthere aint much coral i still love them.

TOsh

 

[cheeks69]

I don't know what type of cowrie you have but some will eat some anemones, sponges, and soft corals so I would try to find out more about the one you have.HTH

 

[Tosh_Auer]

yeah i think its a tiger because of its size and there difference in appearence in different places in the world. So im getting rid of it tomroow

Thanks anyway. I jsut got a link from sarah that told me taht.

Tosh

 

[wooddood]

say adios to it tosh, not good to have.




dave.

 

[Montanareefer]

Yup I had a tiger cowrie eat my beautiful blue sponge so that was not a good thing.

 

[dianezoo]

Ive had one and it didnt bother any corals. I dont keep any sponges though. It did eat hair algea, but one bad thing is it toppled the rock work. They knock stuff over!
Regards
Dianezoo

 

[reefjitsu]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-07/rs/index.htm

 

[Brucey]

You could keep it in the sump ???
Brucey

 

[Tosh_Auer]

Yeah well i felt kinda sorry for him so its still in my tank. I know it shouldn't be but it hasn't moved from the spot i put him in. its has its "mantle' thingy fully over and seems to be just sifting through thte sand? hasn't touched a peice of rock yet?

Tosh

 

[Brucey]

Hey Tosh . . . . . tie him down with a bit of rope so he can't get into any trouble
Brucey

 

[nigle]

Oi!

It depends on how big is 'big', how 'big' is it? In general if it is bigger than 2 or 3 inches then it is getting to the size where it should be taken out of the reef, smaller that that they seem to be 'realitively' harmless, but once the get as big as to cover your palm, they seem to be more aggressive.

Cheers!
nigle
!~!

 

[Melev]

I love the Tiger Cowrie, and kept buying them about 5 years ago. I found that they'll eat an entire piece of Romaine Lettuce in a few hours.

However, back then I always had high nitrates and they would die within 1 to 2 weeks. They are fascinating creatures, and I bet if they were fed well, they'd do well in a refugium that had traveling space.

Heck, I might get one if I see one in the LFS again. It's been years since I've seen one. I don't think they do well in a reef tank because they are like little bulldozers and would topple corals as they travel.

I need to read that rko article linked above to see if I'm pointing you the wrong way.

 

[Melev]

Looks like it is okay to have, but something to watch.

 

[Tosh_Auer]

Ok well ive been feeding him lettuce and hes still hasn't moved at all? during the day and some of the night he has his lil thing covering his body but then retracts it when he "sleeps" im just going to see how it goes. i can put it in my sump at any stage i guess.

Tosh