# Nerite snails. What's the secret?



## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

Buying them from reputable suppliers.


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## kcrossley (Feb 22, 2010)

But how do you know which suppliers are reputable? I purchased mine from aquabid and the seller had a great rating.


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## Eden Marel (Jan 28, 2010)

Well, I buy mine from LFS and never had a problem. I just buy them for $3-4 and take them home and plop them into my tank and have them clean up my algae problem. I never acclimate mine, cuz I never do that with snails. I used to have three, now I'm down to one.

But I had two die after several months, I think from the lack of Algae, cuz they are so good at eating it. I have one left, its shell is deteriorating and I'm not sure what it is eating for the past few months because my tank is 99% algae free, sight wise. I stick some algae pellets in there but I never see them eat it or gather near the food like the infamous pest snails do. So I occasionally take it out of my softwater 10g and stick it in my 5.5g hardwater tank from month to month so they can search for algae in the different tanks.


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## kcrossley (Feb 22, 2010)

Unfortunately, all my LFS has are mystery snails.


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## kevmo911 (Sep 24, 2010)

I purchased 10 from zid zulander here on the forum. Of 10, 9 made the trip allright, and all 9 are still kicking in 2 tanks with different lighting and plant density. Assorted bunch, all nerites.

*edit* about a month ago


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## tuffgong (Apr 13, 2010)

Buy from Zid Zoolander or mgamer3000 in the swap n shop. both have nerites for sale.


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## boringname (Nov 11, 2010)

I've never owned an olive nerite but my guess is they are the hardiest just because their the ugliest and thats how life usually works. Anyone here keep those ugly guys?


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## Eden Marel (Jan 28, 2010)

boringname said:


> I've never owned an olive nerite but my guess is they are the hardiest just because their the ugliest and thats how life usually works. Anyone here keep those ugly guys?


Nope don't have them, but I saw them for sale at a LFS.


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## boringname (Nov 11, 2010)

Eden Marel said:


> Nope don't have them, but I saw them for sale at a LFS.


I bet you didn't buy them cuz their ugly.


But seriously, olive nerites come from further north than the tropical nerites and temperate species seem to be easier to keep alive.


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## Eden Marel (Jan 28, 2010)

boringname said:


> I bet you didn't buy them cuz their ugly.
> 
> 
> But seriously, olive nerites come from further north than the tropical nerites and temperate species seem to be easier to keep alive.


Yup lol, not my cup of soup.


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## RachelFromTheBlackLagoon (Jan 9, 2011)

LOL I have a bunch of olive nerites. I don't think they're ugly! 

They'll eat veggies if you stick some in the tank. When I put zucchini in there for my BN pleco the nerites are all over the slice by morning.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Secret to keeping indonesian nerites alive is buy twice as many as you want, and hope for the best


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## boringname (Nov 11, 2010)

http://www.weichtiere.at/english/gastropoda/freshwater/neritidae.html










I wish some of the true freshwater nerites were available.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

boringname said:


> http://www.weichtiere.at/english/gastropoda/freshwater/neritidae.html
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yeah, according to the article, the danube nerites need constant flowing fresh water. Something as little as damming the river will kill off entire populations of them. Doesn't sound practical for our hobby, since our tanks are anything but flowing constant fresh water. Plus, I'm sure our tanks would be much too warm for them, seeing as how they are in the river danube and among the rivers and lakes of the alps.

Due to them being so sensitive to water parameters, they are an endangered species... EEK!


See, we need some genius to transition these snails and freshwater jellyfish to the aquarium setting and get them all tank-hardy!


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

Well, my supplier (who is one of the ones mentioned here as a good source) wrote back to say they keep them in pH 8 tanks and my tanks are pH 6-6.6, so I'm guessing that some of them just couldn't adjust to the change in pH. And I'm guessing mordalphus is right about just buying twice as many as you want. *sigh*


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## kcrossley (Feb 22, 2010)

pH 8? How many people with planted tanks have a pH of 8? If that's a requirement then no nerites for me.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

No, that pH is not an absolute requirement, but you do have to acclimate very slowly if they're coming from different water parameters. And as Nerites in the hobby were all born in salt water and probably lived there or in brackish until they were collected from the wild, they are undoubtably used to hard water.

I'd advise turning off the CO2 and letting it outgas before adding them (or any other livestock) and then only slowly bringing it back up.

You need to make sure that the tank is well buffered and you supply enough calcium in their diets to help prevent shell erosion. That will be particulrly problematic in more acidic tanks with CO2 (carbonic acid).


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## kcrossley (Feb 22, 2010)

Every time I order nerites they arrive with no tank water, just wrapped in wet paper towels. Hard to acclimate them if there's no water. Should nerites be shipped with at least some water?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Only times I've gotten them via mail they were.

I'm guessing the seller was trying to prevent shell damage shipping them that way?


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## Eden Marel (Jan 28, 2010)

kcrossley said:


> pH 8? How many people with planted tanks have a pH of 8? If that's a requirement then no nerites for me.


I do... my Sulawesi type tank that is planted. On occasional I take my remaining Nerite from my "The Garden of Eden" tank and plop him in my "Sulawesi Garden", or vice versa... my Nerite never had a problem being switched from 8pH to 7.4 or lower. I never acclimate him...

The only problem he has is that his shell is deterorating, so I had to super glue it. Right now he is in my "The Garden of Eden" tank, but I'm thinking of putting him in my Sulawesi sometime next week.


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

All of mine came in bags with water. I acclimated the first batch VERY slowly (drip over three hours). 50% died. I just chucked the second batch in. 50% died. No difference at all.


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## Eden Marel (Jan 28, 2010)

Errm... okay... wow. I'm not buying Nerite Snails online... guess I'll just stick with the Nerites at the LFS O_O


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## boringname (Nov 11, 2010)

Betta Maniac said:


> Well, my supplier (who is one of the ones mentioned here as a good source) wrote back to say they keep them in pH 8 tanks and my tanks are pH 6-6.6, so I'm guessing that some of them just couldn't adjust to the change in pH. And I'm guessing mordalphus is right about just buying twice as many as you want. *sigh*


I'm not a snail scientist but I doubt your going to keep a marine snail species alive at a ph of 6.


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## kcrossley (Feb 22, 2010)

My mystery snails were fine with a pH of 6.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Mystery snails =/= marine snails.


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## kcrossley (Feb 22, 2010)

So does anyone have nerites in a planted tank with a Ph of 6-6.5?


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

I do, but their shells are detiorating, as they will.


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## kcrossley (Feb 22, 2010)

mordalphus said:


> I do, but their shells are detiorating, as they will.


So how long will they typically survive at a low pH?


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

mine have been alive for 6 months or so, but they're 2 out of 6 that lived. The sulawesi nerites are a bummer, what can I say.

get olive nerites, I had those forever in a planted tank.

then again, I hate my nerites because of their eggs, but that's another story.


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## kcrossley (Feb 22, 2010)

mordalphus said:


> then again, I hate my nerites because of their eggs, but that's another story.


I thought they couldn't breed in freshwater?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

They'll lay eggs all over the place, and sometimes the eggs even hatch, but the larvae won't live in FW.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

don't forget to mention:

trying to remove nerite eggs from glass is almost impossible. Once they're laid, they solidify into a concrete-like substance.


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## flowmsp (Feb 6, 2010)

I get olive nerites for $.69 each at my LFS lol. I just buy 5-10 at a time and re-buy whenever i need more heh


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## boringname (Nov 11, 2010)

flowmsp said:


> I get olive nerites for $.69 each at my LFS lol. I just buy 5-10 at a time and re-buy whenever i need more heh


Well they live in coastal florida so maybe your paying too much. 

(imagine a cool smiley was here)


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## DavidZ (Nov 17, 2009)

can't keep them in low Ph tanks.


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## kcrossley (Feb 22, 2010)

So what algae eaters can I keep in a low pH tank?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

kcrossley said:


> So what algae eaters can I keep in a low pH tank?


Otos, BN plecos, dwarf shrimp...


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## kcrossley (Feb 22, 2010)

How about amano shrimp?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Amanos = dwarf shrimp :biggrin:


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## kcrossley (Feb 22, 2010)

Oops. Sorry. Still learning. Can I put amanos in with tetras? How big should they be to avoid being eaten?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

The Amanos will be bigger than most tetra species, so safe. They're usually already at least 1" when you get them, and can grow 2-3" (females get much larger than males).


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## kcrossley (Feb 22, 2010)

How many would you make for a good algae cleanup crew for a 29-gallon tank?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

2-5... Doesn't take many, but they aren't a high bioload either.

Keep in mind they're aggressive feeders (not as in aggressive to other fish, just they're great at running off with food like wafers to hog them all for themselves... :hihi so you'll want to feed accordingly.


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## kcrossley (Feb 22, 2010)

I have a few 1"+ RCS. Will the amanos play nicely with those guys?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

No problems, other than the competing for food bit. Stand-offs between the two for food actually I find really funny to watch.


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## v369 (Nov 14, 2010)

i know this is kinda an old post but ive found with the neirites i keep that, good water quality and a larggggge amount of food availible seems to be the trick.
also +1 on buying from a reputable dealer. i like http://www.bobstropicalplants.com/
or a good lfs


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## ezcry4t3d (Apr 24, 2009)

lauraleellbp said:


> Keep in mind they're aggressive feeders (not as in aggressive to other fish, just they're great at running off with food like wafers to hog them all for themselves... :hihi so you'll want to feed accordingly.


What an understatement, I put a few amanos in my BNP tank and had to double the number of algae wafers for each feeding, and I have to break up the wafers into 3-4 pieces each because EVERY shrimp runs off with a chunk.
IMO amanos are massively overrated at cleaning algae.

I think people having problems with new nerites dying are probably due to the nerites being starved at the distributor before they are received. It simply is not feasible to grow enough algae to feed these snails by the hundreds indoors like distributors handle them.

Later deaths are probably due to them clearing out all the accessible algae in a tank and then starving to death, or low PH causing enough shell damage to do them in.

I think it only takes 3-4 nerites to manage the surface algae in most tanks. They're not terribly good at finding other food sources, not that they can't be fed, mine have learned to eat algae wafers, just that they're not near as easy to feed as most of the other animals we keep.


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## boringname (Nov 11, 2010)

ezcry4t3d said:


> I think it only takes 3-4 nerites to manage the surface algae in most tanks. They're not terribly good at finding other food sources, not that they can't be fed, mine have learned to eat algae wafers, just that they're not near as easy to feed as most of the other animals we keep.


From watching them I get the feeling that nerites are clumsy walkers on gravel and prefer to stay on the sides where they can move better. Which is fine by me.


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

Well, my local plant group did a big order and 19 out of the 20 I got are now happily munching algae in my 20L . . . and I'm holding out hope for the last one, since it's only been 12 hours since they went into the tank. No idea why the death rate was so high with the previous shipment, but I do know I won't order anything from that supplier again.


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## chiefroastbeef (Feb 14, 2011)

That is a lot of nerite snails for a 20L (even if you meant your 20G), I think 2-3 would be enough! My 1 inch nerite snail cleaned my entire 15G tank glass free of spot algae and diatoms. It is still alive, but it hangs out on this one part of the driftwood all the time now, it doesn't go anywhere else.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Yeah, 5 Zebras was more than enough for my 90gal.


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

Every site I found said 1-5 per gallon, and the last batch had so many deaths...I can always give some away.


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## mnno (Dec 7, 2010)

I've had a zebra and two horned nerites for over a year in my 29g-- I have kept a tiger in a 5.5g for almost the same time without any issues. I really don't have much algae in my tanks [knock on wood?] so I supplement my snails' and otto cats' diets with blanched spinach and zukes. We also have hard water here in central texas, I think that helps keep their shells intact.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

I'm hit or miss with nerites, I think it is a gamble because they're WC and not treated very well because they're snails.



lauraleellbp said:


> Yeah, 5 Zebras was more than enough for my 90gal.


Wow that isn't too many. I figure around at least 2 for every 10 gallons or so. I'm considering adding another zebra to my mini m. With that said, I've got a bit of algae in my mini m...

-Andrew


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

Guess I'll be giving some away...or farming algae on rocks for them, LOL!


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## msjinkzd (May 12, 2007)

v369 said:


> i know this is kinda an old post but ive found with the neirites i keep that, good water quality and a larggggge amount of food availible seems to be the trick.
> also +1 on buying from a reputable dealer. i like http://www.bobstropicalplants.com/
> or a good lfs


This is very very true. Alot of people dont' realize just how much algae nerites can eat. Usually when distributors are bringing them in, its in groups of several hundred per species. The snails are already weakened by being fasted and traveling. Often they are not offered enough of their preferred diet (algae) and are further weakened by traveling again.
I have 5x75g/55g tanks that I culture algae in (on rocks) in order to feed both my otos and my nerites upon import. I find thism akes a HUGE difference in their survival rate.

As far as stocking density, I usually recommend one per 10g for small tanks, or 1 per 5-10g for large tanks. Tanks should be well mature (6+ months old) for optimal success with nerites. Some nerites (usually the vittnea usnea or olives) are easy to supplement with either blanched vegetables or pellets, but often they only really start attempting to eat these when they are near starving. Of all the foods I have tried, kens vegetable sticks with pellets seem to be the best accepted. 

Another thing to realize, especially with the zebra and red spot is that thye are often collected at near adult size. We have no idea what their age is. Its one of the reasons I really like bringing in the horned varieties (clithon coronas, etc) as they are usually collected very small. Some I have had in my planted tanks for nearly 3 years now.

As for amanos and other dwarf shrimp, they do well as long as they are eating well. There have been times where amanos have gotten a little rough with the smaller rcs or other dwarf shrimp. This usually seems to occur in newer tanks that are not well seasoned. Perhaps the amanos are not getting enough to graze on causing them to be more aggressive.


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## farmhand (Jun 25, 2009)

lauraleellbp said:


> They'll lay eggs all over the place, and sometimes the eggs even hatch, but the larvae won't live in FW.


So what type of snails are good that don't make a mess?


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## Rainer (Jan 30, 2011)

I've had zebra nerites for ~10 days now and I'm surprised at how little they move. One disappeared into the java fern-covered spiderwood for several days, emerging only this morning. The other one was like a pretty limpet, staying in virtually one place all day, moving only at night. Is that normal? These two are a marked contrast to the golden mystery snail who's constantly on the move around the tank.

The tank also has three amanos but I'm adding a dissolved algae tab daily for the two bamboo shrimp, so I hope that will be enough for the nerites too.


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

Some of mine move a lot, some of them don't. *shrug* Clearly I'm going to have to give some away though.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

farmhand said:


> So what type of snails are good that don't make a mess?


I don't really mind the Nerite eggs, personally. Nerites and Ramshorns are my favorite snails to keep in a tank, and Assassins are great for tanks with pond or ramshorn explosions.

Pond are definitely my least favorites.

My nerites go through periods where they're in a different spot every time I look in the tank, other times they're in the same identical spot for days, or the same general area for like a week... to me it seems random.


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