# Non-viable Nerite Snail Eggs?



## bharada (Mar 5, 2004)

The Nerite snails in my 10g office tank are spreading eggs like sesame seeds in a Big Mac bun factory. . I know the general consensus is that they aren't viable if laid in fresh water so my question is, what becomes of them? Do they generally just rot away? If so, how long does it take, and is fungus ever an issue?

The ones being laid on driftwood don't bug me as much as the onse laid on the Anubias leaf petioles. Those remind me of aphids and make me want to immediately scrape them off with my fingernail.


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## SCMurphy (Oct 21, 2003)

It takes about a week. The snails slow down the reproductive efforts after a while. I haven't gotten to the point of watching for snails that are laying eggs to seperate the males and females.


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## Ibn (Nov 19, 2003)

Don't give up on them hatching in freshwater yet. I saw a 2mm juvenile snail on the glass a couple of days ago. That's one snail out of several hundred eggs scattered throughout the tank.


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## bharada (Mar 5, 2004)

So these are single eggs, not clusters?


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## Ibn (Nov 19, 2003)

Correct. They're single, white eggs versus a cluster.


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## fhqwhgads (Jan 18, 2005)

i think i have breeded them, but theyre still small juvies. I have noticed them hatching as they are the same shape and size of the eggs, but are clear little blobs on the glass, also i have seen 5-10 larger juvie nerites probably bigger than a leaf of duckweed, their shells are still developing and are bumps that get darker towards the top of the bump. The color at the top of the bump is the same of that of my olives. The main reason why i think they are nerites is because when i look at them through the glass i can see their antennae and their anatomy looks the same, with the little feelers they use to eat with. I am sure this will take a while for them to grow, but since they have hatched they are at least ten times larger than the eggs and quite a bit smaller than my full grown ones. Oh, also i dont have any other snails growing in the tank and these definitely have hard shells like snails, (i crushed one by accident)


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## fhqwhgads (Jan 18, 2005)

oh i forgot, you can see them hatch because the egg casing will crack and probably fall off i think, i saw one coming out of an egg because they are all over my glass. Also keep in mind that i have had these since summer and the largest ones are still tiny, so maybe they die off after a few months, i dunno


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

bharada said:


> The Nerite snails... are spreading eggs like sesame seeds in a Big Mac bun factory.


:hihi: :hihi: 
Ain't _that _the truth! Got the same problem myself. But, just in case, if you are looking for _viable _eggs, get Wilma to send you some from http://www.jayscustomcomputers.com/wilma/Snails/page1.html. I've 5 large ones from her in my 75g, and now a couple of months later, a reasonable number of small Olive Nerites crawling around too! So the right snails _do indeed _have viable eggs in F/W tanks.

But you still have that "sesame seed" problem...


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## bharada (Mar 5, 2004)

Thanks for the link, Steve. So does Wilma charge the same for eggs as she does for actual snails? Or does she just throw them into the package?

Well, if my Nerite eggs do hatch then that 10g tank is gonna be an awfully cluttered invert tank with the 80+ (and growing) Cherry Red population.


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

bharada said:


> Thanks for the link, Steve. So does Wilma charge the same for eggs as she does for actual snails? Or does she just throw them into the package?


Sorry Bill, miscommunication will get you every time...

I should have said get Wilma to send you some _snails_.:redface: I don't think she sells eggs.

I'd give you some of my little Nerites, but I'm assuming that they aren't mature enough to breed yet. But I don't know. How big does a Nerite have to get before it breeds? They are definately much smaller than the ones that had the eggs. Wilma's were about the diameter of a dime or maybe a nickle. The babies are about the diameter of a pencil eraser.

The point here is, Wilma's snails breed in F/W. $20 would get you 6, with all boxing/shipping/heat pack costs included. And I suspect then you'd have you own baby Nerites crawling around too!

Or you can wait until mine grow up and I'll send you some of them.


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## fhqwhgads (Jan 18, 2005)

i think at aquaticplantdepot.com they have flat shipping for 10 bucks and nerites are 59 cents a piece and they have okay plants too


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

fhqwhgads said:


> i think at aquaticplantdepot.com they have flat shipping for 10 bucks and nerites are 59 cents a piece and they have okay plants too


Yeah, but be careful. If breeding them is important to you, it's my understanding that most commercially sold Olive Nerites are not able to breed in fresh water.


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## fhqwhgads (Jan 18, 2005)

i think i lucked out or something, i bought three and have a bunch the size of eraser tips as someone mentioned earlier


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