# Nerites VS Algae



## Arakkis (Dec 7, 2007)

Ok, lot of people haven't seen what these little guy can do to algae problems so I've set up a little thread to show their effectiveness.

So I've set up 3 10gal tanks using a fishless cycle three weeks prior. Lighting is Flouro, lighting period is 24 hours to promote algae growth. Now that the tanks are ready let the destruction begin... 

This will be a work in progress and should last about 5~7 days with daily posting

Here is the clean up crew: 10 Olive Nerites (Vitta usnea aka Neritina reclivita), each tank will get 10 except the control tank









Tank 1 Day 0: Just threw in the 10 Olive nerites









Tank 2 Day 0: Also got 10 Olive nerites









Control Tank Day0: Nothing added


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## moogoo (Dec 7, 2007)

cool little experiment. I look forward to seeing the progress and results. I've always been curious if i should get some nerites... thanks for doing this.

would you happen to know the kinds of algae they will eat?


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## Arakkis (Dec 7, 2007)

No problem =) I was thinking of increasing the number but I think it would be best to show a more normal stocking level


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## hungtran10 (Jul 5, 2008)

Subscribed. I'm looking forward to seeing your results.

- Hung


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## Arakkis (Dec 7, 2007)

Nothing major has happened today so I'm not posting pics, will probably post some pics tomorrow


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## Arakkis (Dec 7, 2007)

Sorry for the late post, I just got back from a fish auction. To all those who attended, it was an awesome night!

Anyhow back to the topic at hand:

Algae tank #1
The snails just started on the glass, many are busy on the substrate right now as there is about a 5mm thick layer on this tank's grave layer









Algae Tank#2 Day 2
Similar thing as the first but they are still working on the bottom of the tank. There are two pics showing their progress. Sorry for the second blurry pic, my camera had trouble cutting through the moving water on top

















Control Tank: Day 2
Nothing much happened, I saw some insect larvae that got into the tank eating the algae so I put 3 guppies in there to eat them up.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

my nerites worked from the bottom up and took a week and a half to clean what was there.


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## Arakkis (Dec 7, 2007)

Hope it wasn't the nightmare like the tanks I created. Oh guys I'm running no filtration other than an airstone and temp right now is around 76F


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Cool experiment! I've been meaning to buy some nerites for a while now


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## t0p_sh0tta (Jan 24, 2008)

I ordered 5 nerites from you about a month ago. They went to town on my 30g. The entire back wall was covered in GSA (I never scrape back there) and there was also some on the sides as well. About 2 weeks after introducing the 5, the entire tank was SPOTLESS.


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## Arakkis (Dec 7, 2007)

hehe, the really know how to bulldoze that stuff.. I've even seen them eat the rare africian red spot algae that is a pain to scrape because it's coraline type


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## Arakkis (Dec 7, 2007)

Day3

Tank#1 doesn't seem to have lost much algae though it's hard to see them with the dark green gravel on the bottom. The upper right hand corner got cleaner though..










Tank #2 They still haven't gotten to the wall yet, too much algae on the bottom for them to eat. I pulled the airstone out to show the results inside



















Control tank is pretty much the same as it was before, I think you can guess how it looks since yesterday

I know it's been going slow. Do you think I should add more and speed up the results? lets say 20? 30? per tank and make it quick?


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

I think you should stay with 1 per gallon and let's see how long it takes. I'm totally up for waiting. I'm thinking 2 weeks or so for the tank to be spotless. i was really impatient for my guys to reach the top of the tank so they could clean my gsa'd anubias leaves. It took over a week but after the tank was clean I was like... what next? Now i feed them zucchini or i think they'd all starve. super efficient beasts.


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## Arakkis (Dec 7, 2007)

true, I got about 200 in another holding tank though....


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## Arakkis (Dec 7, 2007)

Day 4:
Tank#1: They are still working the bottom, but they did clean the upper part of the glass. The algae is very thick on the bottom so I bet they are still working on the smogasborg there..









Tank#2: The algae is much tinner though they have been working on the bottom portion though they have done a lot of work in the past 4 days.


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## kotoeloncat (Apr 12, 2006)

interesting little experiment

question, in the last pic I see some clear areas on the bottom of the tank

was that the result of the nerites working ? or was it that way originally


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## Ryzilla (Oct 29, 2005)

Sometimes these little guys take a little self motivation. They can get real lazy or even start off lazy. The best is when they are tiny about the size of an eraser. IME I notice that the smaller guys are more active.


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## Arakkis (Dec 7, 2007)

kotoeloncat said:


> interesting little experiment
> 
> question, in the last pic I see some clear areas on the bottom of the tank
> 
> was that the result of the nerites working ? or was it that way originally


It was all covered in algae before, they've bulldozed some significant portions so far


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Too bad I didn't take pics, I could have shown what the four olives you sent me have done to GDA across the front of a 65gl (36" x 24"). Unfortunately the GDA started dying off before they could finish it all, so their trails are gone now. But with only 3 or 4 trips they took across the front, they cleared about 30-40% in about a week. I'd say four or five more of them in my tank would have been a more rapid result, but they have very many places to go and things to eat in this tank right now.


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## Ryzilla (Oct 29, 2005)

jaidexl said:


> Too bad I didn't take pics, I could have shown what the four olives you sent me have done to GDA across the front of a 65gl (36" x 24"). Unfortunately the GDA started dying off before they could finish it all, so their trails are gone now. But with only 3 or 4 trips they took across the front, they cleared about 30-40% in about a week. I'd say four or five more of them in my tank would have been a more rapid result, but they have very many places to go and things to eat in this tank right now.


They are serious fans of GDA and GSA. GSA take a little more work for them but GDA is like grass and cows.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

What kinds of algea do these eat?


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## Seedreemer (Sep 28, 2008)

Thanks for posting this! I'm looking forward to watching the progress.


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## Arakkis (Dec 7, 2007)

bsmith782 said:


> What kinds of algea do these eat?


Green spot algae, Green dust algae, green slime algae, Brown algae, red algae, diatoms, cyanobacteria(SW), some short green hair algaes(not the long stuff), and some bba when there's nothing left to eat.. Did I miss anything?


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## Ryzilla (Oct 29, 2005)

Arakkis said:


> Green spot algae, Green dust algae, green slime algae, Brown algae, red algae, diatoms, cyanobacteria(SW), some short green hair algaes(not the long stuff), and some bba when there's nothing left to eat.. Did I miss anything?


They will not eat green slime algae(BGA), more like disturb it. BBA is definatley hit or miss more miss though. Fuzz algea is also a little hard for them but they may eat some. Mainly GSA, GDA, diatom (Brown algae).


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

anyupdates?


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## kotoeloncat (Apr 12, 2006)

any updates ?


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## Arakkis (Dec 7, 2007)

Sorry for the delays:
Day 19:
Tank#1: Pretty good though there now seems to be a chlorella algae outbreak due to the snail poop. Note there isn't any filteration on these tanks so I'm going to do a water change on Sunday. to see what's going on with that. 
Did however find one empty.. I guess there might have been some nitrate buildup. I'll test the water next week at a LFS




















Tank#2: Looking good now.. lots of detritus on the bottom though. Cleaned all the petrified wood and ceramic pot in there.. They're now busy working on the sides.
Also found an empty.. Maybe I should have added filtration on both tanks


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## customdrumfinishes (Apr 4, 2008)

day19 tank 2, above pic^^^

ive never seen a tank that dirty and its half clean lol


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## Arakkis (Dec 7, 2007)

hehe, I wasn't kidding about the horror when I created these tanks. Some of the areas had layers so thick that you could actually peel back and get 5mm thick slabs of algae. I usually use these tanks to make the food for the nerites I have.


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## bwagner (Apr 18, 2007)

anyupdates on this?


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

I got one, they dozed log phase algae growth in about 10 days off rocks, there where 4 species of green algae, plastic and smooth surfaces are preferred vs rough rocks.

But they certainly do the trick on attached algae on non living materials.
I'm satisfied there.

They are too large for many plant species however.

This was for Zebra nerites, not olives.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Trio123 (Nov 5, 2008)

I bought 25 nerites for my 65 gallon tank several months ago. They do a good job but I saw the biggest impact from my bristlenose pleco that quite litterally cleaned the entire back wall over night. I also have 5 in my 10 gallon with a betta and two african dwarf frogs, I never clean the glass and I have never seen any algae in there (over 5 months). I only clean the front glass in my 65 occasionally and the algae in there is very light (except for the hair algae that is having a field day). The 25 Olive Nerites are accompanied by the bristlenose pleco, a whip tail cat, and two ottos.


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