# Nerite Snails vs. Otos



## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

i hate the eggs from nerites and they stick good too. all i could do is pop the eggs but part of it stayed on the drift wood and even scrubbing with a toothbrush didnt get it off. i dont keep otos so dont know about them i do have mystery snails, rams horn, and mts in my sand tanks though


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Ramshorn snails could be a great option for you. They're terrific cleaners.

Depending upon the type of algae you've got, you may be able to solve most of the problem by balancing lights/ferts/CO2 out. 

If you still need a cleanup crew, I'm a fan of at least 6 Otos (since that's about their minimum for happy and healthy schooling) and several kinds of snails: Pond Snails, Bladder Snails, Ramshorns, Nerites.

Nerites come in various sizes, too, with the Horned variety usually being smaller than the rest.


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## MsNemoShrimp (Apr 25, 2011)

I personally like to have both. That way if one doesn't eat a particular type of algae hopefully the other will. 

The only thing I am afraid of about the Otto's is with baby shrimps. Although every comment I've read so far said they won't mess with the babies (maybe because they are shy and don't fight with the shrimps for food), I am kind of skepticle on some (the non-shy ones) because the other day as I was taking pictures, I would see an otto consistently sucking on one of the larger shrimp's head in the feeding dish as a bunch of otto's and Rili's fighting over the piece of food. Imagine it was a baby, it would just be sucked in and most likely vanish?


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## kperera (Jul 12, 2011)

I used to have Nerites, but the eggs on driftwood was such an eyesore that I eventually got rid of them and got some otos. I am happy with them! :smile:


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

I have both. The otos deal with the soft algaes (diatoms) while the nerites go for the harder stuff. I find that olive nerites do a better job than other nerites ime. Though the only drawback to olives are all the eggs they lay (though I'd rather have eggs than algae).


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## Optix (May 31, 2011)

ramshorn snails are my favorite

very hardy algae cleaners...and incredibly thorough (they get all the nooks and crannies in your tank)
they get most of the algae while its still forming so it never gets out of hand

best part is they can definitely cover your algae concerns as their population is directly related to the amount of available food (just dont force them to get out of hand)

2 snails: ooh algae! lets do it!
(10 snails later)
ooh more algae! lets do it
(10 snails later)
running kinda low on algae...lets do it!!
(10 snails later)
not enough algae to go around? oh well..maybe if we do it...there will be more!!
(10 snails later)
not enough food for us all!!!...
(30 snails die)
ooh fresh meat! lets do it!!

...and on and on it goes

even with a big population...they stay pretty small so they dont become eyesores (IMO)


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## HypnoticAquatic (Feb 17, 2010)

yes they are worth it as others have said but u might have one or the other not work depending on what fish you are keeping as some fish can eat a otto even with the spines, this is where the other might be a better option but some fish love to eat snails see where this is going? you need to think about both befor you even go consider buying them so u can make a good choice. most likely both can be done in our type of set ups but we dont know what urs is like so you will have to make the choice as to what will work best for you.


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## MsNemoShrimp (Apr 25, 2011)

Optix said:


> ramshorn snails are my favorite
> 
> very hardy algae cleaners...and incredibly thorough (they get all the nooks and crannies in your tank)
> they get most of the algae while its still forming so it never gets out of hand
> ...


"hey stay pretty small so they dont become eyesores" Are you referring to those TINY ramshorns that are definitely circular in an odd shape and about only this big full grown ( )?


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

I have both. As monsterfsh mentioned, they feed on separate things. 

Nerites are great in community tanks but I would limit their number as to discourage their egg laying habit. I find having an army if red rams horns both beautiful and useful. Ottos in my tank do so great in cleaning in my nanos that there's nothing left to eat so I feed them veggie sticks and wafers every other day. 

A cleanup crew is essential...and all these guys are plant safe.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

And fun to watch!



acitydweller said:


> all these guys are plant safe.


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## MsNemoShrimp (Apr 25, 2011)

The ramshorn everybody is referring to, are they the standard versions or will these mini versions clean the same way?










I personally like these the most since they stay super tiny...


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## Mr.Desert_scape (Mar 6, 2012)

Do otos or any other fish eat their eggs without killing them? Those ramshorns look pretty awesome!


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## Mr.Desert_scape (Mar 6, 2012)

acitydweller said:


> I have both. As monsterfsh mentioned, they feed on separate things.
> 
> Nerites are great in community tanks but I would limit their number as to discourage their egg laying habit. I find having an army if red rams horns both beautiful and useful. Ottos in my tank do so great in cleaning in my nanos that there's nothing left to eat so I feed them veggie sticks and wafers every other day.
> 
> A cleanup crew is essential...and all these guys are plant safe.


How many do you keep to keep the eggs down? I have a black background and substrate and malaysian drift wood so I feel like they'll be really visible. also about how big do nerite snails get? I would rather have something small.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

Mr.Desert_scape said:


> How many do you keep to keep the eggs down? I have a black background and substrate and malaysian drift wood so I feel like they'll be really visible. also about how big do nerite snails get? I would rather have something small.


I have only one nerite and it still lays eggs all over the place. It's in a 5 gallon though so it's probably more noticeable. However, it's pretty easy to scrape the eggs off the glass. The only a PITA is when it starts laying eggs on my crypts.

As for size, the largest one I have (in another tank) is about the size of a penny.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

Mr.Desert_scape said:


> How many do you keep to keep the eggs down? I have a black background and substrate and malaysian drift wood so I feel like they'll be really visible. also about how big do nerite snails get? I would rather have something small.


i had 6 in a tank and dispersed them to separate tanks. When there were multiple in the tank, my driftwood would be covered in white eggs, not so anymore. may see some eggs on the glass on occassionally but nothing like it was when there was a "gang" of them.

my largest nerite is about the size of a nickel, likely the oldest one. the rest are about a penny or smaller. I heard the green ones work the best against algae but i dont any to confirm this. I stopped getting nerites after seeing the whole egg debacle. looks like snail graffiti all over your tank 

Red Ramshorns and MTS, i have at least 6-12 of each. the reds are cool to look at and fast to rush when food is dropped in tanks. Oddly, they into places that i cant figure out, like hanging upside down on my floaters in the middle of the tank spinning around by the filter current.... MTS are always churning the substrate on most days and also feed after everyone's had their fill. they are slower but clean up the mess the shrimp and oto makes...


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## Loplop (May 7, 2012)

Mr.Desert_scape said:


> Do otos or any other fish eat their eggs without killing them? Those ramshorns look pretty awesome!


My choprae danio (glowlights) eat pond snail eggs. I haven't really heard this to be a "feature" of the choprae, but oddly they seem to relish them in my tank. Doesn't bother me, they really keep the population down.

I just jumped into the Nerite waters this week. My daughter has a betta that is very aggressive, and although I'd love an oto in her tank, I really don't want Wild America to play out in front of her eyes... So I grabbed a Nerite for her. It remains to be seen how well it cleans up, so far it hasn't touched the prolific GHA growing on her driftwood... It's a pretty neat snail to watch, though. The thing can really motor.

What does touch the GHA, though, is her MTS. That things MOWS the GHA like it's a lawn. It's really humerous, actually, you can actually see the patch shrink. Her MTS has developed such a taste for the stuff, though, that I suspect it's the cause of the driftwood itself getting munched... Fresh/bald wood is being exposed regularly. Strange. I saw a baby the other day, so she'll have a gaggle of MTS soon. Anyway, the only thing better for GHA in my tanks is Amano Shrimp...


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## Kunsthure (Aug 2, 2010)

Like a lot of others, I have both. I have found the otos to be pretty much worthless because I don't have diatoms anymore. 

I don't like any kind of snail that can reproduce in my tanks, though I keep MTS to keep my sand stirred. If you want a small nerite, pick any of the ones with horns, they stay about dime-to-penny sized. I used to have tiger and zebra nerites that were about quarter sized (see my profile pic). I just bought some beautiful batiki nerites that are about dime sized and I'm not sure how big they'll get. As for the eggs, the only nerites that have laid eggs in my tanks were the two in my old 5g. I've had groups of nerites in my other three tanks with no eggs.

-Lisa


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## d0pey (May 7, 2012)

What do you guys suggest for a 4g rimless tank? Its currently housing 10 crs 10 CBS & 5 pregnant pfrs. I had one oto in there that I thought was keeping them from breeding so I took him out. Now the diatoms are coming back & I don't want to keep moving my Oto in and out.. I'm also not much of a snail fan as I'm afraid they will crawl out of the rimless tank! Which happens to be on my night stand besides my bed... So I'd rather not have it on my face in th morning!!


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## Mr. Appleton (Jul 1, 2011)

Horned nerites are really nice as they stay small and are able to eat off the leaves of plants as well. They're usually more colorful and kind of cute as well!


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## Mr.Desert_scape (Mar 6, 2012)

I ended up getting both also and I was an amazing decision. I would say go for the nerites too though for the 4g. They went straight to work on the algae after being in my tank for only 5 min! :icon_bigg with them and the 4 otos I got my tank is spotless of diatoms on the glass, plants, and almost the substrate.


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## Kunsthure (Aug 2, 2010)

d0pey said:


> What do you guys suggest for a 4g rimless tank? Its currently housing 10 crs 10 CBS & 5 pregnant pfrs.


You could clean the tank by hand. I can't think of a way to keep snails in a rimless tank.

-Lisa


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## d0pey (May 7, 2012)

Kunsthure said:


> You could clean the tank by hand. I can't think of a way to keep snails in a rimless tank.
> 
> -Lisa


I got a magfloat... But I'm kinda scared to use it Lol.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Kunsthure said:


> You could clean the tank by hand. I can't think of a way to keep snails in a rimless tank.
> 
> -Lisa


Lots of people keep snails in a rimless tank. Don't fill the water all the way to the rim unless you're showing your tank off to friends. Leave about 1.5" or so and the snails won't crawl out to their doom.


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