# how often do zebra's or tiger nerite snails lay eggs?



## Bryanmc1988 (Apr 3, 2012)

well i like to know how often do these snails lay eggs? and how do you tell if they are mature adults that can start laying eggs


also can they cliam out of my tank? do i need to cover it with a lid?


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## wheatiesl337 (Mar 30, 2011)

Nerites are enthusiastic climbers. That being said, they shouldn't leave the tank unless conditions are below optimal, though the risk will exist if you do not cover it. 

My olive nerites lay eggs like friggen crazy all over the place. Not sure if all species are as prolific. Some may find this aesthetically displeasing, but it never bothered me because they do such a good job on everything else. Nerite eggs are not viable in freshwater, and need brackish conditions if that is the reason you are asking.


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## Bryanmc1988 (Apr 3, 2012)

i think i have adult snails zebras and tiger not sure if they are laying eggs or not but i just got them today so i will soon find out tmr i guess...


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## scotty b (Oct 23, 2012)

do you have a brackish tank for raising the eggs?


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## Bryanmc1988 (Apr 3, 2012)

whats a brackish water? is that like the tanish brown water that comes from IAL or IAL extract?


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## ghost shrimp (Jun 11, 2012)

Brackish water is a mixture between salt and fresh water.


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## Bryanmc1988 (Apr 3, 2012)

is it possible to get sea water and mix it with tap water using a hydrometer to get salt to around 1.005 to 1.010? i assume that should work as the tap will help lower the salt in the sea water... and just do a water change every week or so 1 or 2 times a week depends if it need more salt or tap...


assuming that salt will never go over 1.010 if it does from water evap then just adding more tap water... let me know if this is a good idea or bad... its easy to do nothing to hard... also if nerite lays eggs in fresh can i move the eggs to this water mix and just drop them into the water? and will they hatch?


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## ghost shrimp (Jun 11, 2012)

Someone Correct me if I'm wrong but I think using sea water is a bad thing due to you not knowing what's in there (Pollution's, Urine, etc.) what you could do is just buy Aquarium salt at your LFS and use the hydrometer to make your own saltwater like most Saltwater people do.

Cannot give advice on Nerite snails and eggs only dealt with MTS, Ramhorns, and Apple snails.


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## Bryanmc1988 (Apr 3, 2012)

well correct me if i'm wrong too but aint sea water better then LFS salt water? due to the fact that you dont need to wait or cycle the water.... yea people pee and [censored][censored][censored][censored] and who knows what into the sea but i think there is so much room in the sea that its undetected after a few hours aint it? i mean i'm not going to look for some one peeing and then come up and say hey, do you mind me taking some sea water where you just piss at...? lol j/k but i think sea water is better am i right?


p.s. last time i got sea water i throw a 5gal bucket into the sea and pulled it back in and looking into the bucket and saw something moving i was like WTH !!!! and took a closer look and wala... a SHRIMP!!! didnt know at the time so i throw it back as it was berried also lol clear white sea shrimp its a small shrimp like what we keep as in fresh water


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## Bryanmc1988 (Apr 3, 2012)

any one have an idea of how often do nerite snails lay their eggs? once a day? once ever other day? twice a week etc??


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## cturner (Aug 1, 2006)

My threaded nerite snails are consistantly laying eggs everywhere and all day long! They even get in the spaces where you would think they wouldn't be able to put their eggs.


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## Bryanmc1988 (Apr 3, 2012)

do you have some pictures of your snail and the eggs i would like to see the size snail u have and how the eggs look like


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## Knotyoureality (Aug 3, 2012)

I've nerites in 10 different set ups--from my 37g down to a .75g planted vase--and have found that food availability affects how many eggs are laid in my zebra, olive, red-spot and horned nerites. 

My planted vases get almost no supplemental feeding--and what they do get is quickly eaten by the resident ghost shrimp. Only if I up the feeding or disturb the substrate (bringing a lot of muck to the surface) do I get eggs---even then it's a 3-9 eggs at most in a month. 

Same thing happens across the board--when I quadrupled the number of nerites in my main tank over night, the egg laying dropped from my zebras. When the new ones came out, egg laying picked up again. If I feed heavy or there's a lot of decaying plant mass from new plants being added--egg production goes up. Light feeding/low plant debris; eggs go down (but never entirely go away). 

My olives are smaller and lay smaller eggs--but make up for the nuisance by laying almost entirely on plant stems. Zebras and red spots seem to prefer driftwood and gravel. The single horned nerite I have seems to have a sense of humor---I've yet to find her having laid eggs on any surface other than the solitary assassin snail that shares the tank.


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## wheatiesl337 (Mar 30, 2011)

Seems like you have quite a bit of research to do if you are interested in getting nerites to successefully reproduce. Few seem to have had success in captivity, and you were asking what brakish water is. No, you can't move eggs. They are glued to whatever surface they are laid on. Some people dislike nerites because they find the eggs aesthetically displeasing and extremely difficult to remove.

Using old water does not automatically = a cycled tank. Huge myth. A cycled tank means enough bacteria are established on surface areas to break down waste. Water alone won't carry much of this beneficial bacteria. You will still need time for it reproduce and spread over surface area and filter media. Best bet for cycling is using old filter media, or anything else with good surface area and established bacteria.

Others are correct. Would be easiest to create the ideal brakish conditions using aquarium salt.


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## Bryanmc1988 (Apr 3, 2012)

aquarium salt is so expensive lol i live 5-10 mins away from the beach i might as well just go out and get some for free... and the success determines on knowledge to details if everything is done right, i dont see why there should be a problem in breeding them...


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