Nerite Escape Artists

[Dwohlge1]

I have two Nerites that will not stay in the water. They constantly hang out on the filter or on the lid outside of the water.

Lately my kids have been finding them outside the tank and drop them back in.

Amy reason why my snails refuse to stay in the water?

[Mr. Limpet]

EDIT: Apparently it's pretty common.

Zebra Nerite Snail .:. Neritina natalensis sp. "Zebra" .:. Freshwater Aquarium Snail Information Page

I have them in 3 of my tanks and they all pretty much just cruise around munching algae every time I'm checking out a tank. Guess I better keep my eyes peeled lol.

Nevermind ->What are your water parameters?

[dkpate]

+1. Snails leaving the tank (except mystery snails) are usually an indication of not ideal water conditions.

[Dwohlge1]

When I tested yesterday Ammo 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5 ppm.

I have live plants, 2 Fancies, 2 mystery snails. 25 gallons.

[Dwohlge1]

Also let me ad I have had them for 1 month and they always do this.

[dkpate]

What is the water temp? You are using a liquid test kit right?

[Dwohlge1]

Water temp in the last month has ranged from 68-75 degrees.

Yes I am using API master. Also PH is 7.6

[dkpate]

Well, that all sounds good, maybe they are just curious?

[Dwohlge1]

I got them both off eBay, about a month ago. I was hoping it would just take time for them to adjust

[Dwohlge1]

Originally Posted by Mr. Limpet

EDIT: Apparently it's pretty common.

Zebra Nerite Snail .:. Neritina natalensis sp. "Zebra" .:. Freshwater Aquarium Snail Information Page

I have yet to give them algae wafers. Mainly because they won't stay in the tank to eat them. Does everyone here give them wafers?

[Mr. Limpet]

Originally Posted by Dwohlge1

I have yet to give them algae wafers. Mainly because they won't stay in the tank to eat them. Does everyone here give them wafers?

I don't but they seem to have enough to eat and I don't want them to get lazy about cleaning up my tanks lol. I am gonna add a cuttlebone for them to munch on (?) to help keep their shell strong/healthy.

[BeavisMom62]

Originally Posted by Dwohlge1

I have yet to give them algae wafers. Mainly because they won't stay in the tank to eat them. Does everyone here give them wafers?

I feed mine algae wafers, romaine, zucchini, cucumber, spinach. They get the algae wafers about every other day and the veggies whenever I have some in the house. I try to at least keep blanched zucchini in the freezer (esp for snails, goldies and BN's) but Im out at the moment.

Mine used to do the same thing. Not sure why. Like you I would find them inside the filter (I've also found my BN's in there), in the light fixture and in the hood. A few must have gotten away and been eaten by my dogs! But now for some reason (I have a new batch of snails) they don't do that. Weird.

[BeavisMom62]

Originally Posted by Mr. Limpet

I don't but they seem to have enough to eat and I don't want them to get lazy about cleaning up my tanks lol. I am gonna add a cuttlebone for them to munch on (?) to help keep their shell strong/healthy.

I haven't used cuttle bone in the nerite tanks yet, but I do in my bigger tank with my mystery snails. I've been saying that Ive never seen mine eat it, but just last night I noticed my smaller ivory snail sucking on it!

I wonder, could calcium be dangerous to certain fish/frogs? My nerites are in a tank with a betta, BN's and ADF's. Since, from what I've heard those could be sensitive creatures, I've been hesitant to add the cuttlebone to that tank.

[Mr. Limpet]

Originally Posted by BeavisMom62

I haven't used cuttle bone in the nerite tanks yet, but I do in my bigger tank with my mystery snails. I've been saying that Ive never seen mine eat it, but just last night I noticed my smaller ivory snail sucking on it!

I wonder, could calcium be dangerous to certain fish/frogs? My nerites are in a tank with a betta, BN's and ADF's. Since, from what I've heard those could be sensitive creatures, I've been hesitant to add the cuttlebone to that tank.

Yes calcium will raise the pH in your water, but I plan to put a small chunk in and will be testing pH daily. If it's a .1 difference no biggy IMO, any more and it'll come out.

[BeavisMom62]

The ph in my water needs all the help it can get! It comes out of my tap at higher than 9 and after a few days will drop below 6! So, I also use coral gravel in my tanks to keep it stable. I haven't noticed that the cuttlebone has made any difference, but even if it did, I dont know that I would know to blame the cuttle bone since I have such a problem with that in my tanks. I need to get a hardness test one of these days, I don't have one.

[kdpuffer]

I'm no expert and have never kept snails but I read something recently that may apply. This was in reference to apple snails, they lay their eggs out of water so it is possible that may be what your snails are doing.

[siva]

Nerites do lay their eggs in the water. Is there any algae present for them to munch on? Maybe they are starving in search of food? If there's no algae around, I would definitely offer a high quality algae wafer such as Hikari. Mine will spend time sitting at the waters edge, but they've never actually left the tank.

[Dwohlge1]

Originally Posted by siva

Nerites do lay their eggs in the water. Is there any algae present for them to munch on? Maybe they are starving in search of food? If there's no algae around, I would definitely offer a high quality algae wafer such as Hikari. Mine will spend time sitting at the waters edge, but they've never actually left the tank.

Well I gave one of the Nerites 2 algae wafers, yesterday. He hung out in the house I placed them in all day. The whole back wall of my aquarium has a light green film of algae on it. But maybe it is a food issue. The goldfish clean all the algae off the plants. Maybe it is a food issue

[Homer8]

maybe they arent used to being in freshwater.

[siva]

Originally Posted by Dwohlge1

Well I gave one of the Nerites 2 algae wafers, yesterday. He hung out in the house I placed them in all day. The whole back wall of my aquarium has a light green film of algae on it. But maybe it is a food issue. The goldfish clean all the algae off the plants. Maybe it is a food issue

Yeah I have some green algae they won't touch. They like most it seems, but there are a couple types that aren't to their taste.