Nerite Snails

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Aces11

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
May 12, 2011
Messages
976
Location
Huntley, IL
Can anyone give me some info about these snails? Size, diet, bioload, breeding, etc. I saw some at my lfs and almost got a couple. They were zebra merited I think - if it makes a difference.
 
I have a few zebra nerites. I really like their colors and how they eat a lot of algae. They have a small bioload. They eat algae, usually the blue-green algae and the kind that grows on the side of the tank. They need a male and female to have babies, so if you have a pair they will lay eggs, but the eggs need brackish water to hatch in. Mine are about 3/4 inch in diameter.
 
Thanks for the reply. So if I get 2 for my 20g freshwater they won't breed? I don't want to end up with a million snails. Will they eat green spot algae?
 
Aces11 said:
Thanks for the reply. So if I get 2 for my 20g freshwater they won't breed? I don't want to end up with a million snails. Will they eat green spot algae?

They eat spot algae. Mine "breed" but the eggs never hatch, because they need brackish water. The snails will lay little eggs that look a lot like sesame seeds in a lot of corners and crevices. Mine have never hatched. For a 20 gallon tank I would get at least 4 because the more there are, the more algae is eaten.
 
Well I don't have a ton of algae just a little green spot algae that annoys the crap out of me. You can only see it if you look closely at the glass. Also will they eat algae wafers if they run out of algae? And how big do they get?
 
I have two Horned Nerite Zebra snails. They're fun to watch. Mine are two different sizes but they aren't very big at all (one about the size of a dime, the other less than the size of a quarter). I don't have a ton of algae either and I feed my fish sparingly. I worry that the snails may not be getting enough food but they've been in there for a month now so I guess they're eating something. :)
 
Would 2 zebra nerite snails be ok? I've read mixed things about breeding and I don't want a thousand snails in my tank.
 
Aces11 said:
Would 2 zebra nerite snails be ok? I've read mixed things about breeding and I don't want a thousand snails in my tank.

Once again, there wont be any baby snails without brackish water. 2 would be enough but you night get annoyed if there is still algae in there
 
Back
Top Bottom