Nerite question

[BettaGal]

If one of my two nerites climbs up out of he water and just stays there for a while, does that mean do a water change ASAP or is she just being dangerously adventurous? I got her back in and did a water change I already was gonna do. She's staying in as far as I can tell, but it hasn't been that long, so she still may venture.

 

[Pyroperbole]

I have had several Nerites and they climb out of the tank all the time. In contrast, the mystery/apple snails i have stay underwater 98% of the time. I think the Nerites are less aquatic than other snails. I dont know for sure but they definitely climb out of the tank more than other snails i have

 

[BettaGal]

This was the first time any of my snails came out of the water. I read or was told that if they do that and don't go back they dry up and die.

 

[Pyroperbole]

Yeah i lost 2 Nerites that way. They just went too far away from the tank while i was out for the weekend and dried up. At that time i would put them back in the water multiple times a week, and my tank conditions were fine. Now i just keep it in a tank with a sealed canopy

 

[BettaGal]

So if they venture out for a little while its fine? How long should I let her be out before I put her back in?

 

[okapizebra]

Okay swear I posted to this thread earlier today but I do not see my post... and yet I get an email telling me a new comment was posted?

I don't know where my post went but earlier I stated that if any of mine venture above the water line and I don't see them go back I just usually push them back down under the water line.

 

[BettaGal]

Okay swear I posted to this thread earlier today but I do not see my post... and yet I get an email telling me a new comment was posted?

I don't know where my post went but earlier I stated that if any of mine venture above the water line and I don't see them go back I just usually push them back down under the water line.

Lol. It's alright. I ask way too many questions anyway. I've had to push her down twice now. My pH bottomed out today, maybe that's why. Can't figure out why my forever steady pH did that. I know I screwed something up last night. Just can't figure out what.

 

[MacDracor]

I once saw what I assumed was a cat toy on the carpet. After three days, I decided to verify what it was. It was a nerite, dry and sealed shut. He lived another year after that. Just sayin. They're tough.

 

[BettaGal]

I once saw what I assumed was a cat toy on the carpet. After three days, I decided to verify what it was. It was a nerite, dry and sealed shut. He lived another year after that. Just sayin. They're tough.

Sealed shut? They don't have those shield things. How was it sealed shut? And the one in question is an egg-spreading mean one. Not kidding. She hit one of my Cory cats with her shell and poked another one in the eye with her feeler to hoard an algae wafer.

 

[Pyroperbole]

I like to make sure my snails have lots of driftwood, live plants, rocks and caves to forage for algae and keep them busy in the bottom of the tank. I also make sure they have plenty of food (algae wafers) that seems to keep them in the tank.

 

[MacDracor]

Bettagal, are you sure that you have nerites?

 

[MacDracor]

Pressed button too soon.
I was about to say...
Neritina natalensis (the nerite snail) does indeed have an operculum. Not only that, they are incapable of breeding in fresh water. They require brackish conditions to breed, so you should be seeing no eggs.

 

[BettaGal]

Pressed button too soon.
I was about to say...
Neritina natalensis (the nerite snail) does indeed have an operculum. Not only that, they are incapable of breeding in fresh water. They require brackish conditions to breed, so you should be seeing no eggs.

Out of everything I looked at including forums, you're the only one that said they have an operculum. I have an olive and a tiger nerite. They don't have an operculum but suction themselves tightly to whatever they're on for protection. They will lay eggs, but the eggs will not hatch in freshwater. The eggs need brackish water to hatch. I did several hours of research on my snails including pictures. I know positively they are nerites.

 

[MacDracor]

While I am not a Gastropoda specialist, and make no claim of 100% accuracy, I've kept several myself, all of which had an operculum. However, when you questioned it, I decided to do some quick research just to be sure I wasn't wrong. It's certainly been known to happen!
Remembering that despite its reputation, Wikipedia HAS cleaned up its act and is now far more reliable, I offer the following.
"Neritina is a genus of small aquatic snails with an operculum, marine, brackish water, and sometimes freshwater gastropod mollusks in the family Neritidae, the nerites."

 

[BettaGal]

Wikipedia is not reliable at all. Ask any teacher, professor, or higher degree professional. Out of the dozens of websites, forums, and images I looked up when I bought the snails, the only one that contradicts them is the most frowned upon site in the research circle. I know for sure everything in my tank. I did plenty of research on all of them, including asking on this forum. I can tell you without a doubt that they are in fact nerites. Every page or post about them complains of the constant eggs on everything that will not hatch in fresh water.

 

[MacDracor]

Just do a quick google search for "nerite operculum" and read through the results. But, here is a quick copy/paste of the first few.

Checkered Nerite
www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Nerita_tessel.htmAug 20, 2009 – Unlike the checkered nerite, the operculum of N. fulgurans is yellowish gray.
Black Nerite
www.mesa.edu.au/.../n_atramentosa.htmlPhoto of a Black Nerite The Black Nerite ... The operculum has a peg which catches under the columella.
Nerites snails (Nerita) on the Shores of Singapore
www.wildsingapore.com/.../neritidae.htmTough shell with thick operculum. Chek Jawa, Jan 05. The same species of Nerites may come in a wide ...

 

[BettaGal]

You mean to prove to me that in the month that I've had my nerite snails they suddenly grew an operculum, making my hours of research wrong? I asked about my nerite crawling out of the water. I'm getting extremely discouraged from continuing to have fish by constantly being answered with explanations of how everything is screwed up and I shouldn't do what I was told somewhere else. I know what I put in my tank and I followed exactly what I was told on this forum. Thank you for clarifying my question. I can now continue with this tank not needing to worry about my olive nerite climbing above the water.

 

[MacDracor]

Whoah, calm down. I meant no offense. My original comment was simply a story of my nerite (that one was a zebra nerite, I think) surviving several days out of water, even on the carpet. It was meant to reassure you that you didn't need to stress about them leaving periodically. It was only when you stated they don't have an operculum that the topic shifted. I did not realize you would take this as an attack. It was not meant as one. I was just answering your question about how it sealed up.

 

[BettaGal]

I honestly don't mean to call YOU out. I've been dealing with this all day from everywhere. Not just this forum. But here, it seems like when I have a question about what my guys are doing or how to fix some issue, there's always somebody jumping in to say I shouldn't have listened to everyone before them. It get really old and discouraging to constantly have a group of people tell you every adjustment you make is horrible and should never have been done.

 

[MacDracor]

Well, I do know how frustrating that is. I haven't read all your threads, but I haven't seen you do anything wrong at all.
And I certainly was not implying that you had. I apologize if that's the impression you got. I'd like to elaborate on that in pm.