3 Questions about Nerites in a Fluval Edge

[BarleyBear]

I'll be receiving 5 Tiger Nerites tomorrow for my Fluval Edge 12 gal.

1. I've been reading that they are quite adept at escaping, and I'm worried I won't be able to keep them inside the tank. The cover on the top leaves the back part open inside where the filter sits, and I'm afraid they might just crawl up and out through the back where the cords are hidden. I can't think of a way to prevent this. Any suggestions?

2. Also, I don't have any visible algae at the moment. I wanted to get the Nerites before I had a problem. Will they be satisfied with algae wafers? My pleco loves them.

3. I have a heavily planted tank, and I was hoping the Nerites would help keep dead leaves pruned. I've read that they eat algae almost exclusively, but one description said "sometimes some vegetable matter." Has anyone noticed Nerites taking care of dead vegetation? If not, any suggestions on a good plant pruner that won't eat the living plants?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[jetajockey]

I keep nerites in topless tanks and have never had them escape, but who knows. I have no experience with the Edge so I can't say for sure. As far as feeding them goes, try to find an algae wafer that has a large amount of spirulina in it (should be main ingredient on the list). I have never noticed mine eating any plant matter at all.

And welcome to the forum, we are local to one another.

 

[BarleyBear]

Thanks, David! Glad to see a local on here! If your nerites haven't crawled out of your topless tanks, that makes me feel a lot better. The Edge only leaves a small square open at the top. I'll look for spirulina on the algae wafers I bought. Thanks for the tip.

 

[jetajockey]

Well my tanks do have a little plastic lip near the top, but I don't think that'd stop them if they really wanted to get out. I have a lot of olive nerites since they are all of the place locally, next time you happen by a boat launch in brackish water have a look around on the rocks and structure.

 

[BarleyBear]

I added five tiger nerites a week or so ago. They seem to be doing fine and are very pretty. I notices some algae starting to grow so I hope they get busy! I've been feeding them and my pleco algae wafers with spirulina.

 

[librarygirl]

I have two Horned Nerites and have had them for about 4 months now. My tank doesn't have any visible algae (although that probably doesn't mean there isn't any) and honestly I don't know how the Nerites are surviving but they are, so I assume they're finding food somehow. I've tried Cucumbers, spinach and lettuce but I haven't seen them eat it; I put in algae wafers now and then (maybe not as often as I should) more for the Corys than anything else but the fish and Corys tend to eat them before the snails can get to them. I have a lid on the tank but there are openings where the filter hangs and I've never had issues with them trying to escape.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Hi there,

This is just my experience with nerites.
I have a topless tank. I originally started out with three, but am now down to two because one had escaped and accidentally dropped out of the tank. It was an explorer, but the other two seem to like to stay at the bottom of the tank and eat the abundance of algae that is growing on various rocks and tank walls.
I've never had to supplement my nerites with any food, so I can't say how they would like prepared foods.
Nerites don't really touch my plants. They will eat algae growing on them, but they will not eat them completely.

Hope that helped you out!

 

[BarleyBear]

I got five tiger nerites a while back. They are very healthy and growing. Constantly munching around and no escape artists so far. I also got a golden apple snail. He was slightly bigger than a pea and now is already the size of a small grape. And man can he move compared to the nerites! He'll be fun to watch grow. Hopefully he'll help eat up dead leaves.