Nerite snail not eating

[faysalals1]

None of my Nerite snail eating the algae wafers! I leave the wafers for 24 hours and they still dont eat it! Sometimes I pick the Nerite Snail and place it on top of the wafer, but they would move away!

Should I continue adding Algae wafers everyday?

 

[Aiken Drum]

My nerite snails never touch algae wafers. Or veggies either. They survive just fine on the algae from the glass.

 

[faysalals1]

My nerite snails never touch algae wafers. Or veggies either. They survive just fine on the algae from the glass.

What if the Nerite run out of algae in the tank? You think I should never feed them?

My Mystery Snails always eat the food I give them, can I get away with not feeding them too, and rely on Aquarium algae?

And does the same apply to Shrimp as they also never eat whatever I give them no matter how many times I change their food.

Thank you for answering all my questions

 

[Aiken Drum]

Ive not fed nerite snails apart from seeing if they wanted food the first week or two i started keeping fish to see if they needed it. Since then ive never never fed them. I presume they eat bits of leftover food they find while foraging. Thats partly why i said 1 or 2 nerites in the smaller tank so you can be sure there is enough food available.

Ive never seen mystery snails here in the UK (i think they are illegal) so i cant offer first hand experience. But if they are eating supplimented food continue to do so. We get apple snails which ive kept, and they will eat anything they can get at thats edible and they get big, so they need the supplementary food.

I occasionally feed my shrimp hikari crab cuisine, but as i said in another thread they tended to hide away for the first few months and only came out to forage at night, so i didn't see them feed. Now they are more visible they eat bits of fish food alongside the fish.

 

[ADsnail]

If they're not eating the wafers, they're getting their food from the tank. Only give wafers as a supplement if they're caught up on the natural algae. How can you tell? In my tanks, they start constantly patrolling, searching for food. It's different from their normal moving about...it looks like a more urgent, faster search. Even under normal circumstances I won't drop an age tab more than maybe once every two weeks.

Mystery snails are another story. In my experience, they are on the gluttonous side and will vacuum up everything put down, leaving the nerites to do their job, which is cleaning. So it balances out. But I still don't give them an algae tab more than once every two weeks, if that. Those pampered mysteries need to get some exercise hunting for food!

If you put down an algae tab and it's not gone in 24 hours, no one needs it. I would vacuum it out with the weekly cleaning.

 

[faysalals1]

If they're not eating the wafers, they're getting their food from the tank. Only give wafers as a supplement if they're caught up on the natural algae. How can you tell? In my tanks, they start constantly patrolling, searching for food. It's different from their normal moving about...it looks like a more urgent, faster search. Even under normal circumstances I won't drop an age tab more than maybe once every two weeks.

Mystery snails are another story. In my experience, they are on the gluttonous side and will vacuum up everything put down, leaving the nerites to do their job, which is cleaning. So it balances out. But I still don't give them an algae tab more than once every two weeks, if that. Those pampered mysteries need to get some exercise hunting for food!

If you put down an algae tab and it's not gone in 24 hours, no one needs it. I would vacuum it out with the weekly cleaning.

Ok perfect! Thank you for the info. What do you think about Shrimp though? Can I feed them every other week too considering they never eat my food?

 

[Andy Sager]

Ok perfect! Thank you for the info. What do you think about Shrimp though? Can I feed them every other week too considering they never eat my food?

If the shrimp are not eating your food, try something else for food. With snails, it's different. Some just are not going to eat prepared foods so you need to let them eat the biofilm and you need to encourage algal growth in the tank.

 

[faysalals1]

Ive not fed nerite snails apart from seeing if they wanted food the first week or two i started keeping fish to see if they needed it. Since then ive never never fed them. I presume they eat bits of leftover food they find while foraging. Thats partly why i said 1 or 2 nerites in the smaller tank so you can be sure there is enough food available.

Ive never seen mystery snails here in the UK (i think they are illegal) so i cant offer first hand experience. But if they are eating supplimented food continue to do so. We get apple snails which ive kept, and they will eat anything they can get at thats edible and they get big, so they need the supplementary food.

I occasionally feed my shrimp hikari crab cuisine, but as i said in another thread they tended to hide away for the first few months and only came out to forage at night, so i didn't see them feed. Now they are more visible they eat bits of fish food alongside the fish.

If they're not eating the wafers, they're getting their food from the tank. Only give wafers as a supplement if they're caught up on the natural algae. How can you tell? In my tanks, they start constantly patrolling, searching for food. It's different from their normal moving about...it looks like a more urgent, faster search. Even under normal circumstances I won't drop an age tab more than maybe once every two weeks.

Mystery snails are another story. In my experience, they are on the gluttonous side and will vacuum up everything put down, leaving the nerites to do their job, which is cleaning. So it balances out. But I still don't give them an algae tab more than once every two weeks, if that. Those pampered mysteries need to get some exercise hunting for food!

If you put down an algae tab and it's not gone in 24 hours, no one needs it. I would vacuum it out with the weekly cleaning.

If the shrimp are not eating your food, try something else for food. With snails, it's different. Some just are not going to eat prepared foods so you need to let them eat the biofilm and you need to encourage algal growth in the tank.

I decided to buy Otocinclus Catfish because of my hair algae, so does what you guys said still apply? Because the Catfish will eat all the algae, and no algae will be left for snails and shrimp.

 

[Aiken Drum]

I wouldnt put so many different species together that will all be competing for the same food sources. If you do, you will just have to see how things go. If you add supplemental food and they eat it, i would continue to do so. Be aware that if you are adding supplemental food, they may not eat the algae you are hoping for. Trial and error is the only way really.

Im not sure that otos will eat hair algae.

 

[Andy Sager]

I wouldnt put so many different species together that will all be competing for the same food sources. If you do, you will just have to see how things go. If you add supplemental food and they eat it, i would continue to do so. Be aware that if you are adding supplemental food, they may not eat the algae you are hoping for. Trial and error is the only way really.

Im not sure that otos will eat hair algae.

Aiken, check this out: