6 dead nerite snails
- Thread starter coach_z
- Start date
I'm sorry to hear of your nerite losses. I got three olives at least a year ago from Msjinkzd and all are still alive.
I got a few more, a zebra and some red spotted. I lost a red spot in transit and one after a few weeks. The surviving one is doing great.
I really love the nerites. They do such a great job keeping the tank clean! I can't imagine a tank without them.
Do you think you'll try again?
I got a few more, a zebra and some red spotted. I lost a red spot in transit and one after a few weeks. The surviving one is doing great.
I really love the nerites. They do such a great job keeping the tank clean! I can't imagine a tank without them.
Do you think you'll try again?
I don't think I will try again. My zebra nerite hid alot, didn't see him around too much. Wasn't worth it for me.
i think i feel the same way....i will do more research though and maybe some day ill do nerites again....until then i will stick with fishies.
Interesting. I wonder what it could have been. I've got 5 olive nerites and a C. corona (the spiky one with bumble bee stripes) in my 75g community, and all of those seem to be fine. I'd had 6 olives but moved 1 to a 2.5g planted only to clean up the algae. Unfortunately, that one died after a few weeks. I'm thinking starvation since he'd done a great job with cleaning. Also, it's possible that the pipes at work (where that tank is) might be copper since it's quite an old building. I thought copper would kill quicker, so I didn't think of that until recently and will be testing for sure.
I also have 5 zebras in a 20g long that are also doing great.
I usually see at least one of them out and about at all times, but not all of them at once. Probably since I've got pretty well planted tanks that they can disappear into. The olives and C. corona I've had since early this spring and the zebras for a couple months. They mainly graze on algae, and I've had to bump up the light periods to make more algae, lol. I also feed algae wafers and some veggies to other fish/inverts in those tanks, but I'm not sure if the nerites are eating any of that.
I also have 5 zebras in a 20g long that are also doing great.
I usually see at least one of them out and about at all times, but not all of them at once. Probably since I've got pretty well planted tanks that they can disappear into. The olives and C. corona I've had since early this spring and the zebras for a couple months. They mainly graze on algae, and I've had to bump up the light periods to make more algae, lol. I also feed algae wafers and some veggies to other fish/inverts in those tanks, but I'm not sure if the nerites are eating any of that.
I have had some already for 2 years or so that are still going strong (in 4 or 5 tanks). From what I have read, their lifespan is 2-6 years depending on species, though its almost impossible to gauge their age upon collection as size can be dependent on so many factors. Of course temp, diet, and parameters can really effect their lifespan becacuse it effects their growth and metabolism.
An important thing to remember is that though these are relatively hardy snails, they are still more sensitive than alot of fish. They don't tolerate shifts in parameters or less than ideal situations well. Often what will work for most fish (especially higher nitrate readings over 20) will be really detrimental to snails.
Its also important to recognize that these guys are in transit for quite awhile before they arrive at people like me who distribute them. Its part of the reason why I won't send them out until they have been in my tanks for a week or two, this way i can ensure that they have gotten a really good meal and are not starving for another leg to their journey.
Also, its important to really add these snails to a well established tank. In my experience, tey don't really readily take foods (prepared or zucchini, etc) until they are practically starving. Typcally they will ignore those foods for the biofilm algaes which they prefer. Its another reason why I recommend 1 per 10g, 5g max in stocking and only to a tank with some existing algae. They, like any snail, can become very weakened and struggle to feed if there is not a ready food source that they like.
I don't know if this was the case at all for the OP, but these are my observations and experiences in my tanks when dealing with these particular snails. Hope that helps.
An important thing to remember is that though these are relatively hardy snails, they are still more sensitive than alot of fish. They don't tolerate shifts in parameters or less than ideal situations well. Often what will work for most fish (especially higher nitrate readings over 20) will be really detrimental to snails.
Its also important to recognize that these guys are in transit for quite awhile before they arrive at people like me who distribute them. Its part of the reason why I won't send them out until they have been in my tanks for a week or two, this way i can ensure that they have gotten a really good meal and are not starving for another leg to their journey.
Also, its important to really add these snails to a well established tank. In my experience, tey don't really readily take foods (prepared or zucchini, etc) until they are practically starving. Typcally they will ignore those foods for the biofilm algaes which they prefer. Its another reason why I recommend 1 per 10g, 5g max in stocking and only to a tank with some existing algae. They, like any snail, can become very weakened and struggle to feed if there is not a ready food source that they like.
I don't know if this was the case at all for the OP, but these are my observations and experiences in my tanks when dealing with these particular snails. Hope that helps.
High tech setups and snails are always a tricky balance. Inverts are especially sensitive to chemical contaminants, so especially with an extensive dosing schedule, I get the feeling this might have been a big part of your issue. Additionally, what kinds of algae is your tank growing? The fact that you're running co2 and dosing and still battling an abundance of algae also leads me to believe that water quality issues might be a factor. Like Msj said above, snails and other inverts would be succumbing at levels that would still be tolerable for most fish. Either way, sorry about your loss. Hope you get to figure out what exactly happened to them.
