# nerite snails, best thing since sliced bread



## newguy (Mar 18, 2006)

Through trail and error i discovered how amazing those snails ( Neritina reclivata ) really are. The bottom half of my tank (50 gallon) was COMPLETELY covered with thick strands of brown colored algae. I believe due to my use of dwarf hairgrass as the ground cover for the entire floor. 

Anyways here's what i tried:

1) Balancing - this is a futile attempt even with only 2 WPG, i tried with different dosing/co2 combinations with little effect on the algae. And i do not have the time to wait weeks to see results as all my plants would be dead by then.

2) Toothbrush - this would clean up the algae ok after spending 2-3 hours of work. However they would come right back in full force a few days later

3) Cherry red shrimp - bought an army of 40+ cherry red shrimp ($$$!), put them in the tank, and they were all dead in less than a day. I posted all the details on the invert section, but the bottomline is noone knows why they died. water params/copper were all tested to be perfect / 0.

4) Snails - i was very wary about those fellas, my tank already has many snails (hitched a ride on the plants) and other than lying sacks of egg around they really not doing anything to the algae.

I did some research and found nerite snails to be the best algae eater, with nothing left to lose i bought 25 online to try. And holy batman!! After just 2 days of putting them in my tank, i can see my carpet again!! the thick algae cover was gone as well as the algae covering my tank's glass. 4 more days and most of algaes stuck to the hairgrass was gone too! And now a week later my tank is crystal clean with new shoots of hairgrass everywhere!

It's very interesting to see how those snails work, they will feed the entire strand of the hairgrass through their body and remove all the algae attached to it. Like how you suck on a bbq rib.  

So yeah..... if you have algae problem get the Neritina reclivata! They do not reproduce, extremely hardy unlike shrimps and otto(which will drop dead if you look at it funny). And will keep your tank algae free! Just make sure whoever you buy from already acclimated those snails to freshwater, as they are brackish by nature.


Two thumbs up for Neritina reclivata!


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## TexasRock (Feb 28, 2006)

Where did you get them? I'd like to buy a bunch simply because I like snails!

Keith


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## pineapple (May 4, 2004)

Now your problem is: what will you feed the snails to keep them alive?  Part of the natural swing when playing with nature. Change one element, be it good or bad, radically and you have another issue to deal with. Perhaps now is the time to sell of 75% of the snails to recoup money or make a profit and keep the remaining 25% happy in a balanced tank?


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## Rich M (Mar 6, 2004)

I've had similar results using an army of ramshorn snails (not giant ramshorn). Tank, plants, driftwood, rocks, gravel are crystal clean. I tried doing the balancing act for years unsuccesfully, the beard algae was taking over everything. After a week the snails made my tank look like the ones you see pictures of in books.


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## Jane in Upton (Aug 10, 2005)

Pineapple raises a good point - I keep a few Zebra Nerites, but when they're not "on the job", I move them all to a small tank (without a lot of snail competition) where I regularly give them sinking algae wafers. After having kept this type of snail for awhile, I'm convinced that most people "lose" theirs to malnutrition/starvation when the algae runs out. 

They're excellent when there is an algae outbreak, but they are NOT assertive enough to compete with the small ramshorns in a mixed tank. 

Just keep an eye on their behaviour - you'll see they lay lots of little eggs when well fed, but if you see the egg production scale down, its an indication that there is not as much food, and it is time to put them somewhere that you can feed them. 

Best of luck with these guys! I always have a few "on call" for algae outbreaks. 

-Jane


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## newguy (Mar 18, 2006)

hmm does snail really need to be fed? i was under the assumption i can just leave them alone and they will find food somehow. So far no problem yet, but will definitly keep an eye on them.

keith, i ordered mine from http://www.crayfishshop.com those guys were great, snails shipped next day after placed order and all arrived live & healthy. I dumped them in my tank, and 10 mins later they were already moving around eating algae.

Also http://aquaticplantdepot.com/marblesnails.html sells them as well, it's about 50% cheaper than crayfishshop, but i havent ordered from them before so cant vouch for their quality/service.


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