Spring Swap Meet

[holmes114]

Nerites...Yay! I need me some nerites and can't find them around the house.

I notice you had tiger shrimp on the list...how would they do in an angel tank? Currently I have a few amano shrimp, but again, good shrimp are hard to find around these parts.

[bamaplants]

I would be cautious.. but I must say If your amano shrimp are holding their own in there I am surprised! The Tiger Shrimp are larger so do not hide quite as well. The More planted the better but there are other "decorations" that work to the shrimp's advantage.

[holmes114]

Well, the angels are small right now. How are the tiger's at eating the ole algae?

I'm going to want at least a dozen of those nerites.

[bamaplants]

they are pretty good... they will snatch some fish food as it falls as well but they do love them a fresh salad o' algae.. lol

[tlyons01]

Do you have experience with the Nerites making an escape out of an open tank? That is going to be my only issue, I have all but 2 tanks open

[bamaplants]

when they are well acclimated to freshwater they do not do the escape maneuver so much... MIne will be well acclimate d to freshwater

[ree123]

This was a main concern for many in previous comments over the last few days.
Explanation during your presentation Ken, about these guys, would be helpful, if there is more to tell about them.
We never stop learning.

[bamaplants]

Thats cool but I am gonna start here.. LOL

I am working to slim down the talk a bit 'cause I don't wanna run over allowed time.. LOL yet again

Nerites are a SIMPLE algae, rotifer, and diatom eating snail that occur in marine, brackish and freshwater . Most of them transition between all three environments throughout their lives( there are as yet only a few known species that live in freshwater only). They can live in any single environment with no issues to the health of the individual animal. They move from environment to environment chasing their food sources.. The diatoms and rotifers are prevalent in brackish waters. SIMPLE algae are what we want them for most of all.. and SIMPLE algae grow in mass best in both brackish and fresh waters. ( "Sea weeds are almost all algaes but the are higher algaes and not SIMPLE like we think of algaes.. There are really very FEW true aquatic marine Vascular PLants). Though nerites move from environment to environment their only true limitation ( and an advantage to the Planted Tank enthusiast) is that they must enter a marine environment for their eggs to hatch ( Save of course the few known fresh water exclusive species) This means we can have the snails in our tanks and they will not reproduce which can be an issue. They will lay some eggs on occasion but they do NOT hatch. This allows the planted tank to be BALANCED which is sort of the watch word for the planted tank.

Nerites are usually caught in Brackish waters because they tend to be more plentiful there. It takes some weeks to acclimate them fully to freshwater and they have a tendency for several weeks after that to come up out of water periodically.. ALL joking aside , it is almost like they miss the tide movements when they can often be exposed.. It is believed though that what they seek is a higher oxygen content which is available above the water surface. Increase oxygenation and this should settle down. If they are newly acclimated to fresh water this habit will also settle down in time.
Nerites ( most of the species commonly sold anyway) tend to be nocturnal in their Habits. 75+% of their feeding will be done at night. during the day they usually are still and mostly retracted though their foot remains attached.
Unlike most of the other "freshwater" snails on the market, Nerites are relatively intolerant of pollution and poor water quality. It must be kept in mind that these snails live in pretty clean, fast-flowing estuaries, inlets, rivers, and streams rather than ponds, and they appreciate well-filtered water with decent oxygen.

They are slightly more demanding concerning water chemistry, and need moderately hard, alkaline water to do well. When kept in soft water their shells quickly become pitted, losing a lot of their beauty.

There are a few species of exclusively Marine nerites as well which do NOT do well in freshwater for very long.. They are rarely sold as Nerites for planted tanks and are of little concern when purchasing.. DO NOT see one in a marine tank and expect to acclimate it to fresh.. These may be marine species and the acclimation needs to be VERY LONG.. remember they are a snail moving at a snails pace up an estuary... LOL

[bamaplants]

and yes there are a couple terrestrial species... but they are rarely available at all and very very expensive..

[tlyons01]

How can one tell the difference between a pond snail and a Nerite? I recently received a large order of plants from a friend and he told me the snails he had were nerites and MTS. I now have 2 snails, but they do not look like the Nerites in pictures that I have seen. So far, I have seen them grazing on the glass walls and heater. I have also had what I think are pond snails in a different tank, as well as rams horns. I never wanted snails before, so I never bothered to learn this stuff. I'd like to get rid of the pond and rams horn but they are in a heavily planted tank.

Any input from anyone would be appreciated when ever you have time! Thanks

[bamaplants]

ok.. nerites have a thick shell compared to pond snails... they also have WHITE feet...
the pond snails though small have a definite point to t he shell.. while most nerites with elongated shells do not have a clear point it is fairly blunt.

Pond snails are a pain but prefer algae and dead fish over real plants so not a HUGE issue as long as there is some food other than plants. Their biggest issue is they breed so READILY and fast that they often over populate for food supply an d then start munching on plants.. They are also a Oxygen user so they are increasing the bio load in the tank
Ramshorns however can be very very destructive to some plants esp if the algae supply is low. I have watched ramshorns eat the base of Isoetes-Octopus plant- ( this is one example that had me screaming) where the " tasty part" is and I watched the leaves float up one by one...

Assasin Snails ar e a decent way of reducing snail population.. but an assasin snail will take one snail out every day to two days.. A Loach will devastate the snail population in rapid order..

If you are still not sure.. feel free to bring examples of each with ya.. I will show you first hand up close and personal the difference.. LOL

[tlyons01]

Thanks Ken, this is great information. Just what I needed. Now I have to go and hunt them out so that I can look at their shells and feet..LOL

So how do I find the feet? Are you referring to what I would see under them as they are cruising along? The whole area they move with, or is there something I need to be looking closely for?

Sorry for all of the questions, but you are so knowledgeable that it is hard not to ask. Nice that I have that level of comfort, and we haven't even met, right?

[tlyons01]

Can you tell by this shot?

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[tlyons01]

Here is a much much better picture. I am betting this is a pond snail, especially since the holding tank that is housing the majority of the plants has little baby snails. I thought I would get them all with the clear water dip which contains potassium permanganate, but I see it did nothing.

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[bamaplants]

ok See My following comment on second pic... I can get each one to load up enlarged only once.. LOL then I go and look and forget to d/l and when I go back.. Nope I can't get it.. Darn Dial up.. I want DSL in my arwa or I am gonna have to cut down some trees so i c an get view of Southern SKY for satellite