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Quarantining horned nerite snails


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Hi,

I have two horned nerites I purchased a few days ago.  I have them on quarantine as recommended but I’m not sure how long to do this.  I read 2 weeks if housed with only snails and 4 weeks with fish.  I called my lfs and he said they were with neochela fish and that are all healthy.  
 

Do you think I am ok waiting 2 weeks.  I trust him and his store but I’m just curious what you all think?  They are going in my betta, Buddy’s, planted tank 10 gallons.  I’m dying to get them in there to start working on some algae but obviously want to keep Buddy safe.  

 

thanks in advance for your help!

lauren

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Nearly all Nerites are wild caught.  Their eggs hatch into free swimming nymphs that require brackish water to develop and "morph" into snail form which is apparently complex and time/labor intensive to manage in captivity.

@Lauren A I've probably owned 30 various Nerites and I've had zero cases of them bringing in a disease or parasites (e.g. leeches).  I would think that 2 weeks is more than enough time.  My biggest concern would be that they might have a pest like a limpet or a planaria/flatworm hitch a ride on shell which you should definitely be able to spot in less than two weeks (Edit- actually pretty immediately).

Important to remember that Nerites diet is largely biofilm, so if you're going to quarantine them in a small "clean" tank you might need to try giving them a supplemental feeding of green veggies or spirulina (check the ingredients list on any "algae wafers" you're tempted to try- most are primarily fish meal protein which Nerites will usually only eat when facing starvation).

Enjoy your snails.

Edited by NanoNano
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Hi @NanoNano Thank you so much for your help.  That makes total sense since I did know that breed in brackish water.  They look excellent.  I have them in an approx 1 gallon bowl I clean every 2 days right now but I’m  going to move them to a 2.5 gallon tank for another week and a half or so while making sure they look healthy.  
 

They have a couple of rocks, I’ve been putting plants or plant leaves with algae on them to munch on.  I also leave them in a sunny area so the rocks develop some algae.  I have the temp at about 75-76, room temp with the sunny heat.  I have a few types of algae wafers I picked up for them so I will double check it has spirulina in it too or pick some up.  
 

Thank you again.  They are so adorable!  I hope my betta doesn’t torture them but worst case I will put them in another planted tank I’m currently working on.  
 

@ARMYVET Hi, I haven’t used any meds on them.  Just making sure I keep the bowl/tank clean and that they have algae to eat and look healthy.  

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Hi @Cherish Thank you so much for your help.  I honestly am not sure if they are wild caught but I’m assuming so since that seems to be the consensus.  I know they came from Florida and I do trust my LFS.  I will go ahead and give them a couple weeks at least hoping they still look as handsome/pretty as they are now!  Thank you again!

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@Lauren A- One thing to be aware of is that the thickness, coloration, and patterning on snail shells can change noticeably when they are moved between water with different PH and different parameters.  I have acidic water and my Racers have all changed their patterning from beautiful "V" shaped Chevrons to "Charlie Brown Shirt" scribbles like the snail in the center of the linked picture.  Fortunately Horned Nerites seem less susceptible to the than Racers and Zebras.

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Hi @Cherish Thank you so much for your help.  I honestly am not sure if they are wild caught but I’m assuming so since that seems to be the consensus.  I know they came from Florida and I do trust my LFS.  I will go ahead and give them a couple weeks at least hoping they still look as handsome/pretty as they are now!  Thank you again!

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2 hours ago, NanoNano said:

@Lauren A- One thing to be aware of is that the thickness, coloration, and patterning on snail shells can change noticeably when they are moved between water with different PH and different parameters.  I have acidic water and my Racers have all changed their patterning from beautiful "V" shaped Chevrons to "Charlie Brown Shirt" scribbles like the snail in the center of the linked picture.  Fortunately Horned Nerites seem less susceptible to the than Racers and Zebras.

This is great info.  I had no idea.  Your snails are really cool looking.  I’ve never seen a racer before and wow, that’s such a cool pattern.  Thank you for all of your help and sharing the pic.  I really appreciate it.  I hope you have a nice night!  Take care 

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2 hours ago, NanoNano said:

@Lauren A- One thing to be aware of is that the thickness, coloration, and patterning on snail shells can change noticeably when they are moved between water with different PH and different parameters.  I have acidic water and my Racers have all changed their patterning from beautiful "V" shaped Chevrons to "Charlie Brown Shirt" scribbles like the snail in the center of the linked picture.  Fortunately Horned Nerites seem less susceptible to the than Racers and Zebras.

Wow, that's quite a change! Most of my snails have a noticeable line where they joined my tank, but only my zebra nerite changed striping direction.

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 6/8/2021 at 12:19 AM, NanoNano said:

Nearly all Nerites are wild caught.  Their eggs hatch into free swimming nymphs that require brackish water to develop and "morph" into snail form which is apparently complex and time/labor intensive to manage in captivity.

@Lauren A I've probably owned 30 various Nerites and I've had zero cases of them bringing in a disease or parasites (e.g. leeches).  I would think that 2 weeks is more than enough time.  My biggest concern would be that they might have a pest like a limpet or a planaria/flatworm hitch a ride on shell which you should definitely be able to spot in less than two weeks (Edit- actually pretty immediately).

Important to remember that Nerites diet is largely biofilm, so if you're going to quarantine them in a small "clean" tank you might need to try giving them a supplemental feeding of green veggies or spirulina (check the ingredients list on any "algae wafers" you're tempted to try- most are primarily fish meal protein which Nerites will usually only eat when facing starvation).

Enjoy your snails.

@NanoNanoHi!  I’ve just added my horned nerite snails to my betta’s tank after their month long quarantine.  They have plenty of algae to munch on right now and have been fed well on algae over the past month but now I’m curious on calcium supplementation.

 

 Id been adding liquid calcium by API at the recommended dose to their small quarantine tank when doing water changes but now that they are in their permanent home with my betta, is this ok to continue doing without any harmful or rapid fluctuations to the ph levels.  Buddy’s been housed in there for about 7 months at a ph around 6.8-7.2 and I don’t want to stress him or my plants out but obviously want to keep the snails healthy and happy.  
 

If you have any suggestions on what you think would work best, I’d love to hear them.

 

thanks in advance for your help and reading this!

 

lauren 

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I keep Neocardina shrimp, Nerites, and Bettas together in multiple tanks (sometimes a Rabbit or Lava snail with them too), so I'm always trying to strike a balance of healthy shells vs healthy shrimp molts/breeding, vs nice fins on Bettas.  I've been all over the place in dosing with calcium, trying eggshell and cuttle bone, Wondershells, etc.  with different degrees of success in  the different critters. The best balance that I've found *so far* for the type of water we both have is to very lightly supplement it (I'm currently adding about a 1/3 of the label recommended dose of Seachem Equilibrium to my tanks every other water change) AND regularly feeding pieces of both green bean/carrot/squash as well as Sera Shrimp pellets.  Everyone seems to be doing equally well on this combination.  The Sera pellets contain a pretty high level of protein,  so the Nerites tend to let them dissolve to "fluff" on the substrate and then will pick their way through them.  The one thing that I always keep in the back of my head is that snails aren't "gems"- living and aging takes a toll on them,  so a degree of shell changes and erosion over an extended period of time is pretty much inescapable.  Hope this helps and good luck!

Edited by NanoNano
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@NanoNanoHi!  Thank you so much.  This helps me out a ton.  I will go with this combination.  I’m so glad I asked you.  I will put the Sera shrimp pellets and equilibrium on my list to buy today.  Do you usually blanch the veggies first?  Thanks again!

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