AndreaW Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 I don't know if he crawled under the bed or what, but I think my Nerite's shell is covered with detritus. Am I right, or is there something else going on here? I seriously didn't think my tank was that dirty! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biotope Biologist Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 Looks yummy! Hopefully another snail can help it out with that dilemna. I would never consider detritus dirty but then again I always try to inoculate my tanks with random waste products of the aquaria 😋 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 (edited) Looks like it to me. When in doubt, pull him out (and wipe him down) 🙃 I'm sure he wouldn't mind a waxing! (no don't do that really, just wipe 'im off) Edited February 20, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaW Posted February 20, 2022 Author Share Posted February 20, 2022 @Biotope Biologist & @xXInkedPhoenixX ~ Thanks for your responses. He's doing a good job pushing it around, but he came out clean this morning so maybe he was just having fun with it? I guess I won't have to help him wax his shell today I'm new to snails and had never seen anything like it before, but it was pretty funny. I think he used his shell as a plow and push it all up and over. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 @AndreaW that is likely exactly what happened. I have a couple that like to dig deep along the sides of the aquariums and as deep as they can get into the substrate- likely to get to the "good bits" and they do indeed come back out a bit dirtied. It looks like yours was covered with the same mulm mine get covered with when they do that or deep dive into the Amazon Sword. Thankfully My Otos usually take care of cleaning- or another obliging snail partner. 🙃 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaW Posted February 20, 2022 Author Share Posted February 20, 2022 On 2/20/2022 at 10:53 AM, xXInkedPhoenixX said: @AndreaW that is likely exactly what happened. I have a couple that like to dig deep along the sides of the aquariums and as deep as they can get into the substrate- likely to get to the "good bits" and they do indeed come back out a bit dirtied. It looks like yours was covered with the same mulm mine get covered with when they do that or deep dive into the Amazon Sword. Thankfully My Otos usually take care of cleaning- or another obliging snail partner. 🙃 Thank you, that makes sense. I never knew they dig! I've never really liked snails, but Cosmo is not a friendly companion so Nerites were my last option. I'll have to admit, they are growing on me. I would like to learn more about them and make sure I take care of them the best I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 Nerites are my favorite snails. They don't dig like say a Malasian Trumpet would, they just kind of push the substrate out of the way in order to, like I said, get to the good bits So you will never see them entirely buried. There are so many types too- and I've noticed some have specialty areas they like to clean. I've weirdly found Horned Nerites like to clean ALL the surfaces. but I have Olives and Zebras as well as in the past Red Racers but there are more! I think they are stupid cute- yes technical term. They don't eat commercial foods (except sometimes when it becomes detrius) so maintaining the right balance between available food and number of Nerites can be tricky. For example, I have two 20 gallon talls- 1 has 3 Horned Nerites (they are assisted by bladder snails but their number is small since I don't overfeed the tank) - that tank is totally free of algae. My other has 6 Nerites of different types and they barely scratch the surface of what is available. I could maybe add more but I don't just because I have Otos in that tank and I don't want them to outcompete each other. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaW Posted February 21, 2022 Author Share Posted February 21, 2022 @xXInkedPhoenixX ~ Mind if I ask you another Nerite Snail question? I'm wondering if something is wrong with one of my two Nerites. The bottom one has only moved a foot or two since I got them last Wednesday, while the top one has done laps around the tank. He looks splotchy to me (he came that way). I've been trying to research, but haven't found anything helpful. The top photo was a rare time I actually saw his mouth but it was only out for about 10 seconds before he tucked back up. Any idea what I can do for him? This is what he looks like most of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 (edited) Aww poor thing. I'm not sure but i'm wondering if the dark spots are an indication of where they are just attached to the glass. It kinda looks that way for your other one. There is not much we can do for our snail friends as far as diagnosing and fixing issues- other than water parameters. If there's no nitrite/ammonia and there are some decent minerals/hardness for them there's not much more typcially we can do. (besides food availability beyond water quality) Now, this snail is a recent aquisition- they will take siestas- I'll not see my Olive Nerite sometimes for days. Others might hang out in the same place for long periods of time. Usually they've done this because of the things mentioned above (water parameters not right OR because you recently got them this one is getting used to YOUR parameters). Sometimes its because they run out of food OR seemingly have overeaten. What I can say is that I've never seen a dead snail hang on to the glass- so the fact that they're hanging there is a positive. Sometimes when we get new snails they fail to thrive in their new environment or were already not feeling so hot before you got them. I got 9 Horned Nerites shipped to me recently. Some were DOA. Only 3 ultimately made it and more recently I've not seen all 3 at once only 2 so.... This is one of the bummer things about snails. Other than the general care and making sure they have food there's not much info in the aquarium world out there that would help us identify problems. Edited February 21, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaW Posted February 21, 2022 Author Share Posted February 21, 2022 On 2/21/2022 at 12:15 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said: Aww poor thing. I'm not sure but i'm wondering if the dark spots are an indication of where they are just attached to the glass. It kinda looks that way for your other one. There is not much we can do for our snail friends as far as diagnosing and fixing issues- other than water parameters. If there's no nitrite/ammonia and there are some decent minerals/hardness for them there's not much more typcially we can do. (besides food availability beyond water quality) Now, this snail is a recent aquisition- they will take siestas- I'll not see my Olive Nerite sometimes for days. Others might hang out in the same place for long periods of time. Usually they've done this because of the things mentioned above (water parameters not right OR because you recently got them this one is getting used to YOUR parameters). Sometimes its because they run out of food OR seemingly have overeaten. What I can say is that I've never seen a dead snail hang on to the glass- so the fact that they're hanging there is a positive. Sometimes when we get new snails they fail to thrive in their new environment or were already not feeling so hot before you got them. I got 9 Horned Nerites shipped to me recently. Some were DOA. Only 3 ultimately made it and more recently I've not seen all 3 at once only 2 so.... This is one of the bummer things about snails. Other than the general care and making sure they have food there's not much info in the aquarium world out there that would help us identify problems. I recorded a video last night and uploaded it to youtube if the link works here: https://youtu.be/8WCciNPJ0dk My observations of the dark spots on the bottom of their feet: It appears the dark spot of the seemingly healthy one is smoother, and as he moves, it's almost like a liquid under the surface that gets squeezed through his tissue in a pattern. The blotchy-looking one has looked like that the whole time and I've never actually observed him moving to see how the dark spots *move* when he moves. It really is quite fascinating, but as of now, the bottom one looks a little rough. Maybe it was just travel and it will take time to adjust. I'll keep an eye on my water parameters. I just got my KH/GH test kits so I'll do those today (I normally have very hard water and stable pH so I expect both will be in the higher range). Since he hasn't moved much and only across the glass (which is clean) I don't think he's eaten anything. I haven't dared try to lift him off the glass to place him on the driftwood with biofilm and algae. I guess the best I can do is just observe him and let him be. Thanks for you advice and info, I really appreciate your time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 (edited) I watched your video and it is hard to tell but I think the dark/light is just in how it's attached to your glass. It almost seemed like your active one was checking on the inactive one. 😞 If you get really desperate you can try to blanch a leaf of spinach or slice of blanched zucchini and place little one down on it. There's a chance they'll mow on that. My nerites can sometimes be found on the sliced cucumber I put in tanks from time to time but it's not their go to- who knows you might have better luck than me! Edited February 21, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaW Posted February 25, 2022 Author Share Posted February 25, 2022 Update: The Nerite I was worried about (named it Kirby) has been more active and I finally was able to see it move yesterday! Today it is on the spider wood and seemed to be happily eating earlier. I guess it needed extra time acclimating (It's been 9 days of only moving a few inches here and there). I just looked back in and guess what she is leaving behind? eggs! I was really hoping I would get two males so I wouldn't have to deal with eggs, but I'm actually happy since I've been worried about her. The other Nerite (named Hoover) is still motoring around, getting dirty. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 That's fantastic! I love my girls, they're so unloved in this hobby. The eggs aren't really THAT hard to scrape off if you really want to. The only time they bother me (a little) is when they're on the front glass, easily removed with a razor scraper I have. Otherwise they fade over time. It's all tank glitter to me. Funny you named her Kirby! My solo Hillstream Loach is Kirby too. Brave Little Toaster? Or just a vacuum fan? 🙃 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaW Posted February 25, 2022 Author Share Posted February 25, 2022 On 2/25/2022 at 12:07 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said: It's all tank glitter to me. Funny you named her Kirby! My solo Hillstream Loach is Kirby too. Brave Little Toaster? Or just a vacuum fan? 🙃 Glitter! Yes, I love glitter! Since they are my "cleaners" I went for old vacuum names. Hoover & Kirby 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 (edited) Hahaha! Cute! Though at this point I would have named the boy Pigpen and the girl Lucy lol! Edited February 25, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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