Nerite Snail VS. Mystery Snail

[Theplatymaster]

Hardiness? Diet? Algae Eating? Breeding?

[Henry the fish keeper]

Both nerite snails and mystery snails are very hardy. Nerites and mysterys snail both like eating algae and dead plant matter. Mystery snails will breed if you let the water level drop a bit and nerite snails babies only survive in saltwater.

[Theplatymaster]

On 5/16/2022 at 3:54 PM, Henry the fish keeper said:

Both nerite snails and mystery snails are very hardy. Nerites and mysterys snail both like eating algae and dead plant matter. Mystery snails will breed if you let the water level drop a bit and nerite snails babies only survive in saltwater.

@Henry the fish keeperHow do i breed mysery snails

[Henry the fish keeper]

On 5/16/2022 at 12:58 PM, Theplatymaster said:

On 5/16/2022 at 12:54 PM, Henry the fish keeper said:

 

@Henry the fish keeperHow do i breed mysery snails

Obviously, you need a male and a female and feed them lots of algae wafers and other kinds of foods. These are the things I know.  @Guppysnail definitely knows a lot more that I do.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Nerites are better (and excellent) algae eaters than Mystery snails. Nerites cannot reproduce in freshwater (but females will lay eggs on surfaces -scattered all over your tank some people don't like it because they are white and are tough little things). Mystery snails have bigger bio loads than Nerites so you keep less of those- they also need to be fed a healthy diet - algae pellets, veggies, aquatic snail foods, Repashy- all good for them. Nerites don't eat commercial foods most of the time (but I have caught my Zebra Nerites on the Cucumber slices I put out for my Otos). Mystery snails definitely have personalities you can see. They lay eggs above the waterline and need humidity to hatch, they can have clutches that produce hundreds. 

Edited May 16, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Guppysnail]

Breeding they do on their own. The one on top is always a boy. The one on the bottom is NOT always a girl though. Feed tons of steamed veggies slightly on the soft side and high protein wafers as well as calcium containing wafers. They must also have calcium and magnesium in the water. Racheal O’Leary does a great hatching video.  Make sure your ph never falls below 7. 

[Cinnebuns]

This is what I tell people trying to decide between the two. Why do you want a snail? The answer will tell you which to get. 

Nerites:

- will not reproduce in freshwater

- amazing for algae eating

- smaller size and bioload

- fun designs and colors

- boring to watch

 

Mystery

- reproduces easily but is manageable if you want to limit reproduction

- not very good for algae eating 

- large size and considerable bioload

- lots of color options

- fun to watch their antics

 

Basically if you want a snail for algae control or because of their cool designs go for nerite. If you want to breed or have something fun to watch, go for mystery. Just keep in mind each mystery snail has a much larger bioload than other snails and each clutch will give roughly 100+ babies. 

[Cinnebuns]

On 5/16/2022 at 2:58 PM, Theplatymaster said:

@Henry the fish keeperHow do i breed mysery snails

Before going into breeding mystery snails I will caution you to make sure you have a decent sized tank and filtration to deal with the growing bioload. They hatch roughly 100+ at a time and have a considerable bioload while growing. 

If you've decided you can handle that, then i suggest watching multiple videos on how to incubate and hatch the eggs. It's pretty easy but it's also easy to get wrong. I've had friends dry out the eggs or moisturize them too much so that they fungus. I personally put them in a Tupperware with wet paper towel on bottom and dry on top so they don't get too wet. 

[Brandon p]

If you want to control the number of snails that breed it it’s pretty easy. To breed them then need dry spot in the tank to lay there eggs. The can be underwater or the snails will not hatch. I let my tank drop about 2”-3”. This leave a spot for them to lay there eggs.you can see here the there is about 3” gap from the top. The second thing is the need moisture. I like the remove the eggs and set them in a small dollar store Tupperware with a damp paper towel and a top with some small holes, the paper towel needs to be damp so you have to check. I float the eggs in the tank so I know they stay damp. 
if you don’t want to deal with that just leave the in the tank and keep the eggs above the waterline. They will hatch and fall in the water. Here is the nice thing they grow pretty quick and you can remove some of snails.. if you do it twice a year or maybe 3 you will be ok. When you don’t want more snails keep the tank full and check the lid if you can’t see through it. If there eggs and you don’t want the snails you can just take the eggs out and toss them.