Nerite Snails

[Mike Chesmer]

Anybody know what's a good calcium-based food for nerite snails? Not much calcium in my tank and the snails are feasting off each others shells.

[TeeJay]

Calci chips from crayfish empire are really good. I wouldn't feed more than twice a week.

[Lennie]

I have never fed anything to my nerites and they always had perfect shells. Just make sure your ph is high and u have calcium in the water column

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

My nerites like to graze on cuttlebone. Initially it might need to be weighed down with a plant weight or rock. 
 

Mine don’t accept commercial foods.

Edited April 25, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Ninjoma]

You could try Hikari crab cuisine, Hikari shrimp cuisine, Sera shrimp pellets or xtreme shrimp sticks. They all contain calcium. Not sure if nerite snails will want to eat them though. 

[Mike Chesmer]

Thanks everyone, good info on things I never thought of:)

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Spoke to my friend last night and she said her nerite was attached to cuttlebone also (but he won’t eat commercial foods either). Just algae, biofilm, and cuttlebone.

I have however, seen my nerites eat zucchini (they seem to only eat the rind) and sweet potato (not every time, but when they feel like it). Although those aren't calcium-rich foods. I’m just throwing it out there because I think it’s interesting.

[Tanked]

I have used egg shells in the past.  just washed, with the inner membrane scraped off.

[Guppysnail]

@JoeQinteoduced me to the snail chips from Kats Aquatics. My nerites beeline for those. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 4/28/2023 at 12:20 PM, Guppysnail said:

@JoeQinteoduced me to the snail chips from Kats Aquatics. My nerites beeline for those. 

Which one do you use

[JoeQ]

On 4/28/2023 at 4:45 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Which one do you use

Originally I ordered the 3 in 1 and shared some with her, im not sure if @Guppysnail ordered more or not.

[Comradovich]

Reading the fine print on the Kat's Aquatics bottles....

1. 3-1 limited edition appears to be a mix of all 4 of her varieties. So if you were unsure, maybe this is the one to go with.

2. Calcium + protein seems maybe geared more towards shrimp or crayfish. (Although it also lists turtles in the description).

3. I'm torn between Calcium + Immunity (because my horned nerite is losing his yellow), or Calcium + Nutrition (because I'm reasonably certain said horned nerite will eat anything with spinach or beets in it).

I dunno, lots of good answers in this thread. Has me feeling all sorts of guilty because I don't really feed anything that the nerite or bladder snails would specifically like. He has been fading to a mostly brownish mix from his original blacks and yellows.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 4/28/2023 at 5:06 PM, Comradovich said:

because I don't really feed anything that the nerite or bladder snails would specifically like

Me neither but I do see them eating the mystery snail food when they feel like it. Mostly they ignore it and eat algae.

[TOtrees]

Zoo Med's Dr Turtle. 

Cuttlebone.

But DO check kH and pH. If your tank has no kH (carbonate hardness), keeping snails with good shells will be almost impossible no matter how much calcium you provide. 

[Mary W.]

My nerites love Wonder Shells.