Zebra Nerite Snails

[George2]

Hi,

   I recently picked up three zebra nerite snails and put them in my 16 gallon aquarium to control the brown algae (i.e. diatom) problem I was having for months. They did an amazing job! They cleaned everything, including the edge of my filter.  :)

However, now I'm noticing their eggs all over the place. How can I prevent them from laying eggs? Is there such a thing as a male and female zebra snail? If so, is there any way to tell the sex of the snail so I can only have male snails? I know the eggs won't hatch since I don't have brackish water, but I don't want my aquarium covered in them.

Is there any other type of snail that will take care of brown algae (diatoms) and not lay eggs or multiply in my aquarium?


Thanks!
George

[k1ng]

These snails can live in freshwater, brackish water and saltwater. That being said they are only capable of being bred or multiplying in brackish water. So if you don't mind scrapping the eggs of the glass they will work out perfectly.

Cheers!

[George2]

These snails can live in freshwater, brackish water and saltwater. That being said they are only capable of being bred or multiplying in brackish water. So if you don't mind scrapping the eggs of the glass they will work out perfectly.

Cheers!

I've only had them for a little over a week, and already they are laying eggs on my rocks, glass, gravel, etc. I'm wondering if there is any way to prevent them from laying eggs in the first place so I don't have to spend alot of time removing them.

[k1ng]

Any specie of loach's would probably do the trick!

[Shawn84]

Dont worry about the egg just let nature take its course. The egg cant live in fresh water anyway so nothing to worry about.

[k1ng]

Definitely was not thinking clearly earlier. I strongly suggest not getting any loaches as the snails that produce the eggs will become a snack!

[George2]

Dont worry about the egg just let nature take its course. The egg cant live in fresh water anyway so nothing to worry about.

Will the eggs stay there indefinitely or will they fall off over time? They're very difficult to remove because they have a hard shell. They have to be scraped off with a hard object. Even after I scrape them off, there is a white spot left behind. It's not a big problem now, but if they lay eggs every week then my aquarium will be covered in them in a few months.

Right now there are some on my heater, and I can't get them off because they're in a little groove.

[George2]

Definitely was not thinking clearly earlier. I strongly suggest not getting any loaches as the snails that produce the eggs will become a snack!

Do the loaches eat the eggs that are fused onto the rocks, glass, etc? Are there any small loaches that are too small to eat the big zebra snails but still able to eat the eggs?

[Shawn84]

Your fish will take care of it if not once they hatch the larvae stage it will be gone. They will keep on laying egg nothing you can do about that unless you only keep 1 in the tank. In term of loaches they will eat anything that can fit in their mouth and they do like snail.

[George2]

Your fish will take care of it if not once they hatch the larvae stage it will be gone. They will keep on laying egg nothing you can do about that unless you only keep 1 in the tank. In term of loaches they will eat anything that can fit in their mouth and they do like snail.

I was thinking that if I can figure out which ones are male, I could keep only these ones and then not have to worry about the eggs being laid.

Since I don't have brackish water, they will never hatch. I'm wondering how long the eggs will last. They are very hard to scrape off so I would like to avoid them if possible.

[angelcraze]

You'll get these eggs regardless, they will not hatch in freshwater, and seem to last a long time.  I've had 4 nerites in a 37g, and I only noticed eggs on the wood here and there, not a huge deal, imo, maybe your nerites are horny little critters LOL, I don't know how to tell the difference between sexes, but apparently they are not asexual, and one female alone can lay a bunch of eggs everywhere.  Again, they will never hatch, just give it time, maybe they will calm down in a bit.  Also there is a smaller type of nerite, usually the horned or thorned nerite, and they stay considerably smaller and do an awesome job at keeping those diatoms away too.  I really haven't noticed any eggs, but then again the 5g they are in is packed with plants.

Here's a pic for an example of the horned nerite:

[George2]

You'll get these eggs regardless, they will not hatch in freshwater, and seem to last a long time.  I've had 4 nerites in a 37g, and I only noticed eggs on the wood here and there, not a huge deal, imo, maybe your nerites are horny little critters LOL, I don't know how to tell the difference between sexes, but apparently they are not asexual, and one female alone can lay a bunch of eggs everywhere.  Again, they will never hatch, just give it time, maybe they will calm down in a bit.  Also there is a smaller type of nerite, usually the horned or thorned nerite, and they stay considerably smaller and do an awesome job at keeping those diatoms away too.  I really haven't noticed any eggs, but then again the 5g they are in is packed with plants.

Here's a pic for an example of the horned nerite:

Where did you get the horned nerite? I notice they're on a plant in your picture. My Zebra nerites are not able to clean the leaves of my plants because they're too heavy. Occasionally they find their way on one, but they end up bending the plant down. The horned nerite seems like the perfect solution to that problem.

[angelcraze]

For sure, they wiped the leaves of that dwarf sword clean even from that hard green spot algae in less than a day.  They have been keeping the glass and everything else spotless since.  I got those at BA East (they called them zebra thorned snails) but there are different varieties or colours available, (like the 'olive nerite snail', 'black horned nerite') although I have not found them yet.  I would ask around at local fish shops, all I know is that the horned/spiked ones don't grow as big, probably the size of a smartie.  You could keep both in one tank, the bigger zebras and tigers are very good for the glass and substrate, but your right, they don't clean the leaves so well or fit in small crevices due to their size and weight.

I haven't seen many lately at BA, although I always let them know that I am looking for them.  Maybe even some Marine fish stores might have them, since they can also be saltwater.

[George2]

For sure, they wiped the leaves of that dwarf sword clean even from that hard green spot algae in less than a day.  They have been keeping the glass and everything else spotless since.  I got those at BA East (they called them zebra thorned snails) but there are different varieties or colours available, (like the 'olive nerite snail', 'black horned nerite') although I have not found them yet.  I would ask around at local fish shops, all I know is that the horned/spiked ones don't grow as big, probably the size of a smartie.  You could keep both in one tank, the bigger zebras and tigers are very good for the glass and substrate, but your right, they don't clean the leaves so well or fit in small crevices due to their size and weight.

I haven't seen many lately at BA, although I always let them know that I am looking for them.  Maybe even some Marine fish stores might have them, since they can also be saltwater.

Thanks. I'll keep an eye out for them at Big Al's. Hopefully the different species can't breed with each other. That way I can have several different snails and not worry about them laying eggs.

I noticed more eggs today.   :(

[blueknight0303]

the more food they eat, the more eggs they will lay. in time when your tank is all cleaned up, the number of eggs they hatch will decrease. unless you feed your nerites everyday... the eggs hatching usually varies from 2 weeks to a month. let your fish snack on the baby snails, they wont develop shells and die since they are on a freshwater set up and not on brackish.